Umich Ross culture, competitiveness, and placement

I've been admitted into the University of Michigan's Ross school of business and am ecstatic. Lately though, I've been reading some concerning things:

Some posters are saying that despite its target status, most recruiting for BB's and EB's recruit through very selective clubs? I was kind of under the impression that once I had made it to a target I was set (Meaning - I am past the part of luck (some douche club frat not accepting me because of stupid things) determining my immediate future). I was looking to get into a BB or EB out of undergrad and being that Ross is a target how much do these clubs play a role.

I also would like to know abt any current or former Ross student's experience at the school in general and the vibe/culture of the university. I was reading that Ross is very competitive, and its cutthroat, which is one of the reasons why I avoided Stern. Is this the reality at Ross? Do people at UM view Ross as elitist? What is Ross's layman prestige?

Overall I really like the school and seem to like the architecture but once other decisions roll around (Upenn CAS, Georgetown McDonough, and ND Mendoza) these issues (Coupled with the outrageous OOS tuition) may all affect my ultimate decision.

16 Comments
 

The truth is no matter which college you go to you are not exactly set per say because assuming the school is known mainly for its IB placement naturally several students would be gunning for IB you need to understand that you are going up against several people with the same goal as you from now .Knowing that Umich is a great school and if you are able to set yourself apart early you should be able to get your foot in the door.

 

I had a great time at Ross. Class content is really easy compared to the difficulty of courses at the rest of UMich. Culture is what you make of it. Yes, banks recruit through clubs, but would imagine this is the case anywhere. You can still recruit without being in these clubs too, and all it takes is getting into one club to have the whole expanse of networking opportunities laid out for you.

 

Certain banks will skip OCR and email clubs directly (M Klein pretty much recruits off the resume books of a few of the clubs from what I remember). Club alumni tend to send emails about events/applications/etc directly to seniors that they know. Club alumni are more willing to hop on the phone with current members of their club, but that's not to say they don't talk to everyone else too. CDO office is open to everyone, but a lot of kids in finance clubs find the club network more helpful than career dev office. 

 
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I was kind of under the impression that once I had made it to a target I was set (Meaning - I am past the part of luck (some douche club frat not accepting me because of stupid things) determining my immediate future). 

There is no point in your life at which you will be past the point of luck playing a part in determining your future, so if that's your expectation you should adjust it quickly or you will be in for a rude awakening.  

 

A lot of target schools, if not the vast majority, have a good amount of OCR run through the various finance clubs at the school. That's not to say you can't make it without being a member but it'll definitely require some more legwork. 

 

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