SMU MBA vs. Rice MBA vs. Indiana MBA - Your view appreciated

I am trying to figure out which MBA program to attend and hope to get some feedback. I have acceptances from the following:

SMU - No $$
Rice - 2/3 $$
Indiana - Full $$

Post-MBA looking to go into equity research or investment management. I am just wondering which of these three programs would best position me for those types of roles based on alumni networks etc.

Also, at some point I may want to work outside of the US -- Do any of you have a sense of how each school above is viewed outside of the US?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts on these.

 
acrew09:
Do you want to work in Dallas? SMU (and to a slightly lesser extent UT) is probably one of the best schools to go to for the network. Rice would give you the same reputation, but in Houston. FWIW my mom's side of the family basically all went to SMU, its really well known in Texas, but definitely less so outside.

I am just a bit worried about being so limited to Dallas with SMU. I do know that the network for buy-side in Dallas is pretty solid...Just not sure if it would be a huge problem getting out of Dallas should I decide to do that later on

 
Best Response

I've been investigating this as well, not Indiana but Rice and SMU. I'm bullish on Rice because they are really starting to improve their program. In the new US News rankings they jumped up 10 or so spots and are well positioned to become one of the top 15 bschools in the country over the next 5-10 years. If you were going for undergrad then it's a no-brainer that Rice is better than SMU and Indiana, but for Bschool its a different story.

SMU is the best school the DFW area has so the network there is huge but they also compete with McCombs and McCombs is perceived to be better than SMU for the most part. Rice is dominant in Houston but it also competes with McCombs but people aren't too quick to say that McCombs is heads and shoulders above Rice (even though the rankings show UT to be much better). In Texas (especially Houston), people view Rice as a southern Ivey.

If Rice is paying so much of your tuition I would strongly consider it, but if you aren't in Texas then I would choose the program closest to the region in which you want to work. Most schools that are out of the top 10 are more regional schools and have great networks within their region but not so much outside of it.

Just curious, can you give us your stats? I will be applying to bschools in the not too distant future and Rice is one of the schools on my list...

Thanks.

 

SMU shouldn't even be in the conversation, Rice will get you better jobs in Texas (Dallas included) and actually gave you money to go there. Indiana is a great business school (right outside the top 20 i believe) but in the midwest u compete with many great MBA programs (Ross, Northwestern, UChicago) compared to Texas where Rice's only real competition is UT. In lay man's terms, I believe Rice will get you a better job in Texas than Indiana can in the midwest.

 

rice is for energy and houston. he isnt going to get ER with rice or su.

he wants to do investment management/ER, he can prolly get in at baird or something in the midwest with that... indiana has the investment managemnt academy or workshop or whatever... and for free? indiana for sure

and i also dont think any of them really have international prowess but kelley is highest ranked as well

 
shorttheworld:
rice is for energy and houston. he isnt going to get ER with rice or su.

he wants to do investment management/ER, he can prolly get in at baird or something in the midwest with that... indiana has the investment managemnt academy or workshop or whatever... and for free? indiana for sure

and i also dont think any of them really have international prowess but kelley is highest ranked as well

Don't you think that Rice is an upcoming school? I mean they are pretty well known internationally for their undergrad programs so the Rice name is definitely out there.

 

shorttheworld I still believe the wharton kids/ booth/ northwestern/ ross are getting first dibs in the midwest at the same jobs Kelley kids want. Rice's brand will take u further in the south than Indiana in the midwest, as for his hopes to do ER, I don't think one should make an MBA decision solely based on the hopes of getting into a workshop that may lead to a job. Fact of the matter is he has a more varied selection in the south with Rice than at Kelley. At least that's how it seems on the surface to a Texan.

p.s. u talk about overcoming UT.. dude the kid would have to overcome like 4 better programs in the midwest..

 

Also, Houston is one of most international cities in the country (probably just a few notches below NYC) so this helps being able to network with international students/companies. The downside of it is that most international companies here are energy-related companies, so yes, you will sort of get pigeon-holed.

Rice is a great brand name, in an increasingly international city. This should all work in your favor if you're planning on leaving the country at some point.

 

overcoming UT comment was to pacmans up and coming and rising heavily... sure indiana competeswith all those but i have buddies who work in ER and at banks and the like from kelley and the network is going to be much more expansive than jones relatively new program. fyi i did apply to rice 2 years ago with UT when i was gonna swith to energy and got in with a half scholly so i do know the program and the school

Rice is just Houston and maybe Texas. for the 'rest of the south' you have vandy and emory with much more expansive realms.

highly advise against either Rice or SMU given your goals and the money as well

 

The full ride at Kelley makes it a very interesting option for me. Any of you guys know any Kelley 2nd years going into ER/Investment management -- Would really like to get a first hand account or two of the job search process for ER/IM fields from Kelley. Is the Kelley reputation in finance decent in your opinion?

Is getting to the east coast from Kelley equally difficult as it would be from Rice? Or would Kelley have an edge there?

Thanks again guys for all the input -- giving me a lot of things to think about as I work towards making this decision.

 
Don't you think that Rice is an upcoming school? I mean they are pretty well known internationally for their undergrad programs so the Rice name is definitely out there.

I've spent quite some time outside the US and can say that when people hear Rice, education is by far not their first association. I'd say the university is pretty much unknown internationally.

 

If you don't want to be in Texas I would take Indiana.

Can't believe you got money from Rice and not from SMU...the latter gives it out like water. Definitely wouldn't pay full freight.

I view them fairly equally within the state...each does well in their respective cities but lose out to McCombs overall. SMU definitely tries to sell the network but I'll take McCombs any day on that front. I don't think SMU mba gets you the same network cred in Dallas as attending undergrad does.

Rice much better than SMU for IB/energy/ SMU probably better for asset management given the strength of that industry in dallas.

 

Rice does have a good amount of alumni in equity research/asset management positions. Most are in Houston due to most energy research being in Houston, but there are a good amount on the east coast. Rice has a very strong alumni network, and I personally believe that if you want to do ER in NYC or any other region then the alumni will do everything they can to help you out. Not saying that other schools won't do that for you. Texas is the bigger name nationally, but in all of the head to head battles for jobs this year it has been 50-50 between Rice/Texas for whose gotten the job.

 

Everyone knows SMU has a stronger finance program. SMU's MBA program is ranked pretty high and if you go there, they will tell you not to waste your time with anything but finance or accounting. According to them, you should do management or marketing if you don't want to make any money.

Also, the amount of Houston firms that recruit at SMU is crazy. I would say for every 1.5 Dallas firms that recruit at SMU, there is at least one Houston based firm. I'm sure there are a lot of Dallas firms trying to grab the top talent from Rice as well, but coming out of SMU, if you don't get a job in Dallas, you go to Houston. Most people who go to SMU want to work in Dallas, but it's easier to get a job at a top firm in Houston (i.e. they will accept sub 3.2 GPA). Rice is waste of time unless your wanting to do energy.

Personally, if you're getting a free ride from Indiana, I'd probably do that, but just don't go to Rice.

 

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