A question about "fit"

Question

First off, I'm not trying to hijack RR's post on this topic (see: 103-t63378). It's because of his post that I've decided to write this topic.

I personally have a pretty unique background (Peace Corps, study abroad, work in China, etc. etc.) and consider myself to have a lot of "soft" skills. The work that I do involves a tremendous amount of relationship building and I'm hardly working out reports, financial analysis, or whatnot.

So my question is this... is it better to apply to a school that will round out your skill set? Or is it better to apply to a school that fits more natural with your abilities. So, for me, assuming I'm a "soft" skill type, should I apply to Kellogg? Or Chicago? Granted I know it depends on what you want to do post-MBA so that naturally would help the decision process.

I'm not seeking opinions about what I should do personally. I'm more interested in the debate as to: should people pursue schools that are going to enhance their natural skillset, or should they pursue schools that will round out their skillset?

filmcity · Answer

From a value-add perspective, I would go to a school which will complement my existing skill.

For majority of us, Business School is perhaps the last opportunity to go back to school and we should utilize the time to make ourself as rounded as possible.

kryzak · Answer

there are definitely supporters of both schools of thought. One the one hand, schools that emphasize a skill you don't have (soft or hard) will complement you and make you a more well rounded person. On the other hand, if you know exactly what you want to do (generally finance or tech), a hard skills school will help you excel in those fields. Personally, I believe that while each of the top 15 schools have their "hard" and "soft" reputations, you'll come out more well rounded at any of these schools, no matter your background.

River picked Kellogg to round out his engineering background because Kellogg is seen as "soft", but I chose Haas because of their high-tech and entrepreneurship prowess, even though I came from an engineering background. I don't believe Haas is seen as "hard" as say Sloan or Chicago, so I'm not worried that people will forever pin me as a "techie".

I think even if you come out of Sloan, you should still be much "softer" than you were if you had a tech background.

So what am I trying to say? Pick the school that has the strength in what you want to do in your future career, the school that you enjoy the student and acadmeic culture, and the school that will get you where you want to go in terms of location. Don't worry too much about the hard/soft divide, as there will always be hardcore finance people from kellogg and hardcore marketing people from Chicago who both succeed.

raconteur · Answer

Good post Kry. In my opinion, I believe this hard/soft line is a little overblown. I don't think that ANY of the top 15 programs are going to leave you "short-changed" when it comes to a solid foundation in all aspects of business. Just like you said, I highly doubt that students studying marketing and other "soft" courses at Chicago will not be equipped with some incredible concepts/tools after those classes. And vice versa for Kellogg students taking some finance courses. My personal problem is that I have too many interests. So a program that is "perceived" more well-rounded may be a better fit for me. However, I know I would get a solid, balanced, well-rounded education from any of these top programs. On another note...Kry, you mentioned you were going to be traveling to Asia here soon correct? If you happen to make it to Shanghai before June 21st I'd love to meet up with you for coffee or a local dish of "stinky toufu" (yes, there actually is such a thing).

Let me know.

livehard · Answer

I have to disagree to some degree. By all accounts, your experience at Sloan (ridiculously difficult and quantitatively-focused core) will be significantly different than your experience at Kellogg (where even some of the exams are group-based). This is based not just on the curriculum but also on the types of students these schools attract and tend to accept and, hence, whom you will be competing against (i.e., 61% of incoming students are engineering or CSC undergrads at Sloan compared to 26% at Kellogg).

89nk · Answer

Sorry to go offtopic, but I wanted to ask, do Sloan students excel in finance due to their intensive quant based courses?

A question about "fit"

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