Below is a video that was posted on Business Week of Jim Dean, the Dean of the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School. In the video he briefly discusses whether undergrad institution matters.
To summarize:
Undergrad intuition matters somewhat but it isn't the only thing that matters. Prospective students that went to a prestigious undergrad institution and excelled could have a leg up. However, Kenan-Flagler is impressed with prospective students with backgrounds that did not allow for them to get into a prestigious school, yet they still excelled in school and had great experiences.
I like this topic because I didn't go to a prestigious school. I am actually the first in my nuclear family to graduate from college and I think that is something that I can bring out in my application. I didn't really have the background to get into an Ivy League school out of high school, yet I still excelled and had great experiences. Instead of seeing this as a weakness, I will do my best to turn this into a strength in my essays.
Showing posts with label Kenan-Flagler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenan-Flagler. Show all posts
2010-2011 Full Time B-School Tuition
I like to look at things visually, so I put a quick graph together on b-school tuition for the Top 25 schools from the U.S. News ranking. I think you will see that the tuition for private schools is pretty consistent. The thing that sticks out the most is the in-state tuition for some of the public schools. For example, a non-resident of North Carolina would pay an additional $22,124 in tuition at Kenan-Flagler for the 2010-2011 school year. What I am getting at from this post is if you have a top public school in your state, I highly recommend looking into it!
One aspect I want to discuss more in my blog is the financial impact of business school. Many of my family and friends ask me why I want to take on the financial burden of business school. Although b-school is expensive, I don't see it as a financial burden, but as an investment in my future.
Last year, I developed a spreadsheet to look at the NPV of attending various b-schools. I plan to update the spreadsheet in the coming weeks and will post it on my blog when it is complete.
Kenan-Flagler vs. Darden
I was asked to put together a comparison of Kenan-Flagler and Darden since I visited both schools. I am going to do a summary of location, recruiting, class/teaching method, and students. I will go through each of these topics and state which school I give an edge to.
Note: This is based solely on my research, campus visits, and conversations with students. Please take this entire post with a grain of salt.
Location
Edge - Even
I can’t really give the edge to either of these schools for the location. I really enjoyed both locations. The one thing that I liked about both of these schools is that the business school buildings are not in the middle of the campus. They are somewhat separated from the main campus. That makes for easier access. However, Kenan-Flagler is close to the Research Triangle Park (RTP) area. This could be considered an advantage for recruiting. That said, I think Darden has does well recruiting with companies in RTP. If nightlife is an important aspect of your decision, Kenan-Flagler has the edge there. Franklin Street seems like a great place for nightlife.
Recruiting
Edge – Darden
I have exchanged numerous e-mails with students at both schools regarding recruiting. In general, I think it has been a tough year everywhere for recruiting. However, I think it has been a little more difficult at Kenan-Flagler. Here is some information from the employment reports from both schools to back up my highly scientific (haha) hypothesis.
Employment Reports:
Kenan-Flagler
http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/assets/documents/mba-employment-report.pdf
Darden- http://www.darden.virginia.edu/uploadedFiles/Navigate_Darden/Academics/Career_Development/Employment_Report%202010.pdf
Class of 2009
Kenan-Flagler – 57.31% offer received by graduation.
Darden – 77.2 offer received by graduation
Kenan-Flagler – 71.15% offer received by three months after graduation.
Darden - 81.6% offer received by three months after graduation. (Not 100% sure this number is accurate)
Kenan-Flagler Average Base Salary: $93,012.12
Darden Average Base Salary: $102,903
From the employment reports the one thing that sticks out to me is the percentage of students accepting consulting positions. At Darden, 31% of the students accepted consulting positions. At Kenan-Flagler, only 14.44% accepted consulting positions. This is probably due to Darden’s use of the case method.
Darden’s information for the class of 2010 internships is not nearly as detailed as Kenan-Flagler’s information. Therefore, I won’t state any facts from those reports.
Class/Teaching Method
Edge – Personal choice
It is tough to give an edge to either school for teaching method because it is highly personal. It truly depends on each individual and how he/she best learns. For me personally, I think 70% case and 30% lecture would be ideal. My one concern with 100% case is in classes such as accounting. This was one of my key questions to Darden students. I never received a good answer. I get the feeling that the case method doesn’t work well for accounting classes. In fact, on my Kenan-Flagler visit, one of the students mentioned she had to help a Darden student understand accounting at a competition that both schools participated in. Again, this is a highly personal subject. Thus, I will leave it up to my readers to decide which school has the edge.
