On the flipside, a smaller program could mean more attention…
If one is lucky enough to get in, this is a heads you win, tails you win.
Rice, too, has an undergrad b school but much younger - b4 they had a well known MBA. I think there’s a lot of similarities here.
I wonder if the pull of mom is the pull to WashU - after reading the write up. But OP is their own person.