[laurieb73]

HI,

I'm planning to apply the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor next year to do an MBA. I wanna know how good is the MBA program? How is the city in terms of cost of living compared to other cities in general?. How good are the job opportunities in the marketing/advertising industry? Any advice would be great.

[Cato the Elder]

I would say U of M's B-school is at the 1b level - not elite but with a national reputation. Unless you are shooting for a power position at an international hedge fund or have aspirations of running a country, you will be more than adequately served by an MBA from Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor is about as cheap as it will get for a top-notch MBA. It's probably closest in cost to Ithaca and Durham - maybe a little more expensive than Charlottesville and Hanover.

The main drawback with Ross is that you won't be competing for too many jobs on your "home turf." You'll be going to Chicago and the Coasts once you're done unless you want to do marketing for the Big 3 - not exactly the best prospects in the waning days of the Detroit auto industry. My brother-in-law graduated for Ross and now works for Boeing. A good friend is also an alum and works in LA. Good luck.