Students
Edge – Slight edge to Kenan-Flagler
The students at Darden were great. They were very welcoming and they have a fun way of introducing you to a class. The students at Kenan-Flagler were very welcoming and passionate about the school. I know in the class I sat in on, the students were very interested in talking to me (not the ones from the admission office). I thought that was interesting and didn’t know if it was like that at all schools since Kenan-Flagler was my first visit (it’s not like that at all schools, trust me). This is why I am giving the edge to Kenan-Flagler students. I know it’s not the best reason, but I felt like I was just another class mate while I was at Kenan-Flagler.
Note: This is based solely on my research, campus visits, and conversations with students. Please take this entire post with a grain of salt.
Location
Edge - Even
I can’t really give the edge to either of these schools for the location. I really enjoyed both locations. The one thing that I liked about both of these schools is that the business school buildings are not in the middle of the campus. They are somewhat separated from the main campus. That makes for easier access. However, Kenan-Flagler is close to the Research Triangle Park (RTP) area. This could be considered an advantage for recruiting. That said, I think Darden has does well recruiting with companies in RTP. If nightlife is an important aspect of your decision, Kenan-Flagler has the edge there. Franklin Street seems like a great place for nightlife.
Recruiting
Edge – Darden
I have exchanged numerous e-mails with students at both schools regarding recruiting. In general, I think it has been a tough year everywhere for recruiting. However, I think it has been a little more difficult at Kenan-Flagler. Here is some information from the employment reports from both schools to back up my highly scientific (haha) hypothesis.
Employment Reports:
Kenan-Flagler
http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/assets/documents/mba-employment-report.pdf
Darden- http://www.darden.virginia.edu/uploadedFiles/Navigate_Darden/Academics/Career_Development/Employment_Report%202010.pdf
Class of 2009
Kenan-Flagler – 57.31% offer received by graduation.
Darden – 77.2 offer received by graduation
Kenan-Flagler – 71.15% offer received by three months after graduation.
Darden - 81.6% offer received by three months after graduation. (Not 100% sure this number is accurate)
Kenan-Flagler Average Base Salary: $93,012.12
Darden Average Base Salary: $102,903
From the employment reports the one thing that sticks out to me is the percentage of students accepting consulting positions. At Darden, 31% of the students accepted consulting positions. At Kenan-Flagler, only 14.44% accepted consulting positions. This is probably due to Darden’s use of the case method.
Darden’s information for the class of 2010 internships is not nearly as detailed as Kenan-Flagler’s information. Therefore, I won’t state any facts from those reports.
Class/Teaching Method
Edge – Personal choice
It is tough to give an edge to either school for teaching method because it is highly personal. It truly depends on each individual and how he/she best learns. For me personally, I think 70% case and 30% lecture would be ideal. My one concern with 100% case is in classes such as accounting. This was one of my key questions to Darden students. I never received a good answer. I get the feeling that the case method doesn’t work well for accounting classes. In fact, on my Kenan-Flagler visit, one of the students mentioned she had to help a Darden student understand accounting at a competition that both schools participated in. Again, this is a highly personal subject. Thus, I will leave it up to my readers to decide which school has the edge.
Students
Edge – Slight edge to Kenan-Flagler
The students at Darden were great. They were very welcoming and they have a fun way of introducing you to a class. The students at Kenan-Flagler were very welcoming and passionate about the school. I know in the class I sat in on, the students were very interested in talking to me (not the ones from the admission office). I thought that was interesting and didn’t know if it was like that at all schools since Kenan-Flagler was my first visit (it’s not like that at all schools, trust me). This is why I am giving the edge to Kenan-Flagler students. I know it’s not the best reason, but I felt like I was just another class mate while I was at Kenan-Flagler.
Questionnaire Update
So I have heard back from 3 Darden students and 2 Kenan-Flagler students from my questionnaires. I actually spoke on the phone with a Kenan-Flagler student for about 25 minutes last night which was pretty valuable. Also, I have a call scheduled on the 15th with a Darden student! I am very happy that the students I reached out to are so willing to help me out and answer all of my questions.
