Krannert-Purdue Vs UIUC Illinois MBA

[MBAfall2008]

Helloe guys,

I have admit from Krannert and UIUC , am I am trying to decide on which one to take.
I do not have any schol from Krannert while I am only 5000$ schol from UIUC. Fees for both the schools is almost same.
Can anyone help me decide on which school if better choice.
I know Krannert if known for its operations program and want to know how ais placements for full time/internships in other areas.
can anyone advice and help me decide?

[mbabuster]

Purdue ... all the way

[MentalGuy]

Depends on what you want after an MBA .. I have some acquaintances in Krannert and I know that not many Indians have gotten internships this year .. but the situation is a bit better @ UIUC so you can never say. Also if you look at the US news specialized rankings

UIUC - No 3 in accounting, 17 in IT and 21 in Gen Mgmt
Purdue - 12 int IT, 3 in Operations

Hence it all boils down to what do you want to do after an MBA

[mbabuster]

The specialty rankings is a peer to peer ranking and does not consider ROI, salaries , GMAT etc. Do not consider those as a base for making decisions. The only ranking of significance is the overall ranking in which Purdue is nearly 5 places ahead of UIUC.

[MentalGuy]

I agree ... but I also want to add a point here that Purdue and UIUC specialize in very different areas. For eg. if someone wants to get into consulting or Gen mgmt then it makes sense to to to UIUC as opposed to Purdue.

Anyway .. I think outside of the top 20, 3-5 places hardly makes any difference. The 20+ rankings are pretty volatile anyway ..

But then again Purdue has a stronger brand name for an MBA program.

I can completely understand your situation .. I have admits from UIUC and UW and even I am confused !

[MBAfall2008]

Thanks guys for the reply ...
Do you know how is consulting or General management in Purdue? i have 6 + yrs or IT experience and I am inclined towards GM and consulting so does it make sense to go for UIUC? At the same time I feel I am letting go of a better school (in terms of ranking, brand name, salaries).
Now I am scared to know that many Indians did not get intership in Purdue.. is that true?

[MentalGuy]

Its not that Indians do not get internships .. it is just this year with the recession .. that said a friend at purdue has an internship from Sears

[MentalGuy]

I am facing the same dilemma as you ...

I want to major in IT and consulting and I have admits from UIUC and UW .. I feel UIUC would be better for what I want to do, but UW is huge in PNW and has great brand name out there ..

[just4anshul]

@MBAfall2008

I would suggest UIUC.. purdue is more of quant focus school, UIUC is slightly better than purude when it comes to GM and Consulting.

Internships opportunities will be avail in plenty dont worry about them... and they would be pretty much the same at UIUC and at purdue...

However, you wouldnt be making a mistake with either... my call: UIUC

Anshul

[MBAfall2008]

another aspect to consider is that TA/GA options in purdue are plenty in 2nd yr while UIUC has none.
I inquired abt the job scene and I think its the same for both in case of internationals/
Also with regards to the rankings Purdue ranking has droped from 22 to 33 this yr so its the same as UIUC with is 36 i guess...
Abt GM and IT and consulting , current students in purdue say that its not difficult to get jobs in IT or consulting from purdue and that all of the international students have been place this yr infact some of them have double offers..
another aspect is that purdue has high number of Indian students who are from engineering backgrd so I will be competing with student having similar profile as mine for TA, GA and jobs in purdue...
I have to make the decision till 15th .. and I am still in dilemma
your view pls.....