u/limitedmark10

For the sake of anonymity, I will be vague on which of these I'm waitlisted in and have been accepted. Of my acceptances, I received small amounts of scholarship from them so that won't be a factor. Would appreciate people's thoughts and advice.

My situation:

• Tech consulting background at B4
• Interested in using MBA to pivot into finance.
• My big caveat is I don't want to go through the IB hellhole. I'd much rather use my MBA to jump into AM/HF/IM/ER, or similar roles.
• I understand the only MBAs perhaps capable of doing that is CBS (through their VIP program) and Booth. While CBS VIP is fiercely competitive, it offers a pretty clear career pipeline. Booth has a legendary finance reputation but their career offerings into buyside finance is a bit vague. Would love more information on this.
• If jumping into buyside roles is an impossibility for me, I'm also interested in doing finance ops for a tech startup or for a PE portfolio company. Maybe Booth would be good for this?
• Booth's "pick your courses" curriculum is highly appealing to me, as I have little to no patience for soft skills courses.

Ultimately, which MBA gives me the most optionality in the finance field? Between Booth and CBS, who edges the other out?

I care primarily about career. Chicago and NYC make no difference to me. In terms of student body, I enjoyed Tuck's and Booth's the most. CBS felt like talking to coworkers.