MIT Sloan vs. Wharton/Lauder($) reboot

Hey -
So I visited Sloan last week - loved it. I think you said it right, everyone I spoke to said they were having two best years of their life.

I will be heading down to Wharton tomorrow for a visit as well. I will let you know how it goes.

Check out my write up on Sloan visit: https://writingintransit.wordpress.com/2 ... mit-sloan/

Thanks for this very insightful comment.

As an international applicant, who unfortunately didn't have the chance to visit either schools, I have a very hard time translating what the difference in ranking means in real life (again Wharton seems totally unknown in Asia unless you talk to bankers).

As I understand it, I will have pretty much the same career chances with either school (nb. I'm not interested in PE/VC/IB). So the question is, how big is the additional prestige at W (and twice bigger alumni base) and will it pay-off in 10 years the drawback of being in an environment that I will, ceteris paribus, enjoy much less in 2 years (I'm assuming that classes are at the same level, though the faculty at Sloan seems stellar+++).

What you say is very interesting, and assuming that is true, I guess I should go for MIT, I will have much less regrets going there.

I do not agree that Sloan has a greater brand recognition in Asia than Wharton does.. While the same may be true for MIT against UPenn.. But still UPenn has the "ivy league" brand name... So not much difference in prestige... Moreover a scholarship would look quite impressive on your job resume.. Even after considering these factors, if you are still leaning towards Sloan, then obviously that is where your heart is....
Anyway, a great situation to be in... All the best..

Just finished Wharton campus visit and I was quite disappointed. The events were poorly organized, the city looks run down, and the prof didnt even know what her slides meant- that too in a cap markets class...

I missed out on the pub event at night which I heard was supposed to be the best thing, but really made me question even applying to Wharton....

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I'm not an expert. I'm trying to make the same decision. But put yourself in a hiring manager's shoes: two people, both 3 years out of school. Do you think the hiring manager will be thinking about Sloan vs. Wharton or what they've accomplished in the past three years + their back history of experience? I just can't believe (and this has been validated by everyone I've spoken to) that the Wharton guy has any advantage just because of the brand. You're talking about two top-tier schools and your experience and accomplishments will very quickly mean more. That said, I think it probably matters more for your first job out of school, but still not a hell of a lot.

If you want to do something start-up related, I would think MIT is the better choice. The connections between the MBA program and the other schools at MIT are supposedly very high quality, giving you opportunities to work on new ventures with biotech guys or engineers.

I think this seals it. Your heart seems set on Boston.

Interesting point you make about the so-called "Ivy League brand name" that gives Wharton an advantage over Sloan. I think this is not a credible way to view these two top tier schools at all. The truth about the Ivy League is that it pertains very much to undergraduate education, and even for that people hardly look beyond HYP. Columbia and Upenn are thrown into the mix every now and then. The rest: Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell are on the fringes, and they are those who like to tout their Ivy League credentials. The big three pretty much see themselves as "the big boys" whom the other five like to name drop....

Truth is that at a graduate level (MBA in this case), the reputations of schools are based on how "good" (selectivity, career prospects, recruiting, salaries, etc), these schools are, and not on some arbitrary affiliation with some undergraduate programs. Maybe I am saying this because I am a bit biased, having attended undergrad at HYP, but frankly, I don't think most of that undergraduate prestige really rubs off graduate programs directly. The track record/prestige of those graduate programs comes from how strong those programs are, and not because they are affiliated to The Ancient Eight.

In short, HBS never touts its Ivy League credentials. Why? Because it is HBS. Also, because, it is (one of) the best program(s) in the world- it being a part of the Ivy League is just a small, insignificant part of its story. Likewise, no sensible employer is going to gaga over Cornell or Tuck (and thumb its nose at Booth), just because the first two are Ivy League and the latter is not.

In summary: you are better off going to a top school that fits your career aspirations and individuality, than picking one over the other due to a non-existent Ivy League prestige value. Of course, this only applies when we are talking about the top 10-13 or so schools- you should totally choose Cornell over say a Tepper, because Johnson is an Ivy League school, for what it's worth....