MIT Sloan ($$$) vs. Kellogg ($$$) vs. Haas ($$$)

Question

Dear all,

I am fortunate to have been admitted to these three programs with significant scholarships:

MIT Sloan - 100k
Kellogg - ~~120k~~ 148k - increased by adcom
Haas - 80k

However, I'm having a lot of trouble deciding. Unfortunately, Haas and Sloan have the same admit weekend dates. I've chosen to visit Sloan, but would still very much appreciate the opinion of this community. Kellogg's weekend isn't until the very end of April -- haven't decided yet whether to visit.

Here are the factors that matter to me:

Financials
All three of the offers are in a similar range. Sloan has the highest tuition cost, so I'd actually be paying more out of pocket at MIT than at Haas. Kellogg's offer is the most favorable, plus Evanston would have the lowest cost of living. Do you think there's an opportunity to negotiate at either Sloan or Haas?

Technology
I am interested in pursuing technology post-MBA (ideally PM). All three of these schools have amazing resources in this regard, but conventional wisdom says that Haas and Sloan are a step above Kellogg. I didn't list entrepreneurship as a post-MBA goal, but I'm also enticed by the startups and general sense of innovation at MIT.

General Management
While my post-MBA goal is tech, I do care about attending a program that provides ample opportunities for leadership development. Sloan's rank in "general management" (#16) is typically much lower than peer schools, which gives me pause. Is it really that much worse?

SO community
I am moving to business school with my significant other, and want to make sure there are opportunities for them to make friends and get involved on campus. Kellogg's JV community looks outstanding, but not sure if it's just truly better than the other schools' SO communities or if Kellogg just makes a bigger point of advertising it.

Prestige
For better or for worse, I do want to consider the relative rankings of these schools. Within this community, Haas is usually seen as a tier below Kellogg/MIT -- but not sure if this holds for tech specifically. Among Kellogg and MIT, the MIT name is definitely appealing as well.

Culture
They all seem tight-knit and collaborative. Any clear advantages or disadvantages? I don't consider myself extroverted, but have been really touched by the warmth and personal touches from Kellogg so I wonder if I'm missing out on something special by not attending.

Please vote and comment with your thoughts

Thanks so much!

NTSpike · Answer

You're going to have to make tradeoffs here, you're not going to make a fully optimal decision in every category. You needing to stay in the same state makes Haas the best choice as the best Tech options are unanimously in CA. Kellogg would provide the best optionality and soft skills development and it's cheapest. MIT is the best brand and easily the best for entrepreneurship. I'd say MIT is the best for Tech, but in CA I'd honestly put Haas on the same level as recruiting will be so much easier there.

Talk to some students. PM does involve a certain degree of Marketing and Sloan is known more for operations. I spoke to a '17 Sloan alumni at my company after my interview and she said she didn't really know how well Sloan placed in PM. I was a bit concerned about that. Kellogg might actually be a decent choice here for PM (See Prof. Sawhney). Haas sends a ton of students to PM as they feed into the local Tech firms.

How are your prioritizing your criteria? How would you rank them?

Posted from my mobile device

mbagrad2013 · Answer

Congrats on getting into these top programs with $$$$

Honestly I think you should go with Sloan here. It is the best in Tech PM recruiting, look at its employment report and it is all there!
If you want exposure to entrepreneurship..... then it is even better! Lots of resources and a general innovative vibe across campus. 
I wouldn't be worried on the General Mgmt ranking, that is the same ranking that places Babson #1 in Entrepreneurship (Really???). The US News discipline ranking is done by asking other B-school deans which school they think is the best in certain areas. So I would not read too much in to it (on the other hand, the normal US News MBA ranking is considered very robust and the most respected ranking). MIT has great leadership and general management classes, and if you are not satisfied, then just cross-register with HBS classes if you'd like (and expand your network even more).
Boston's tech scene is exploding right now, just look at all the developments in Kendall Square (right near MIT) with offices of Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Hubspot, Toast, etc. 
Sloan and Kellogg are both known to have the best cultures within the M7, more down to earth students etc.

Bottom-line: if you are serious about tech and entrepreneurship....you have to go with MIT Sloan! Good Luck!

maisy · Answer

OP:

After visiting both Kellogg and Sloan admit weekends, I've decided to enroll at Kellogg. It was an incredibly tough decision (and I'd be lying if I said I'm not continuing to stew on it some days), but ultimately came down to the following:

-  Financials:  Without asking, Kellogg increased my scholarship to full tuition (another ~$30k). I asked MIT about increasing my scholarship, but they did not. Kellogg's scholarship comes with additional mentorship and networking opportunities as well
-  Location:  I much preferred the suburban location of Evanston vs. the urban, corporate feel of Cambridge (at least, where MIT is located). I also didn't much like the housing options of Cambridge, whereas lower cost of living in Evanston means my partner and I can afford to live fairly comfortably
-  Community:  This is the biggest thing. I visited adMIT weekend fully expecting to enroll, but ultimately didn't feel a very close connection with the culture. Further, the programming seemed hastily put together, and a lot of current students weren't even there because it was a long weekend. Day At Kellogg was the complete opposite -- over 200 students contributed to making it a fantastic weekend, and I felt at home in the community there immediately. This was surprising to me given what I'd read about the differences between Kellogg and MIT culture (I'm introverted)

Biggest tradeoffs in picking Kellogg are the name "MIT", the focus on Action Learning, and the resources in entrepreneurship (not my primary goal but still enticing). Still, I know I've made the right decision for me.

cardinal5500 · Answer

Congratulations! Kellogg has world-class resources in tech recruiting and an incredibly vibrant community on-campus and within its alumni. This is why visit weekends are so important. Thanks for taking us through your thinking!

bb · Answer

Congratulations and sorry I have missed your original post.

Congratulations on making the choice and it was a tough one. I can see folks picking any one of the 3 programs. One thing I say in situations like this is to make sure you take into consideration the opinion of the significant other (and that if you open that door, you have to be sensitive to their signals, or if you don't want to hear their input, then don't even open that door).

Wish you the absolute best of luck in your next 2 years!
Kellogg has a very tight community and a great program, esp the pre-MBA trip to a mystery location is a great way to bond people.

P.S. If you are looking for something to do in the summer before school, I would highly recommend taking some public speaking or presentation classes/courses and improving your speaking/networking skills - these will be critical during the recruiting season and will make a difference in the sea of very similarly polished MBA candidates.

Good Luck!
BB.

JohnJohnJ · Answer

MIT is a great school, but if you look at its employment report-it’s primarily the engineering, tech companies and MBBs (couple of banks too) hiring there. It does not have the wide range of employers that Kellogg has. 
In 2016 and 2017 Facebook was among the largest recruiters from MIT, but it’s not a top recruiter in 2018.... which goes to say that minor issues of these few hiring companies can bring down the employment stats at MIT.
When you look at Kellogg’s employment stats, it remains in the top 3-4 feeder schools to MBBs, wide range of employers, no heavy concentration in one single industry (though I feel they could do better at finance), second largest number of Fortune 500 CEOs among business schools (after HBS) - indicating solid history. 
Kellogg is definitely a better than choice than MIT

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ENGRTOMBA2018 · Answer

You’ve made the right decision, given your goals. Feel free to reach out if you have any Kellogg related questions. I graduated last June and can provide a deeper view of some of the questions you might have. Good luck and Kellogg with its strong sense of community, closeness to Chicago’s tech/entrepreneurship scene and great connections will provide you an immersive experience.