Admitted - Booth ($) vs Wharton for Venture Capital? RE to VC?

Question

I've been fortunate enough to be accepted to Booth and Wharton. My background is in Real Estate Development and I'm planning on leveraging the MBA and my RE background to move into Venture Capital - specifically, VC focused on real estate-related technology.

I've had a difficult time grasping which school, Booth or Wharton, has a stronger presence/more resources in Venture Captial. Even in doing alumni checks, # of VC's from each school, etc. it's hard to decipher if one school or the other stands out.

My basic understanding is that Wharton has the brand and Booth has the academics. As someone without an investment banking background, I'm a bit concerned I'll have difficulty getting into VC from Wharton, given the number of students at Wharton from IB. On the other hand, I'm very finance-focused which may fit with Wharton.

I don't have a favorite in terms of culture, I've really enjoyed meeting people from both schools. Money (in this case $30k/yr at Booth) isn't as important to me. It's more important if one school or the other has a stronger network/resources within Venture Captial that will help me make the transition from RE to VC.

Thanks so much! This forum rules!!

bb · Answer

Congratulations!

Wharton has been building up their SF campus and Tech recruiting in Bay Area which has helped them with placements and also lifted their rankings. At the same time all VC recruiting will be off campus and it is tough to quantify if Wharton or $60,000 over two years will make a difference.

Both Booth and Wharton have been working on startup and entrepreneurship tracks which may spill over into VC.  kmwantstogoschool  - how is VC recruiting at Booth? What are students experiencing?

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Also, here is what jessepinkman (our resident Booth expert) recommended in terms of Booth/Wharton for VC: https://gmatclub.com/forum/poll-wharton ... 62303.html

Good luck with your choice!
Amazing job with your admits!

Posted from my mobile device

jessepinkman · Answer

VC is tough in general (even from H/S) but Wharton and Booth will both put you in a good position. One major advantage Booth has is its Chicago location and close ties to the VC community through The New Venture Challenge and the Booth VC lab. Regardless of whether you want to stay in Chicago or not, the best way to build your VC resume is to work for a VC part-time while getting your MBA. Almost all of the people in my class who wanted VC and stuck with it for the full two years ended up landing a job in VC (across Chicago, SF, and NY). I know people at Wharton who did this as well but given the lack of a tech community in Philly, they had to commute up to NYC once a week for a few days. VC is less about where you get your MBA (at least within say the M7/T9) and more about your personal brand and how you sell yourself. Most of the firms are small and don't do formal recruiting anywhere so it's up to you to be aggressive and convince them that you can add value.

kmwantstogoschool · Answer

Hey echoing everything Jessepinkman has said. There’s recruiting and avenues open up through the NVC, well connected professors, alumni network, the Polsky Center and PEVC lab etc. It is less structured than banking or consulting in that you won’t be served networking opportunities and interview prep on a platter, but if you’re motivated enough to seek out the various opportunities at Booth, you are sure to find something great. There are a lot of school year internships posted on our job portal as well for VC that interested candidates take up. A few school year internships will take you places. Do not know how it is at Wharton so can’t comment, but id say it’s pretty good at Booth. Only caveat, if you’re an international, VC shops don’t want to sponsor work auth; most internationals do VC in geographies where they have the right to work, after doing a few internships through school to get the experience under their belt. There is even an offered class called PEVC lab where you can land an internship through the class! Hope this helps!

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

xofcx · Answer

Thanks for kmwantstogoschool and jessepinkman for the input! Super helpful! It's great to hear that Booth has great resources for VC. I'm from Chicago so there's certainly an advantage in the location. My only concern is the breadth of the network at Wharton seems to be larger, specifically in areas like VC and PE (from what I've gathered, but could be wrong) and this could be beneficial in making a switch to VC.

Is there anyone you'd specifically recommend reaching out to that exited into VC from Booth? Also, it'd be great to hear the Wharton side of the story, as well, if you know anyone familiar with Wharton VC.

Thanks again!

Is there anyone you'd specifically recommend reaching out to that exited into VC from Booth? Also, it'd be great to hear the Wharton side of the story, as well, if you know anyone familiar with Wharton VC.

Thanks again!

xofcx · Answer

Thanks for the votes! My biggest concern is taking out ~230k in debt to pay for Wharton. Can anyone shed some color on whether it's worth it to take on this amount of debt? Thanks.

jessepinkman · Answer

here are a few https://www.linkedin.com/in/costacristina/ https://www.ylventures.com/people/john-brennan/ https://www.ggvc.com/ggv_employee/oren-yunger/ https://onewayvc.com/team/lex-zhao/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbstern/

bb · Answer

Trying to ping a few Wharton folks to see what they feel about $230K in debt

bigern1492 · Answer

I see this is an old thread, but I'll give a response if there are others out there interested in Wharton Real Estate VC. I'm a 2Y studying Finance and just finished our Real Estate Investments course (one of the two intro courses for the Real Estate major).

I agree with earlier posts that VC is hard to break into, especially coming from outside of PE/VC/IB. However, folks I've seen at M7 schools breaking into VC generally do so from a specific industry, and they'll get term-time internships. (E.g., I know a couple Wharton folks working term-time at VCs in healthcare and retail)

My thoughts for you, or someone in a similar boat is to think about what you want out of the program, what community is available for you there, and what you might do specifically to break into VC. Getting into VC from Booth, Wharton, Harvard will probably be similarly difficult, but how can you leverage your Real Estate background to break into a firm that's RE focused?

For Wharton in particular, there's a robust Real Estate community. Wharton arguably has the best Real Estate program, supported by the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center. There are plenty of resources for career fairs, conferences, alumni networking, and financial modeling prep (through the Wharton RE club and access to Wall Street Prep) to support you.

I think in most top MBA programs, you'll also find great resources for financial prep, and VC-specific clubs. Wharton is no different in that regard.

Below are some resources I think could be helpful:
Wharton Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center
Wharton Real Estate Club
Wharton Real Estate Department (for courses and the concentration)
Wharton PE/VC Club

sgpk242 · Answer

As someone potentially in a similar boat,  xofcx  which did you choose? How do you look at your choice looking back?

Admitted - Booth ($) vs Wharton for Venture Capital? RE to VC?

Which MBA is best for a transition from RE to VC?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards