How important is the University strength important?

I have thought about this as well and come to the conclusion that virtually every university in the U.S. with a strong undergraduate college and a strong law school will have a pretty highly ranked business school. I can't really think of any instances of a 2nd tier business school being attached to a university with a great college and/or a great law school. I think most people would agree now that Yale SOM is a very highly respected MBA program now.

Does that really matter for MBA's during business school - I sort of doubt it since there always seems to be very limited interaction between the MBA folks and the rest of the university. But of course, brand matters when it comes to networking after graduation. A Yale SOM MBA, a Yale Ph.D, a Yale M.A., a Yale undergrad, and a Yale J.D. would in the end share the same alma mater.

And I do think it bodes well for business schools like Georgetown and I think it's quite likely that McDonough will do better in coming years because of the strength of its undergraduate brand and that of Georgetown University Law Center.

i think it might only matter if you are in an industry where b-schools aren't well known. For example, some non-biz folks I know were more excited about UNC than U-TX. As far as b-schools go, they're pretty much on par. But if you're just going off the parent school, UNC is simply better known...quite possibly because of basketball!

in the business world, recruiters, etc know about the rankings.

I think if you're going to be working purely in the business world, like IB, Consulting, etc... then the business school strength is all that matters.

BUT

If you ever want to do something different, like in high tech, strategy planning in some big company of a different industry, entrepreneurship, off-the-beaten-path career, then sometimes the strength of the university comes in handy because either

A) People in your new field do not know b-school rankings well AND/OR
B) People in that specific profession see more credibility with a school that is strong in that professional area.

An example for B). If you want to do high-tech entrepreneurship or business development, then having a parent university that's super strong in tech (that's why MIT, Berkeley, and Stanford are so strong in high-tech business stuff) will help you greatly.

In the perfect world, I would pick a school that's strong in both parent and b-schools. Haas (for me) fits that criteria, Stanford did, while Kellogg might not, even though its b-school brand is stronger than Haas.

Sometimes I think my engineering degrees may come in more handy in what I'll do in the future than my MBA, depending on who I'm trying to persuade.

Just my 2 cents and my perception on how engineers in tech companies often view business people...

what kryzak said.

I work for a very very well known company, and there isn't really a strong mba culture here. Therefore the knowledge of good b-schools is very much an unknown. Therefore hiring managers are more likely to spike up interest if it comes from an internationally known university famous for its undergrad than for its b-school.

I would say that the name of the b-school becomes more important if you are targetting an American company, a multi-national which originated from the USA or has strong ties to the USA recruitment industry, or a traditonal MBA recruitment area (i-banking, consulting etc.). Even in Europe, a lot of hiring managers will not know the difference between b-school A vs b-school B.
This is where goals fit in when trying to find a school that fits your career requirements

cross functional to the parent does become apparent in terms of resources

Basically I think its mostly based on the industry you plan on working in. If you are working in a field where it is extremely common for people to get MBAs (MC/IB) then the name of the B-school will trump the undergrad. Someone from GSB will have an advantage over someone from Yale because of the b-schools rep. Now if you plan on working in a field where MBAs are less common then the UG brand probably helps a lot too. Especially if that school's strength lies in the area of the industry, such as MIT and high tech/engineering. In a computer company a place like Tepper could have an advantage over Ross because CMU is one of the best comp sci programs in the world, so the employees of a smaller tech company probably will have a high opinion of it.

All this really doesnt mean a whole lot though since most of the top b-schools are also attached to top undergrads. Once you are comparing peer schools it really should come down to fit and the experience you will get. Your opportunities coming out of GSB, MIT, Kellogg, Columbia, and Wharton will be virtually the same. The same big names recruit at all of them, they may hire more from one than another but you will have a chance at all the same companies. If you would be hired by Goldman out of GSB then you would be hired by them out of Kellogg too. Obviously schools will draw slightly different companies that only recruit a handful of people. More VC firms will go to MIT than Kellogg but more CPGs will go to Kellogg than anyplace else. If you want a traditional MBA career then it really isnt as big of a difference, if you want something specialized then you probably want to look at the schools draw for that field/industry.

Choosing between two peer schools really should come down to how you feel about the culture, location, student body, teaching styles, alumni...basically your overall impression of the school. I know talking to people choosing between schools some know immediately when they leave admitted students weekend thats where they belong. Others its not until they go to another admitted students weekend and see thats NOT where they want to be so by default school 1 becomes their top choice. I have talked to a few people who went to both MIT and Kelloggs admitted students weekend. One said both were good but he felt more comfortable at Kellogg, one said she knew she wanted Kellogg before MIT and probably didnt even give MIT a shot before admitted students weekend, she pretty much had her mind made up before, and another who liked MIT because of its rep for being an extremely rigorous curriculum and preferred Boston to Chicago.

No one is going to say oh he only went to Sloan not GSB or He went to Kellogg not Columbia. Everyone knows how good all the top schools are, heck people get into HBS but not Kellogg, or get into Stanford but not Chicago. Brand name may matter more overseas but if you are working for Morgan Stanley in London or McKinsey in Berlin then its not going to be as big of a deal. You spend two years at a school and are associated with it for the rest of your life...picking a school should be about more than picking a name.