Calling Chicago GSB 2008 applicants

River,

Personally I took Stanford off my list for 3 reasons: 1) The low acceptance rate 2) The length of its essays and 3) I want to go to school on the east coast. I think it's a great program, but I don't really fancy my chances of getting in. So I chose Chicago and Wharton as my two pie in the sky dream schools.

I love Chicago's flexible curriculum, but it's the slightly "conservative" culture that people have told me that worries me a bit (and the amount of people applying). I'll be talking to some Chicago students soon, so that will help me piece together a picture of Chicago better than what I've read and heard from other school's alums.

As for Stanford, I am surprised to. I'm guessing maybe:

1. Last year almost no GMATClubber got into Stanford, thus no ambassador and no one here to talk about the wonders of Stanford

2. Self Selection: Like Shmegs said, people don't apply because they say they "know they won't get in".

3. It seems like MOST of the people here are from the midwest or east coast, thus they favor the Chicago/Kellogg/HBS/Whartons more. Makes sense, since only roughly 1/6 of the people live west of the Mississippi (rough estimate).

That's good for me, since I want as little competition as possible!

BTW, if you guys experience the year round weather out here on the West Coast, you'll be applying to any school you can out here

I don't doubt that the weather in Cali is better than in Boston/Philly/Chicago. Actually I've been rethinking my Chicago app...I'm getting a bit freaked out by the amount of people who may be applying. Since I want to work in consultancy afterwards I may switch to Kellogg for R1 as it places just as well, and I do like their curriculum and facilities. As far as Stanford goes, my uncle got his MBA and he has nothing but positive things to say about the school, its students, and the program in general. His position is that it is the best MBA program in the country (not suprising since he's an alumnus).

I'm also re-thinking applying to Chicago for a lot of the same reasons. I may apply to UC-Berkeley instead.

I like four seasons thank you very much...my wife said that we can't move someplace that doesn't get snow.

I think that any top school these days is going to give you great opportunities. The top 10 schools aren't accepting more students than in years past and the market for MBAs continues to expand so competition for the top students is going to only get more fierce. With a more global market, more and more companies are going to be looking for MBAs to come work on strategies, finance, and marketing. Looking at the rapid increase of internationals applying to schools shows the growing demand world wide.

So while Stanford and Harvard will continue to offer the greatest opportunities there is no way they will graduate enough people so the rest of the top schools will start to open up far more doors than in the past.

Personally I think that I would attend any top 10 school without hesitation. My decision on where to apply is focused on what I want in a culture, location, job opportunities for the Mrs. and academics...I am not even worrying about ending salaries and recruiting companies. Then again I am not aiming for private equity, venture capital, or hedge funds which H/S/W continue to give the greatest opportunity for.

Move to Syracuse and she might change her outlook. I lived there for 9 years and if I never seen another snowflake in my life, that will be fine

I dont know if you have ever lived in New England but she grew up in Berlin NH. On the weather in Boston its discussed all winter as they report the lowest temperature in New England, "today it is -24 in Berlin NH." Its in the Mt Washington Valley so she knows all about bad winters. Trust me we like winter, we ski every weekend of the winter so the more snow the better.

Yeah, I grew up in New England. Syracuse gets about 5-8 times as much snow (snowiest major city in the US).

If you like winter sports, then yeah, it's awesome. I've never been a skiier, so....I don't mind a little snow but in Syracuse it snows at least 2-3 inches every day for 3 months.

I assume the biggest benifit of going is that you get to write in your app that you have attended one of them. I really doubt if they mark attendences an length of stay.

This may be rather foolish in the longterm, but I intend to go for both the events on the same day.....as in make sure I reach the first one at 6.55. An then leave for the next event at 7. Am sure they would be in nearby hotels.

Class of 09 - any comments??

I think one of the reasons that Chicago is a popular school this year (atleast among the forums and the bloggers) is probably because of

1. So many of last years admits were active on the forums and on blogs- so it *seems* that it might be a relatively *easy* school to get through or so everyone thinks. (before anyone flames me-I know it is not true but then...) You dont find too many HS or Columbia or even K admits on forums I think.
2. Obviously the B-school ranking helps
3. It is a Indian applicant friendly school (along with Duke and Ross)

Hahaha, good one! Then again, you've never skiied the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas eh (Denver/Utah is better, but SN is not shabby)? Nor had the opportunity to hit snow within a 2-3 hour drive, and then decide to hit the beach 1-2 hours later in the same day.

But truth be told, I'm also willing to attend any top 10 school if the culture (of the school) and city suits me. Weather I can endure for 2 years, but if it's in a rural area, I will probably go crazy.

oh BTW, there *are* four seasons in LA: earthquake, flood, fire, and riots

And traffic jams

oh yeah, I left LA before that became an official "season". I think it replaced riots?

Actually I have skied pretty much every where, Colorado, Cali, Utah, the Pacific Northwest, Canada, Europe, Japan...and of course out here. I made a good deal of money in competitions and sponsorships in college but now I am old, fragile, and have responsibilities.

I live a mile from the beach...but the water is cold and its not very sandy so you win on that one for sure. More dogs swimming in the water this time of year than bikini clad women.

Nice! I wish I were that good at skiing or snowboarding.

It's probably good you're not near the beach here, otherwise your wife might not be too happy about the bikini-clad women

I'm surprised by these comments. Chicago certainly holds its own, but to suggest that your odds are better at Kellogg seems unlikely. Kellogg has had a long standing reputation as a top school and has for many many years had 4500+ applicants. Chicago, though they don't release the figures, I believe had less in past years. Although it is likely that Chicago will see at least some kind of spike in applicants given its BW rank -- I can't see it jumping so much that it makes Kellogg a safer bet (in any kind of statistically significant way). To put it differently, Chicago and Kellogg will likely get a similar number of applicants, and although it is possible Chicago may get a marginally higher number, the acceptance rates are not going to differ dramatically.

I can understand tossing Chicago out of the game to put in a more reasonable backup - something with a substanially higher admit % - but to toss it out to replace it with Kellogg will do absolutely nothing (from a statistical perspective) to your odds.

Apply to whatever schools you like most - and certainly consider % rate when you do.

Make sure you keep an eye on their other stats like AVG GMAT and also placement. Duke has a pretty high acceptance rate because it is a pretty common backup school for people who are applying to top 5 programs. Its yield is not nearly as high as almost any other other top school, it doesn't seem to be guilty like some other schools about rejecting people who are "too qualified."

Comparing a school like Duke to Michigan State (Broad) is a great example. Duke actually has a higher acceptance rate and a lower yield rate but there is a 60 pt difference in their GMAT scores and like 20 spots in the ranking polls. To think someone's chances are better at Duke than Michigan state just because of the acceptance rate seems a little off.