jcjcjc wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm really fortunate to have received three great offers from Dartmouth, Yale, and Duke. All three schools have substantial scholarships, and Tuck is offering a full ride. I'm also currently on the MIT Sloan waitlist.
I'm a software engineer with a little less than 6 years experience working for startups and have two interests post-MBA:
- Product Management at a big tech company (Google, Amazon, etc.), eventually leading to my own tech business
- Immediately go into entrepreneurship via search fund
As an engineer, I'm definitely hoping to get some real business training during my MBA, and I'm confident that each of the programs I'm considering will do so. Additionally, I'm looking to join a strong community, and I'm hoping to build relationships that I can call back on throughout my career and life.
Tuck
I really loved the family-like nature of Tuck, and the small size is a plus for me. Hanover isn't for everyone, but I genuinely feel excited about the opportunity to spend two years in rural New Hampshire and going through a real college-like experience, building genuine relationships with peers and professors. The scholarship offer is, of course, incredible, as well. My main concern with Tuck -- does it align well enough with my career goals. Tech is growing at Dartmouth (like everywhere), but that's by no means what Tuck is known for. Will my highly-technical background help ease that a bit? Will I feel more well-rounded at the end of an MBA by completing a more general management curriculum vs something more specialized, or will I feel like I missed a chance to really focus on building skills that are directly related to my expected career path?
SOM
I connected well with everyone I met at SOM. The spirit of the school is likewise great, and the program's mission definitely resonates with me. The integrated curriculum seems great and taking courses throughout the University would be fun and interesting. YEI and entrepreneurship at SOM seem pretty strong, and while SOM itself might not be a super-elite MBA program, the Yale name carries a lot of weight.
Concerns about SOM: with Dean Snyder stepping down, so I wonder how much SOM will change. The Yale network is great, but SOM's is pretty small and doesn't seem to have the best reputation. While all schools are providing large scholarships, SOM offered the least. And finally, though it's not a major concern, I didn't really like New Haven, and it doesn't feel like a nice place to live (for me).
Fuqua
I initially wasn't going to apply to Fuqua, but I had the opportunity to visit the school last year and my mind immediately changed. All of the students have been incredibly nice and helpful, and they all seem to have thoroughly enjoyed their time at Fuqua. The scholarship is quite generous and close to Tuck's. Minor point, but after living in the Northeast for a long time, North Carolina's weather would be very welcome.
On to the things that concern me about Duke: has a great reputation, but not as strong as Tuck or SOM (probably even here, but I'm giving SOM the edge because of Yale). Some entrepreneurship and tech here, but still not super strong. Durham seemed ok to me (not as nice as Hanover, but better than New Haven), but I am concerned about building a network that is strong in the South/Mid-Atlantic, and I don't plan to live/work in either of these regions post-MBA.
Now, if I'm lucky enough to get into Sloan as well, that'll make this even more difficult.
Hoping for some feedback and advice!
It really depends on what "big tech" is to you.
If it's limited to FAANG, you're looking mostly at one of Google or Amazon for product management since neither Apple nor Facebook hire a ton of PMs. With a SWE background, I don't think your school choice will really affect your chances at Google - as far as I know, with relevant background, they will look at you regardless of your school's ranking (unless it's way out there). You will want to reach out to students from Tuck and Fuqua to ask if Amazon hires Technical PMs from their schools - I can tell you Amazon certainly hires PMT from Yale SOM.
If your definition of "big tech" is any firm with $10B+ market cap, then you're looking at Intuit, Adobe, PayPal, VMware, and eBay. A lot of these firms are relatively ranking agnostic, but all have their core target schools. Yale is gaining traction with a number of these firms because tech hiring for class of '17 and '18 has spiked up, and they're seeing a great ROI with us.
In terms of starting a business, it's hard to comment in depth because I didn't go that route. I can say we have a lot of resources dedicated to entrepreneurship right now, as we have at least a few handful of students looking to start their own businesses. Search fund is ramping up at Yale SOM in a big way. We have a couple of fantastic faculty members teaching Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition - which is hands down my favorite course at Yale. Our leading professor, AJ Wasserstein, is well connected in the search fund world, he brings in 1~2 search fund entrepreneurs/investors once every week to speak at his class. I think you'll have an absolute blast taking that class at Yale SOM.
Deciding between schools & benchmarking is often difficult, as rankings and anecdotes from people who either attended one or none of the schools are the only available information. I also understand Tuck has offered you a full scholarship. Regardless of which school you're leaning towards at the moment, I suggest speaking to the admission's office to see if they can up their scholarship offer.
I hope this was helpful. Feel free to reach out if there's anything else I can clarify for you.
souvik101990 wrote:
Oh BTW, ditch Yale
I'd be curious to hear why as well. If you don't feel comfortable sharing it here, PM me.