Ross BBA vs Wash U Olin

For once I'm actually telling the truth when I say I'm making the BIGGEST decision of my life.

So in the blue corner we obviously have the University of Michigan Ross and in the red Washington University in St. Louis Olin. I'm mainly looking for the school that would give me the most exposure to MBB firms and would hold the highest pedigree for MBA admissions.

Honestly, both are even in terms of pro's and con's, I just need some professional advice to solidly push me in one direction.

Ross
-Top-notch recruiting
-more fun(in some ways)
-Great friends who would help me with greek life, clubs, networking

Wash U
- Higher General Academic Prestige
- Better Weather
- I'd be a big fish in a small pond
-Flexible curriculum(Would Major in Finance with other concentrations in ~Statistics/CS , Spanish, Theology/History/Literature/Psychology/Entrepreneurship/Philosophy)

So this is the rundown but I have one more thing to add:

I'm going to do one of two things in life - run my own business(es) or grow other businesses as a VC.

That's it. I'd really appreciate if you could lead me down the path that would most cultivate an energetic and entrepreneurial mindset while laying the groundwork for a solid business career foundation.

 

The cultures between the two couldn't be more different. Olin is a very, let me call it, "wholesome" school. The kids usually come from very wealthy families in Long Island. The library is always packed - Friday, Saturday, Sunday, it doesn't matter. It's tough to score with chicks. I imagine Ross will be different.

“Elections are a futures market for stolen property”
 
Funniest

Yeah, I mean the chicks (undergrad) are prude and generally hang out in very low key bars on the Loop (patch of bars near the school). You'll see 10 of them at a table, not drinking alcohol. I was once invited to an undergrad party. They were using Excel with the RAND function for a drinking game. No one got laid. Very sad.

“Elections are a futures market for stolen property”
 

Both are targets for midwest MBB offices (ross has better ibanking ocr though) and I'd think MBA adcoms would view them in the same league, so u should make your decision based on fit. Basically its Big Ten culture + huge alumni base v. academic flexibility + cushy private school housing/rescources

 

If you're simply concerned about maximizing your business recruiting odds, I would go with Ross. This is especially true if you end up switching business tracks as well. Ross especially kills WashU in finance recruiting (I had friends that even landed top PE funds out of Ross). More importantly, you should visit the two schools and figure out which one you like more. Happy life = better grades and college accomplishments = better recruiting odds. I think it's kind of crazy when high school kids go into college with their career already planned. I would recommend a more open-minded and liberal arts approach to choosing what you want to do. Odds are, your opinions will change in college. I came into college dead set on being a lawyer and now I'm an analyst at a MBB (I realized after taking some law school classes that I would hate the work of a lawyer).

 

Love that insight! Enrolled in college as a finance major wanting to work in IB. Ended up working for a REPE / Development firm and starting my first business. Have gone on to found two other ventures and haven't looked back. Going to be graduating college as a history and international affairs major.. the liberal arts classes are what gave me the thinking process to succeed in the business world.

 
Best Response

Can't comment on Ross, but I went to WUSTL undergrad and while I was not in Olin, we had access to the same resources/firms when it came to recruiting. This is a 4-5 years dated but when I was there, MBB recruiting was not great. Wash U was a target for Bain (6+ hires per year), a semi-target for BCG (~1-2 hires per year) and was not even on McKinsey's radar, although some folks managed to get into McK's process via networking/connections. And for those that did make it to MBB, it was pretty much midwest/southern offices only. Deloitte recruited pretty heavily and that is where I ended up. I always felt for a school of Wash U's caliber that these were pretty tough odds and that the school did not do a good job building deep relationships with the firms or helping students prepare for the recruiting process. I liked my experience at Wash U overall a lot, but recruiting was a weak spot and hopefully it has improved over time.

 

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