Hi MBA gurus,

I have an offer from Sauder UBC and Katz. Katz has given me a very impressive scholarship.

Till now, I have not received any scholarship from Sauder.
Can you please let me know on which school would suit my profile ?

My exp: 31 months in Deloitte Consulting India

I want to continue my career in consulting, but move from technology consulting to technology strategy consulting. Due to the financial benefit, I am inclined to go to Katz because of an impressive scholarship. Can you please guide me on this ?

Thanks,
Kaushik

That's tricky. My feeling is that Katz will give you a better education and that the opportunities will be better. However, it's easier to get a work permit in Canada than in the US. Maybe in the US it's a 50:50 chance that you'll find work there.

It will be less expensive for me if it is Katz and the ROI will be very fast. Moreover Deloitte recruits at Katz and I know people who have joined in Deloitte from Katz.

Do you see any other benefits other than work permit for Sauder ? Please let me know your thoughts on ROI, quality education, opportunities in Consulting.. etc

Hmmmm. Well, I was in Vancouver a few months ago and to be honest it's doesn't have an amazing reputation there. It has a huge catchment area and a dynamic mining industry, so it's impossible for it to recruit terrible students or not have the pick of faculty in the region. But Katz has some real energy and a great placement programme for international students. I think you have to make up your own mind, and also compare the different structures of the programmes.

When you said it in Vancouver it was Sauder right?

I always believe in Katz

Hello Kaushik,

Congrats on your admits. You choice of schools should follow where you wish to work. If you wish to work in Canada go for Sauder, if you wish to work in US for Katz.

For Consulting related roles, both colleges offers experiential learning in their curriculum.

Katz has Katz Consulting project, while Sauder has integrated their curriculum and provide Coaching (I attended one of their web presentations and was impressed......however web presentations are designed to impress).

While it's true that Deloitte hires from Katz, the number of candidates is not more than 1 or 2. They also use filtering criteria such as GMAT, GPA etc. You are thinking of getting into Strategy & Operations role in Deloitte post Katz, then it is going to be a tough task. Deloitte usually hires for IT Consulting, given Katz's strength in MIS.

For other roles, Katz graduates face a tough challenge since Tepper is across the road. So carefully investigate what career path is offered to Katz graduate.

Katz is in top 50-60 bracket in USA, and most Strategy related roles are exhausted by top 15-20. Afterwards a lot depends upon your past experience, GMAT score etc.

Since you have already worked with Deloitte you can ask your local HR to patch you with US HR & Canadian Deloitte's HR to seek their advice.

Vancouver has limited number of Companies there, but so does Pittsburgh. Usually, companies recruiting students from Canadian B schools for Consulting roles prefer students who can enter US to meet the clients without sponsorship, even with your Canadian work permit, you will require sponsorship to enter US (or so I think, please double check this fact).

Usually, few students will start the PR process as soon as they land in Canada or apply for Federal Reserve Skilled Labour program from their home country.
Please also note that there are only 65,000 H1Bs issued annually. Most companies will want to sponsor H1B for technical roles.

As Duncun rightly said it's 50:50 with Katz. Katz is good program in a Big US Market, but shadowed by several other better programs.
Similarly Sauder is a good program in a relatively smaller Canadian Market, accompanied by few prominent Business schools.

Best way will be to ask your local HR to patch you with US/Canadian recruitment personnel.

Also keep in mind other factors: e.g.
Sauder has more international tie-ups and exchange programs, while Katz has most notable tie-up with IIM-Indore.

Also, Sauder is a 16 month program, you will spend less time out of work and your cost of living will be less because of 4-5 months rent that you won't pay.
Katz on the other hand is a 20 month program, but I am told by current students that they also offer some flexibility to finish the program in less time. Although they do have an accelerated 1 year program, I am yet to understand how can a student finish his or her program in less than 20 months in their given format.

Try to find your true "fit" factor, as you would have done an internal ranking of preference before you applied to these schools. Don't bank on rankings as these schools belong to different country.

In the end, lookout for your preference, money/time invested in MBA, diversity etc. But rest assured, you cannot go wrong with either of these schools from an educational point of view.

Best of luck, hope it helps
Ayon
(P.S - I have applied to Sauder, and thinking of applying to Katz :) )

Students on the one-year program at Katz take their electives in a special summer trimester: http://www.business.pitt.edu/katz/mba/academics/programs/one-year.php Very easy for them to graduate in one year, since they also take fewer electives. Katz has been running this one year program for 50 years, more or less.

If you want to do strategy consulting, then you have to attend different schools.

Thanks Ayon and Duncan for the elaborate posts !

I am just looking at the difference in investment since I will be taking a loan for my education. Only if Sauder gives me more benefits than Katz I am willing to take up the course with more investment.

The only positives in Sauder which I see now are
a) PR
b) Better foreign relations as you pointed out.

I wanted to go to Sauder till last week, but the heavy difference in program cost and job opportunities in the US for consulting are making my heads turn. :)

Anyone with more experience, please share your opinions.

Hello Kaushik,

Can you please share your profile GMAT/WE etc?

When you say Consulting, it becomes a generalist term. I have a friend studying in 2nd year at Katz, and one of my senior graduated from CMU: Tepper.

My Tepper senior said that I could be better off without Katz. I could understand his statement as he was benchmarking Katz against Tepper.

But even Tepper is not a hotspot for Consulting / Management Consulting / Strategy Consulting roles......I doubt if Katz graduates will have it any easier for these roles.

My friend at Katz 2nd year told me that Katz is good in Operations and MIS. But I won't bet on Katz to get into IT Consulting either. Remember, most IT folks from India/Asia getting into Katz or similar school will have a similar career vision. Not to discourage you, but for IT Consulting. few good schools can be UC Irvine, Maryland Smith, UCLA, MIT, CMU, Austin, and the likes.

Sauder has good program, but it won't guarantee a PR. In Canada, the law states that you can granted a permit for a time which is equal to the time spent studying in Canada. so it will yield a 16 month permit. Several student get lawyers and get a sweet deal of 3 years. but the province of British Columbia has good amount of Asian population, they may not readily give you a immigration / citizenship like New Foundland, Alberta and other provices.

Also Vancouver has lesser jobs, and grads are required to travel to Toronto, Mississauga, Calgary, Edmonton for job search.

But chances are that you wont be working in Pittsburgh either.

So, if everything else is comparable and Katz is costing substantially less, then it will reduce your risk and then go for it :)

BR
Ayon

I have technology consulting experience in Deloitte Consulting.
WE : 31 ,months experience in Deloitte
GMAT : 660

I talked to some of the seniors there in Katz and the consulting jobs which is majorly technology consulting occupies 30% of their placements.

Talking about Strategy consulting/Management consulting, I understand that the top 15 colleges exhaust all the openings.

What I am looking at is a switch to technology strategy and then gradually into Strategy consulting. It still might look far fetched but I would definitely want to give it a try.

At Katz, I know people who have got into Deloitte and it might help me to start off. At Sauder, I have to start from zero.

Thanks,
Kaushik

@ Duncan

Katz goes out of the list of top 100 in FT rankings, and Sauder jumps 25 places to 57 !

Duncan your feedback on these rankings. On what scale can this affect a School ?

I don't think the FT rankings have a big impact on schools in North America. But falling out of the FT 100 has a huge impact here in the UK.

Doesn't it depend more on the factors on which they are ranked ?
Any elaborate reasons on why it affect schools in the UK and not in the North America ?

The FT's ranking is not preeminent in North America.