CriticalSquare wrote:
Hi Xingyi,
Congrats on your acceptance at both Tepper and Kelley! Considering your goals, I'd hold out for Haas if possible. If for some reason that doesn't work out, Anderson and Tepper are great fall backs. Best of luck on your journey and your business!
Thanks! I am also thinking Haas will likely be the strongest choice overall. Tepper and Anderson are strong business schools. Do you think Kelley and IE are out from consideration? Here are some things I learned while researching.
From what I read, Kelley seems to be strong program with strong entrepreneurship focus (US news ranks Kelley's Entrepreneurship at #9, supposedly higher than Anderson and Tepper). Also, the Entrepreneurship head Dr. Donald Kuratko is supposedly very well-known in the area. Another benefit with Kelley is the dual degree option that is available even to part-timer. Some potential disadvantage with Kelley that I see are 1) Bloomington is beautiful but the location appears to be less ideal for tech innovation and entrepreneurship, I am assuming the school's stronghold is in US mid-west area, 2) Indiana University's reputation appears to be not as strong as CMU and UCLA, and 3) CMU's and UCLA's reputation might be because these schools have more higher top-ranked programs (non-business), for Indiana University, it seems like music and business are its highest ranked programs.
As for IE, I read that it is internationally renowned for entrepreneurship. It is globally ranked by Financial Times just two places below Haas. But not sure of its footprint in the US. The impression I have with IE (based on what I read) is that it seems many professors are practitioners and they have started something of their own. This can be good or bad. The good, they are entrepreneurs themselves. The bad, the program might be strong in practical knowledge but I am not sure about its strength in core research/conceptual knowledge. Another benefit I see is that the program that I am applying to is Executive program, which supposedly put me into a more senior distinguished pool of students. I potentially get to learn more and have a higher level network.