U of Arizona (full scholarship) vs UMich Ross (40k)

Hi, I am (M17) and senior in high-school and deciding between Ross and Eller (at Arizona). I have recently been admitted to both Ross and Eller, and I am currently deciding between the schools. As I play wheelchair basketball completively, both schools are good fits as they have a team. 

I have aspirations in IB and I know Arizona isn't target for IB, but they have a finance cohort that places 100% of their juniors in internships. Although, Ross is target the price of 40k is quite high, it is affordable for my family. I have heard that Ross in competitively fierce, and it may be just as hard to get an internship as it is in Arizona. I know the Eller alumni network is smaller on WS but is Arizona worth the 160k in savings?

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Just my 2 cents. At Arizona you have big fish in small pond opportunity, and Mich is likely the opposite but that doesn't mean you can't stand out. Wheelchair basketball is interesting enough and the fact ur on wso as a high schooler you'll prob get enough looks at UMich. Also if you go ASU your riding a lot on getting into those programs, at you mich you have room to fail.

Can't make the decision for you bc money is obviously a big deal but I think Ross would be a lot more valuable short and long term

 

Michigan by a mile. $160k might seem like a ton of money right now, but over the course of your career (especially if you stay in finance) it's a drop in the bucket. Your educational pedigree is something that you'll leverage for the rest of your life. It opens doors, and it's how people gauge/size you up with the limited information they have. Finance has a very competitive and inherently elitist culture, people tend to give a shit about where you went to school more so than in other career fields.

 

Go to ASU instead of U of A. Will prob get similar scholarship and ASU is infinitely better for finance

 

I'd also say that I have never come across an Arizona grad in finance. I have met several from ASU though. I've met dozens and dozens (hundreds maybe?) of Michigan grads. 

We took a roadtrip once to a Mich FB game with several guys from our desk, including a Mich grad, who led the charge. It was an epic weekend. First bar we walked into upon arrival after taking a rental van we drove from NYC, my buddy sees that they have $1 pitchers and throws down a $100 bill and says I want 100 (he did tip as well). He then proceeds to pass them out to our crew and more or less the entire bar. Entertaining times...

To bring it back to AZ and the month of March...for the 2005 IL v AZ Elite 8 game my Mich buddy came with me to watch it. I was super pissed off as we were down pretty badly with what was an epic team that only lost 1 regular season game. I was so pissed that I was ready to just go home, and my friend talked me into staying. Without him I wouldn't have seen one of the most epic NCAA tourney comebacks of all time by my own school.

 

UMich is hands down the better school of the two. There are no comparisons whatsoever.

With that being said, Eller guarantees IB placement provided you can get into WSP. They have a very solid pipeline and have placed very well over the last few years (blackstone PE, evercore M&A, BB etc). Don’t ask me how I know it :)

The guy who runs the program has incredible connections in the sun belt region and does well to get you into boutique shops for freshman summer internships. Additionally the guys that run RX at AM in phx are alumni’s and recruit heavily out of the financial modeling club and so RX is also an option down the line.

If you need to take out student loans for UMich, I would very seriously recommend looking at UAz. Trust me, it won’t be as bad as some are saying it would be :)

 

Az has some good boutiques which can be good for recruiting and mentorship, but I would caution against it. Monetary wise we need more clarity into your situation but generally with 7/10 effort you will get a job out of UMich that will make it meaningless. For some reason half the comments mention ASU, which is odd to me since we are talking about UofA, bear in mind Tucson is a hellscape and no sane person enjoys the surrounding area...Regarding placements, you can get anywhere from anywhere provided you work hard at building relationships. The relationships you can build at UMich are easier and will give you a much clearer and more direct path to IB. Regarding these "Programs" and "clubs" you dont want to be in an environment where your social relations and IB opportunities are based off your chance at getting into said areas, once you're in you segregate from the others in your school - I have noticed people who come from programs, or workshops are just worse socially, so don't stunt yourself or stress on politics this early. Another intangible to factor is brand name, as mentioned in another comment people are snobby and want to be surrounded by others with "prestigious" backgrounds. Also, your alumni network is massive at UMich and you will have no shortage of people to reach out too. The smart decision here is too do UMich, if money at this stage is a really big factor due to family situation etc. try to reach out to UMich, and in the worst case diligence UofA more. 

 

Some of these comments remind me of someone I know who picked IU over Cornell because he figured he would get into the Investment Banking Workshop and pay way less for the same outcome. Long story short, he did not make it into IBW and had a really hard time recruiting - still ended up in IB but definitely not where he would have likely landed out of Cornell. 

Unless you have the mental strength to deal with potentially being 1.5 years in and slowly coming to the realization that you've missed your shot, I'd pick Michigan. 

 

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