Hi everyone,
I'm fortunate to receive admits from both Tuck and Ross, both small cohort programs with ~10% going into IB (but high placement rates of those who actually want to go into IB -~90-95%). I'm seeking some advice on this forum to decide.
Background: female, Asian, Canadian (so International student); 4.5 yrs in healthcare specialty pharma M&A, healthcare consulting and strategy in the cannabis industry. Post MBA goal of Biopharma IB in NYC
Thanks a lot!
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Congrats on the acceptances!
Both awesome schools that were on my shortlist that will send a vast majority of candidates who jump through the hoops to BB/EB/top MM. What I learned is that it TRULY does not matter which school you're at in this tier. You will get as many at-bats as you deserve based on your profile and will be successful. Pick where you have a scholarship or where you think you'll have more fun for two years. To think that I stressed constantly over picking Duke vs. Tuck vs. Darden vs. Ross vs. Yale only to see how the process works from the inside...
Congrats on two great acceptances!
Both schools can get you where you want to be, but they are both fairly different.
Ross is part of a larger sized Uni while Tuck has an amazing supportive alumni base. If you're the type of person who will proactively use the Tuck alumni base in your career and enjoys a smaller b-school experience, I suggest Tuck. If you prefer a larger Uni experience, Ross is the best option.
At the end of the day, both schools are great and your acceptances are something to be proud of.
Good luck!
I looked at both for IB as well and chose to apply to Tuck and not to Ross. Both place into IB but from what I gathered Tuck has much stronger relationships with Bulge Bracket banks.
Don't disagree with the suggestion but the reasoning is flawed. That's the type of vague assertion that clouds the MBA process for candidates. How do you judge "stronger relationships?" (hint, you can't).
If the banks recruit at your school and you have some alumni there...that's it. There is not some magic Tuck connection or Ross connection that makes any difference from that point on beyond your individual interactions. It bums me out that people pick places they think will somehow give them a leg up when I can promise you that it does not.
TLDR: I agree with the poster earlier, pick based on $ or where you want to spend two years, thinking one will help you in the recruiting process vs. the other is untrue.
You definitely have a point that my reasoning is anecdotal but having gone through the Summer Associate recruiting process just this year I think it is valuable. In my time recruiting (from Booth) I came across a lot more Tuck bankers than Ross ones. You cant judge stronger relationships between groups and schools, but they do matter. This was told to me by school captains at Booth for multiple BBs that teams from certain MBA programs prefer to hire more from their own school, and I definitely noticed it (while it is definitely possible to still overcome this barrier, I ended up accepting an offer with a team that has no one from my own school). For IB Tuck is better than Ross just as Booth is better than Kellogg for IB recruiting, all great schools that still place but maybe in smaller numbers.
Pick Tuck. You won't regret it
I think Tuck wins this one strictly because it is known as the ivy where alumni are most-friendly and willing to help current students. This doesn't sound like a big deal since you will get similar recruiting opportunities at both but from a network perspective it definitely makes Tuck standout (even against slightly better programs like NYU).
Guess we define "better" differently - IMO I consider the "better" MBA program for IB is to have vast networks and alumni in each bank because it is the alumni driving the process and sending the interview invites at the end. So I think four programs (Wharton, Booth, CBS, and Stern) came to my top list.
To OP's concern, I've seen more Tuck bankers than Ross bankers (at the MBA level) and those I've known personally really want to help their fellow classes, rather than be "picky" about them - to me that's a big plus as students will make mistakes here and there and bankers with high tolerance seem to help the overall recruiting experience (it is not great either way, so just pick the better one). Plus, post-COVID world, Ross students will have to fly to NYC vs. Tuck students can just ride the bus down - sense it is cheaper as well.
Thanks for all the great insights & thought-provoking discussions!
To complicate things, I just got admitted to Cornell Johnson as well, which has an amazing IB immersion and great placements in IB. But from what I'm hearing through the grapevine, it seems like Johnson places well in Boutiques but not so much in Bulge Brackets since it's a non-target, thoughts on this?
Also, the IB recruitment preparation at Johnson is way more structured in comparison to Ross & Tuck.
I actually think both are equally good decisions for the reasons you mentioned. Tuck still is considered more prestigious if that matters, but Cornell was definitely a school that did amazing, maybe even better than Tuck at recruiting.
Tuck and it’s not really a close decision unless significant scholarship or personal matters are involved
Tuck. With international tag, you’ll need BB slots and Tuck just has more vs other two. Recruiting also historically seemed international friendly vs Cornell
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