Please help: Purdue or Oregon MBA
Hello, I recognize that these schools are outside the purview of schools usually discussed here, but any feedback would be really appreciated. I have offers to enter the FT MBA program at University of Oregon and Purdue University. I have already started studying for the CFA and I would like to do equity research at an AM firm after.
Purdue: Top 50 school; near Chicago; strong career placement statistics; established OCR (but does more F500 placement); 42k tuition
Oregon: Unique Security Analysis concentration that is CFA recognized; trips to UBS in Seattle, AM firms in Portland and SF; 35k tuition; mentor program; US News 79
What kind of doors do you think these schools can open? Is there much of a difference between the two? Can I expect to get more of a bump from Purdue to justify the higher tuition?
I went to University of Oregon undergrad, and while I loved it there, I'm not sure how useful an Oregon MBA would be. The main firms I can think of that recruit for UO undergrad are Fisher, DA Davidson, and Pacific Crest (now owned by KeyBank). Pacific Crest is great (I interviewed there; the people are all great, and the firm is well-respected), but the other two are crap. All of them have relatively low salaries, though Pacific Crest seems to be more normal according to Glassdoor. Plus, the fact that you're in Eugene and the main financial centers on the West Coast are SF and LA would make it hard to interview in person at firms that don't do OCR.
The upside is that Eugene is a nice town, there's a great football team, and if you want a job in the Pacific Northwest, you'd probably only face much competition from UW (there are other schools in the area, but they probably wouldn't be much competition for UO kids).
Note that my experience is undergrad. I know you're looking for your MBA, so take all this with a grain of salt.
I would investigate whether either of these schools can help you accomplish your stated goals. Getting a post-mba equity research job on the buyside is challenging if you're at Wharton or Columbia, so I would take a look at what are realistic opportunities for grads from these MBA programs. Has Purdue or Oregon placed significant numbers into any front office finance roles recently? If your goal was to work in operations for Cargill, then Purdue or makes a lot more sense, etc.
Once you have you goals figured out, decide where you'd rather live after school. The value of these degrees is going to be much stronger locally than elsewhere. Do you plan on settling in Chicago or the Pac NW after graduation?
@"consultant798" thanks for your input. My goal remains the same, but I will accept whatever first role out of the MBA that gets me the closest. Purdue has placed grads as financial analysts at Nuveen Investments, the NY Fed, Morgan Stanley, and B of A. But you are right to note that Purdue is more of an operations school. Oregon has given me a small list of where they are placing grads that includes investment firms in Portland and Wells Fargo in SF. But Oregon does offer a curriculum that is more tailored to equity research and with integration with the CFA.
I'm from the midwest, and would like to work in Chicago. But I am willing to go wherever the best opportunity is for the MBA and the post-MBA job.
sfgfan - are you currently a student or working in the West Coast? Are you currently working in banking or past work experience in i banking?
@"sfgfan10" thanks for sharing your perspective. I just researched those companies that you mentioned and agree with your assessment. SF and LA are the finance centers, but Berkley/UCLA/USC are out of reach for me. It seems like Oregon has a decent reputation on the West Coast, especially the PNW. Current MBAs say that they are able to make connections with people for the company visits in SF/Seattle/Portland/NYC, but that is no substitute OCR. And I am not sure if any of those connections have resulted in jobs either. Do you think OCR is that necessary for post MBA success?
I would stay away from the school that never send statistically significant number of people to the industry/sector you want to work in. It may make career transit more difficult.
Again, I’m not an MBA grad, so I’m not the best person to ask, per se. Have you thought about Pepperdine or Santa Clara University? I don’t have any person exposure to those schools, but I’ve heard good things about both schools, and they’re much closer to the West Coast finance centers. Especially in Eugene, OR, not having great OCR is going to be a pain because you can’t just take a few hours out of your day to interview somewhere. It’s a 1.5-2 hour drive to Portland, and 1.5-2 hours to fly to Seattle and SF as well, not including time spent in the airport (on top of that, flights can be expensive). I guess Purdue is about the same distance from Chicago though. Either way, you should keep in mind that ER (both buy and sell-side) is already a small world, and it’s even smaller once you leave the financial centers. I’m sure that your networking opportunities would be much better if you went to school near Chicago than Eugene.
In summary, while I love UO and Eugene, I’m just not sure that the cost savings and lifestyle benefits of living in Eugene are worth the drop off in OCR opportunities. Additionally, my impression is that Purdue has a much more national brand (people recognize its academic quality nationwide, whereas people only recognize UO’s football team). You would benefit from that.
In the interest of staying anonymous, I’ll say that I graduated from UO in the past few years and am working in finance.
Have you considered doing a master in finance instead of an MBA? With your goal in mind a more tailored finance curriculum could be a better choice, and given the fact that you'll mostly be competing with people out of undergrad for both jobs and admission you could end up with better opportunities after. Plus, it's only a one year program most places and thus has significantly lower cost (both tuition and lost earnings). I'm not 100% sure but I believe you're likely to start at a lower rung on the ladder after an MSF (i.e. I believe MSF grads start as analysts in banking); however, for ER that shouldn't really matter.
I'd either do a PT MBA or a one year masters. Neither school is going to provide the job opportunities to repay both the tuition cost and opportunity cost of being out of work for two years.
And if you're going to do a non top MBA, why not pick one right in the middle of a big city. Rice in Houston, U Miami, Boston College, stuff like that. You'll be at a good brand name school and at least have networking opportunities without much travel cost.
@TNA I'm waitlisted at Boston College, so I will go there if I get in. Regarding the MSF, I have given this a lot of thought, but I am not sure if it is as recognized well as the MBA and this could hinder my career in the long run. But I would sure like to be in school one less year!
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