I've been admitted to Olin, Smeal, and Merage and am having trouble deciding between the three. I'd appreciate any comments you might have!

Washington U Olin:
+ first tier school (lower first tier)
o Location (St. Louis) seems reasonable for living, but perhaps not the best to find a job
- Cost

Penn State Smeal:
+ They have given me an assistancechip which includes a full tuition waiver!
+ Seems like an up and coming school
- Location
- Location
- Location

UC Irvine Merage:
+ Location Location Location
+ Should be easier to find a job in the bay area (where I want to live long term)
- Cost
- Not as highly ranked as the other schools.

Ideally, I'd like a combination of Smeal's financial assistance, Olin's name/reputation, and Merage's location :) Too bad we can't pick and choose the features of all the schools. :)

Long term, I want to be doing general management or marketing in the bay area.

Thanks!
JP

Hi JP -- Three interesting choices. All good, I think. Congratulations.

I don't know about Penn State, but they DO seem like they're up and coming. I get the feeling Merage is, too. Not sure how connected Merage is to the Bay Area; I would assume that it has good links to regional industries down in LA, but probably not too much of a geographical advantage over the others if you want to land in the Bay Area. Who's got the strongest marketing angle, and who can get you a job? I think that with widely available concentrations like gen management and marketing, you should pick the strongest school you get into. So, I'd probably pick Olin and just focus my job search, internships, etc. toward the Bay Area, if that's possible. (I know a full ride at Penn State and the southern California sun are hard things to turn away!)

Best of luck to you.