Hello GMAT comrades!
So I know there have been some other GSB vs HBS threads from the mid-2000s and mid-2010s and I have thoroughly appreciated all the feedback the older threads but would love to get some more recent thoughts especially with the forecast of the 2020 recession that will bleed into the next 2+ years of our lives.
For full disclosure, I have already received notice as an international admit, there is a high probability I won't be able to get my student visa on time so I am hypothesizing that in the coming months I will be given the opportunity to a) defer to start Aug 2021, or b) start as expected in the autumn of 2020 but attend first semester virtually (which sounds like a huge waste of the MBA experience that is all about sharing experiences and real time feedback)
Would love to get the thoughts of all the folks here.
My Education/Background:State/Provincial university, 3.8 GPA, Honors Business Administration, International Female
Work experience:10 months in consulting
2 years operations/strategy at pre-IPO (late stage startup)
2 years product at another pre-IPO (late stage startup)
3 months starting my own venture
Post MBA Aspirations:Early Stage Venture Capital
Why did I want to get out of an MBA?Break into VC and moving to the US to build a community of ambitious females
As I have been scouring online resources and doing some brainstorming myself, I will list what I think are the the pros/cons of each school if I were to matriculate Aug 2020:
HBS+ Larger Class Size/Community
+ Larger alumni network & brand
+ Socratic method/ more academic focus
+ Possibility for scholarship (I've already gotten notice from GSB that I am getting $0 scholarship)
- More competitive environment/more ego/finance bro types?
- Very fixed curriculum
- Might be duplicative of my Business Admin undergrad courses (if the focus is on the learnings/grades)
- Watching the professor/student interview videos, there seems to be an air of pretense with faculty using unnecessarily technical words like "pedagogical teaching methods" vs simply saying "innovative teaching methods". Stuff like this really rubs me the wrong way
GSB+ Very introspective individuals, from all that I met, everyone has been very nice/thoughtful
+ Known for a "no jerks" environment
+ Cross-campus integration (can take comp sci classes etc)
+ Smaller class so maybe easier to make friends?
+ More flexible curriculum
- Definitely $0 scholarship (already been notified)
- Heard the actual core "courses" are weaker
- GSB Campus is pretty much limited to the Knight Hennessy Quad (quite small) [although the rest of the Stanford campus is beautiful]
I know in older threads (mid-2010s), the decision always comes down to an individual should go to Stanford if you want VC/tech, HBS if you want PE/ General Manager at some Fortune 500 company. Is this black and white matrix still the way people would recommend in 2020? I feel like in the past few years it seems like GSB is really eating HBS' cake? The only thing I was able to find was on
Quora: "80% of dual admits go to GSB" but the source is very unreliable.
Lastly, taking into consideration that there is a possibility that I can't get my student visa in time for Aug 2020/ or first semester is going to be virtual, I am also strongly considering applying to a VC firm pre-MBA and then deferring to start in Aug 2021.
What are folks' thoughts on this? Anyone who also got accepted to matriculate autumn of 2020 and thinking of deferring? In 2020, would you choose HBS or GSB?
Thank you all for reading in advance!