I sent my third questionnaire out to 3 Tuck students today. I already heard back from one of them that wants to schedule a call on Sunday!
Here is a quick summary of my conversation with the Kenan-Flagler student:
How has recruiting been this year?
She said it has been pretty rough, especially for international students. This seems to be a common theme with all of the students I talk to.
Have many Healthcare companies been recruiting on campus?
She said there are a lot of healthcare companies recruiting on campus. I told her I am interested in a Leadership Development Program (LDP) with a Healthcare company and she gave me contact information for a student that will be joining Johnson & Johnson for a LDP. I'm very happy about this! I can't wait to talk to this student because she is doing exactly what I want to!
How helpful have alumni been?
She said they have been very responsive and always willing to help out. However, most alumni aren't in a position to hire students.
What type of events does the General Management club sponsor?
She said a lot of different networking events. Here is a list of some of the things the club does:
-Match first year students with second year mentors.
-Provide lists of companies and positions for companies not recruiting on campus.
-Networking events to publicize different companies
How has your experience been at Kenan-Flagler?
She broke this down into two areas. She said first the school experience has been wonderful. It is a very close and collaborative group of students and she really got a lot out of her school experience. However, the recruiting experience has been terrible. She said it has been very stressful and difficult to find a job.
I sent my third questionnaire out to 3 Tuck students today. I already heard back from one of them that wants to schedule a call on Sunday!
Here is a quick summary of my conversation with the Kenan-Flagler student:
How has recruiting been this year?
She said it has been pretty rough, especially for international students. This seems to be a common theme with all of the students I talk to.
Have many Healthcare companies been recruiting on campus?
She said there are a lot of healthcare companies recruiting on campus. I told her I am interested in a Leadership Development Program (LDP) with a Healthcare company and she gave me contact information for a student that will be joining Johnson & Johnson for a LDP. I'm very happy about this! I can't wait to talk to this student because she is doing exactly what I want to!
How helpful have alumni been?
She said they have been very responsive and always willing to help out. However, most alumni aren't in a position to hire students.
What type of events does the General Management club sponsor?
She said a lot of different networking events. Here is a list of some of the things the club does:
-Match first year students with second year mentors.
-Provide lists of companies and positions for companies not recruiting on campus.
-Networking events to publicize different companies
How has your experience been at Kenan-Flagler?
She broke this down into two areas. She said first the school experience has been wonderful. It is a very close and collaborative group of students and she really got a lot out of her school experience. However, the recruiting experience has been terrible. She said it has been very stressful and difficult to find a job.
Questionnaire to Darden and Kenan-Flagler Students
Today, I put together two questionnaires for current Students at Darden and Kenan-Flagler. I sent one to students at Darden with leadership roles in the Healthcare club. I sent the second to students at Kenan-Flagler with leadership roles in the General Management club. In total, I sent the questionnaires to twelve current students. I didn't really know what to expect when I sent these, but to my surprise I have received two responses already. Two students from Darden have responded to my questions and one even offered to talk more in depth. Here is a sample of the questionnaire that I sent to Darden.
I found your contact information on the Healthcare club website and thought it would be appropriate to contact you. I am going to be visiting Darden on March 22nd and wanted to reach out to you in advance to gather some information. I hope you don’t mind me reaching out to you and I respect that you have a very busy schedule.
Here are a few of the questions that I was curious about:
Hello, I am prospective student and will be applying to Darden’s MBA program in the Fall to be part of the class of 2013. I am interested in Healthcare field. Ideally, I would like to enter a Leadership Rotational Program with a Healthcare organization.
I found your contact information on the Healthcare club website and thought it would be appropriate to contact you. I am going to be visiting Darden on March 22nd and wanted to reach out to you in advance to gather some information. I hope you don’t mind me reaching out to you and I respect that you have a very busy schedule.
Here are a few of the questions that I was curious about:
- Have you seen an increase in companies recruiting for the Healthcare industry at Darden?
- What type of positions are these recruiters hiring for? Consulting, Leadership Rotational Programs, or other types of positions?
- Does Darden have a strong alumni network in Healthcare?
- How active is the Healthcare club and what are some of the future plans for the club?
- Are there any professors you recommend I reach out to?
- How has your experience been at Darden so far?
