Harvard vs Kellogg MMM

Normally I'd say that this is a tough call, but for you and your near-term career aspirations, the answer is simple. Go to HBS. You have more than enough technical chops already from your undergrad and masters degrees and you will not get incrementally that much more from MMM. On the other hand, the softer skills and strategic management skills that you will learn at HBS will really complement your technical skills and make you really marketable to top technology companies like Google and Apple.

I'm also interested in trying to work for one of those companies after school and since I don't have any technical background, I know my road will be a bit more difficult but still doable. Hopefully I'll see you in class in the fall!

I'm almost finished my MBA at Tuck.

Based on my experience so far: without a question go to HBS.

It is true that 2 or 3 years post-MBA, it won't matter whether you went to Kellogg or HBS. What does matter is your experience while doing your MBA. Kellogg is an outstanding school, however, HBS is a notch above. You will get greater access to recruiters, visiting executives, etc, etc. B-school is all about building relationships and HBS will give you many more opportunities to do just that.

RF

Thanks everyone so far for their insight! Refurb, I think I agree with you. I feel that Kellogg might give me a slight edge straight out of college, because there will be no shortage of recruiters, and the subject material is a little more tailored to my interests. But I think the Harvard Network will be of far more valuable 5-10 years out in my career. Not to mention, I'm starting to think that HBS has other perks, like well connected friends with beach houses and ski-cabins in Colorado :-p I'm certainly not going to base my decision on that, but it would be a nice fringe benefit if true.

That said, I recently met with a Kellogg MMM grad of about 10 years now. The roster of his peers was pretty impressive with GMs, executive directors, and directors of product-related companies.

Does anyone worry that Harvard could make you "overqualified" for some jobs? IE hiring managers are afraid to look at you because they'll anticipate that you're too expensive, or too stuck up, or some other negative stereotype?

What about the team nature of Kellogg vs the Individual focus at Harvard? Do you think that matters much?

Thanks again everyone!

Overqualified? Probably not. Stuck up? Maybe.

One draw that Tuck has is that the students here are really "nice". I've heard it from a number of recruiters. I've also heard from recruiters that Harvard students tend to be much more aggressive go-getters. Recruiters will often focus on schools that have students that match the culture of their company.

Of course those are over-generalizations. Of the few HBS students I've met, they've all been very nice people.

As for the team nature of Kellogg (I've heard it's quite similar to Tuck's), yeah, it might make a big difference in how much you enjoy your time at b-school and it might make a difference as to which companies come to recruit. However, I don't think the later issue is one to be concerned about. Recruiters still look at students one-by-one, not as groups.

One thing to keep in mind is that your post-MBA careers goals may change while at b-school. One of the great things about getting an MBA is that you have a LOT of options for careers. You may focus on another function in the same industry or switch industries entirely. So that's why I would go with HBS. You're pretty much not going to find another school that offers such a diverse range of options to speak with the top people in a variety of industries.

RF