Babson MBA vs Temple: Fox MBA

Forget the Entrepreneurship rankings - who knows how they even work or what they rank schools by. For example MIT and Booth have strong entrepreneurial setting and so does Stanford, are you saying you would rather go to Babson which is ranked #1 instead of Stanford, Booth, or Sloan? Think about this - why would Babson only have 30% of US students? Why do they have 70% of international students and why do they admit 69% of the applicants? What kind of caliber of applicants do you think get admitted? I would be interested in hearing possible explanations of these stats points.

It is possible that Babson may win in a setting I have not considered. Help me understand a bit - what are you planning to do after your graduate with $120K of debt from Babson? Are you going to start your own company/business or will you try to get a job? Theoretically bschool is probably the worst investment for an entrepreneur due to the debt burden and financial constraints and also time investment required. The benefit that BSchools offer to entrepreneurs are modest compared to the investment they required. Most BSchool applicants (which is what I have assumed for you, are graduating and getting a job for 5-10 years to get a bit more comfortable financially but my guess is they never end up quitting the day job as family rolls in and house bills start accumulating, quitting looks less and less promising).

At the same time, lets consider what happens if you do go and start your own company right after bschool - it is very easy to start a business in the US. It costs $100-900 and you are set within a month. But what happens in a year after your OPT/Visa expire? What do you think 70% of the Babson class that are from other parts of the world are doing? They are either getting a job or going back home. Looking at the employment report, 80% are getting a job. While an impressive 18% did start a business, it is not clear what they were doing 6 months into their business. I have also started a Jewelry Store after I graduated from my MBA. I shut it down 9 months later as it was not working out..... Which track are you going to pursue?

I totally agree with the points you've raised. But here's the thing, I won't be taking on any debt from MBA. I have enough resources to cover my expenses at either university. The reason that makes me lean towards Babson is that ultimately I wanna be in entrepreneurship. Sure, I do want to work immediately post MBA but that's not for too long, may be 2-3 years top. And honestly what Babson is offering for entrepreneurship, its difficult for Temple to match it. In addition, Boston is a great city, especially for networking.

On the other hand, Temple's scholarship reduces my investment by a considerable amount. The money saved here is practically money earned. And thus, my confusion seems never ending...

That's fantastic you will be able to pull off the MBA without having to into loans! That's very helpful.
Also, another plus about Babson, it probably has more name recognition than Fox or Temple.

I think your points are fair too. I am not very familiar with Babson's offering - what elements of the program do you see/feel Babson offers to entrepreneurs? What is the value of that offering?


P.S. Have you considered asking to defer? See if either school lets you defer a year and trying for R1? It would likely require beefing up the GMAT a bit to be more competitive with your countrymen.

Well, deferring to next year will be too late for me. I'm set on joining a program this fall.
What Babson offers is that entrepreneurship is the core of its MBA.

Financially, Temple out scores Babson by a considerable amount (Also Philly is a cheaper city than Boston) and it eventually boils down to entrepreneurial focus vs corporate career focus. Also, whether Babson can offer a corporate career and Temple can offer entrepreneurial focus. The institute that would give me best of both worlds.

I think Temple is marginally ahead. What's your take?