I highly recommend reaching out to students at your target schools with a similar questionnaire. It is a great way to research the schools and gain valuable information that you can use in your essays. I plan on creating additional questionnaires for all of my target schools. I will update my blog in the next few days after I hear back from some more of the students.
Kenan-Flagler Visit
I had my visit to Kenan-Flagler Monday, November 2nd. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the school and feel like I would fit in well. Below is my detailed debrief of the visit.
Arrival
I got to the admissions office about 40 minutes early and it was filled with ten other students and a first year student to answer questions while we were waiting. It was tough to really ask questions in that setting, so that wasn’t very valuable. However, it was good for the perspective students who were waiting to interview. It seemed to calm them all down. Also, I found out that I was one of only two that were visiting only and not interviewing. Thus, I was the only guy that wasn’t in a suit. However, my attire made me look like a student. Therefore, I stand by my decision to wear business casual.
Lunch
Once all of the students got to the admissions office, we went downstairs to the café to have lunch. The café was not bad, but not great either. I sat by a second year student at lunch and had the opportunity to ask a lot of the questions that I was interested in. She was VERY passionate about Kenan-Flagler. Overall, lunch was great and I asked a lot of questions. A lot of the other perspective students seemed a little shy to ask questions, so I was happy to fill the void. After lunch, we went back up to the admissions office to wait for students to bring us to on a tour.
Tour
I was impressed with the McColl building. The study rooms were great and there were a lot of them. The students seemed to be very collaborative. The tour guide I had was actually doing his first tour, so it could have been better. Not much else to say about the tour.
Class
I got to sit in on a Marketing class. I guess I was lucky; I got a great professor that I discussed with the second year student at lunch. He started the class with welcoming the perspective students. Then he had the two of us introduce ourselves to the class. The class was great and very welcoming. I actually sat by a student that went to high school in Pittsburgh (small world)! The class was interesting and he talked about different ways to price. He reviewed the demand curve form microeconomics and then went into price bundling. The class was very interactive and the students were really interested in learning.
Final Thoughts
The best part in my opinion was sitting in on the class. I could definitely see myself fitting into that type of classroom atmosphere! Overall, I was very impressed with Kenan-Flagler. However, this was my first school visit. I don’t really have anything to compare it against yet. I will be able to judge better once I visit a few more schools.
I had my visit to Kenan-Flagler Monday, November 2nd. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the school and feel like I would fit in well. Below is my detailed debrief of the visit.
Arrival
I got to the admissions office about 40 minutes early and it was filled with ten other students and a first year student to answer questions while we were waiting. It was tough to really ask questions in that setting, so that wasn’t very valuable. However, it was good for the perspective students who were waiting to interview. It seemed to calm them all down. Also, I found out that I was one of only two that were visiting only and not interviewing. Thus, I was the only guy that wasn’t in a suit. However, my attire made me look like a student. Therefore, I stand by my decision to wear business casual.
Lunch
Once all of the students got to the admissions office, we went downstairs to the café to have lunch. The café was not bad, but not great either. I sat by a second year student at lunch and had the opportunity to ask a lot of the questions that I was interested in. She was VERY passionate about Kenan-Flagler. Overall, lunch was great and I asked a lot of questions. A lot of the other perspective students seemed a little shy to ask questions, so I was happy to fill the void. After lunch, we went back up to the admissions office to wait for students to bring us to on a tour.
Tour
I was impressed with the McColl building. The study rooms were great and there were a lot of them. The students seemed to be very collaborative. The tour guide I had was actually doing his first tour, so it could have been better. Not much else to say about the tour.
Class
I got to sit in on a Marketing class. I guess I was lucky; I got a great professor that I discussed with the second year student at lunch. He started the class with welcoming the perspective students. Then he had the two of us introduce ourselves to the class. The class was great and very welcoming. I actually sat by a student that went to high school in Pittsburgh (small world)! The class was interesting and he talked about different ways to price. He reviewed the demand curve form microeconomics and then went into price bundling. The class was very interactive and the students were really interested in learning.
Final Thoughts
The best part in my opinion was sitting in on the class. I could definitely see myself fitting into that type of classroom atmosphere! Overall, I was very impressed with Kenan-Flagler. However, this was my first school visit. I don’t really have anything to compare it against yet. I will be able to judge better once I visit a few more schools.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
