“Let me clear some misconceptions.”
Really? You are “clearing misconceptions” by extrapolating (comparing a tiny quantitative program at NU to a major college at Michigan) and associating a certificate program to an MBA program? 
“To me, Ross placement is pretty good but not “omg” nor amazing. One can look up the EMPLOYMENT data at their website and decide for him/herself.”
I think that is a good idea ChachaanTang. To some, Ross’ placement figures are impressive, while to others, they are merely good. It indeed depends on one’s own point of view. With the exception of Wharton, which is obviously in its own league, there aren’t any BBA programs with significantly better placement figures than Ross. I would say Haas, McDonough, McIntire, Sloan and Stern all have similar placement figures to Ross.
https://michiganross.umich.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/Community/pdfs/recruiters_guide_lr_f.pdf
http://www.bus.umich.edu/pdf/employmentdata2013.pdf
“Keep in mind the BBA program has close to 500 students per class; to me, the brightest spot they got was the 9 grads being placed to GS but that’s 9 out of almost 500.”
Actually, the class is closer to 400 (423 to be exact). And I am not sure how or why you singled out GS as the sole bright spot. I think 12 placements into McKinsey, BCG and Bain is also pretty solid. So are 12 placements at Citi, 7 at JPM, 4 at MS, 7 at Microsoft, 2 at Google etc…
“Because Northwestern didn’t publish detailed employment data for the Kellogg certificate programs, the only direct comparison available is between the two MBA programs.”
This is where things get a little “fuzzy”. Are you suggesting that students enrolled in the Kellogg Certificate Programs have access to the same recruitment office as Kellogg MBAs. When McKinsey comes to recruit Kellogg MBAs, does it have a separate schedule dedicated to Certificate students? Please clarify, because it was my understanding that Certificate students merely had access to counseling services and alumni contacts. That is not the same thing as having access to Kellogg’s career office, or as having the Kellogg career office working to ensure your placement. Also, one cannot ignore the benefits of a three year program as opposed to a one year program during one’s senior year. By the time Ross students enter their senior year, they would have been in Ross’ BBA program for two full years and benefited from 2 summer internships. Kellogg Certificate students do not have such a benefit. They are selected for the program at the end of their Junior year and have no internships as a result of their placement into the program. But like I said, please clarify your statement above. Do Kellogg Certificate students have the same access to the Kellogg Career Office as Kellogg MBA students? I can confirm that in the case of Ross, BBA students have the same access to the career office as MBA students.
“There’s a noticeable gap - Kellogg MBA grads got higher pay jobs and noticeably higher number went to the most prestigious companies (in the most extreme case, 12 Kellogg grad went to Apple vs none from Ross).”
Let me start by saying that I acknowledge that Kellogg is a notch better than Ross. There is no doubt about it. Kellogg is comparable to Booth and Sloan whereas Ross is more like Columbia BS, Haas, Fuqua, Stern Tuck and Yale SOM. That being said, starting salaries for Ross MBAs ($115,000 base, $140,000 including bonuses) are identical as starting salaries for Kellogg MBAs ($119,000 base, $136,000 including bonuses).
"I am almost certain Kellogg certificate programs for undergrads (CPU) have better placement than Ross for three reasons:
- CPU students have access to Kellogg’s resources, including a full-time career coach who works solely for the Kellogg cert program."
Again, please elaborate. I was under the impression that companies do not recruit Kellogg Certificate programs through the Kellogg Career office.
“2. Northwestern has a MMSS (mathematical methods for social sciences) program and according to the placement stats available on its website, MMSS placed proportionally more grads to GS, Bains, BCG, and McKinsey in 2014 even though MMSS grads did not have access to Kellogg recruiting. With around 50 students per class, MMSS is about 10 times smaller than Ross.”
I am not sure how that is indicative of anything. The MMSS class is 40. Comparing a program with a class of 300 to a program with a class of 400 or a program with a class of 400 to a program with a class of 600 is certainly relevant. Comparing a highly specialised program with only 40 students per class to a more comprehensive program with 400 students per class is completely pointless. Even if those companies each recruit 1 MMSS student, it will be proportionately higher than virtually all BBA programs, including Wharton. Placing 7 or 8 MMSS student into the top 4 consulting firms and BB IBanks as has been the case over the last two years is not impressive. Ross places over 60 each year. Here are the MMSS placements for the last 2 years. 15 of 72 placed in one of the 4 main consulting firms or a major BB IBank, but the majority were placed in pretty standard companies. considering the tiny size of the program, and its extremely competitive nature, those numbers are actually quite subdued.
http://www.mmss.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/employment-placements.html
“3. The CPU students take graduate level courses in the program and the pre-reqs are upper-level courses in stats and probability, honors calculus and linear algebra, econometrics, and optimization. The best part of it is that all CPU students have primary majors, mostly in liberal arts or engineering. So the stigma that BBA is a TRADE and shallow doesn’t apply to CPU. People debate the merit of undergrad business programs; the curriculum at Northwestern takes care of the issue because it got the best of both world. The program can therefore differentiate its grads from thousands of other students, including other BBA grads.”
This is a valid point. When it comes to course rigor, there is no doubt that the Kellogg Certificate program is impressive.
“Regarding admission to the Kellogg cert programs, as mentioned before, the Kellogg certificate programs are highly quantitative and rigorous; it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. The admission rates have been high due to self-selection and around 75-80%.”
Here’s another problem ChaChaanTang. As you point out, the Certificate programs are extremely rigorous academically. Only the best of the best at NU will bother to apply, and even among those, there is no guarantee of getting into the programs. It is a very big risk, regardless.