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28 Jan 2011, 19:36
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In my humble opinion since you arent looking to join PE or HF, and have a pretty good deal from Booth its a no brainer. The difference in brand is not going to have the same impact as if you wanted an exotic finance gig where brand is everything. Plus the advantage of having a special fellowship program should not be ignored, that will open a lot of doors and in many ways is a bigger advantage than being one of 900 at HBS. If it was a lesser school than Booth, it would be a far harder decision.
Also there is a lot to be said for graduating with no debt. You are looking at the same 100-120k salary coming out of school at both schools but one you are looking at 100-150k worth of debt depending on the size of loans you are taking out. Brand of school isn't as important in the industry world, many senior executives you will work with dont have MBA's and wont know or care about brand really. Its a different world than consulting and finance. Once you are working how successful you are is going to depend on what you can do for the company and not where you went.
I have several friends who ended up at Kellogg over HBS for a variety of reasons, ranging from a spouse who got into K but not HBS to someone with a large scholarship to someone who decided based on fit and career path. Its not unheard of to turn down HBS, sometimes on boards like this people are overly brand sensitive. Visit both schools and think hard about it. The ROI for you seems to be much better for Booth right now, and in the business world thats not a bad way to look at your decision...you arent looking for a job with a 500k first year out of school potential so zero debt is a huge motivator.
Also there is a lot to be said for graduating with no debt. You are looking at the same 100-120k salary coming out of school at both schools but one you are looking at 100-150k worth of debt depending on the size of loans you are taking out. Brand of school isn't as important in the industry world, many senior executives you will work with dont have MBA's and wont know or care about brand really. Its a different world than consulting and finance. Once you are working how successful you are is going to depend on what you can do for the company and not where you went.
I have several friends who ended up at Kellogg over HBS for a variety of reasons, ranging from a spouse who got into K but not HBS to someone with a large scholarship to someone who decided based on fit and career path. Its not unheard of to turn down HBS, sometimes on boards like this people are overly brand sensitive. Visit both schools and think hard about it. The ROI for you seems to be much better for Booth right now, and in the business world thats not a bad way to look at your decision...you arent looking for a job with a 500k first year out of school potential so zero debt is a huge motivator.
28 Jan 2011, 20:28
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I'm on exchange at Booth right now and I voted for booth. Here are my reasons why :
- You will learn stuff. I mean seriously - the academics are thorough - in-depth and top notch. Not that you won't learn stuff at HBS, but here there is no obsession with teaching methodologies etc., just pure hard learning and it is all very heavily data driven. It is the Chicago way and boothies are rightfully proud of it.
- You will fit better - the average age is slightly higher than other schools I have visited and people seem more mature.
- As mentioned earlier (several time) there is hardly any difference between firms coming to these two schools to recruit
- You can go on exchange (maybe not the most important criteria but I dont believe HBS has an exchange program, correct me if I'm wrong)
Good luck. In the end its totally understandable if you go to HBS to avoid the sense of "what if" - these decisions in life have a strong emotional component it.
- You will learn stuff. I mean seriously - the academics are thorough - in-depth and top notch. Not that you won't learn stuff at HBS, but here there is no obsession with teaching methodologies etc., just pure hard learning and it is all very heavily data driven. It is the Chicago way and boothies are rightfully proud of it.
- You will fit better - the average age is slightly higher than other schools I have visited and people seem more mature.
- As mentioned earlier (several time) there is hardly any difference between firms coming to these two schools to recruit
- You can go on exchange (maybe not the most important criteria but I dont believe HBS has an exchange program, correct me if I'm wrong)
Good luck. In the end its totally understandable if you go to HBS to avoid the sense of "what if" - these decisions in life have a strong emotional component it.
29 Jan 2011, 10:56
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I think the alumni and students above have given a good perspective from the other side of life - the realities post graduation.
The only fields I think HBS has significant leverage is PE. It is almost like a closed shop and brand or connections really matter to them - they like one of their own. VC in Boston perhaps, but certainly not the west coast. HF are in the most part guys who didn't even get an MBA, so it is difficult to say.
With your career path, as others have wisely noted, the lack of debt will be a big difference to you. It might even give you an edge when considering opportunities - you aren't looking for the highest salary to meet your loans, but are looking for the best opportunity that may involve a cash sacrifice for some time. The programs are all really similar - I know rhyme and I have laughed about the lack of distinction a bit. You will meet people who can't add up at both schools and will wonder why they are there, you will meet some of the smartest and sharpest people in your life as well.
The Booth opportunity sounds really interesting, and for the field you are in shares the same level of access to firms. But you will be able to have more fun at Booth, because going 20k into debt to have a riot isn't like adding another 20k onto 100k.
I suppose the only difference is whether you will wish you had gone to Harvard when you are older. Honestly, I very much doubt you will. I am not bothered by the fact I never applied to H/S/W, purely because they didn't work for where my life was at and where my family needed to be. OK, maybe I wish I had applied to Stanford, because the weather and lifestyle out there is awesome. But in the most part, it really doesn't matter and I have never felt my education is inferior to that of any of the so called "top tier" firms.
By way of reflection, a year out of school and I have recently been laid off and am on a job search. So far I have had one person mention my MBA, because he was an alumnus. No one else has even mentioned it - it is there on the sheet of paper, it is in the past and just assures them that I - most probably - am not an idiot.
Finally, the whole commuter school thing that applicants seem to create is the biggest pile of crap I have ever seen. It is as though there is some belief that living in a hamlet would build a bigger sense of "community". You all head to the same fricking building, you all have cell phones to arrange stuff. Where you live really doesn't matter unless you want to be a peeping tom or a stalker. People are well wired up to move around, be contactable and have an experience beyond living on each others toes.
I am confident Booth has an excellent atmosphere.
If you like sitting in a room, drinking beer and deriving Pi to 314 decimal places.
But at Harvard you will hear people talking about who their parents are and who they know more than about themselves, so.....
Ignore the stereotypes. Visit the schools again. Meet the students. Take time over your decision to support your own mind. Once you have done that, I expect you will go to Booth. But wherever you go, you will go with the peace of mind that you really thought things through.
The only fields I think HBS has significant leverage is PE. It is almost like a closed shop and brand or connections really matter to them - they like one of their own. VC in Boston perhaps, but certainly not the west coast. HF are in the most part guys who didn't even get an MBA, so it is difficult to say.
With your career path, as others have wisely noted, the lack of debt will be a big difference to you. It might even give you an edge when considering opportunities - you aren't looking for the highest salary to meet your loans, but are looking for the best opportunity that may involve a cash sacrifice for some time. The programs are all really similar - I know rhyme and I have laughed about the lack of distinction a bit. You will meet people who can't add up at both schools and will wonder why they are there, you will meet some of the smartest and sharpest people in your life as well.
The Booth opportunity sounds really interesting, and for the field you are in shares the same level of access to firms. But you will be able to have more fun at Booth, because going 20k into debt to have a riot isn't like adding another 20k onto 100k.
I suppose the only difference is whether you will wish you had gone to Harvard when you are older. Honestly, I very much doubt you will. I am not bothered by the fact I never applied to H/S/W, purely because they didn't work for where my life was at and where my family needed to be. OK, maybe I wish I had applied to Stanford, because the weather and lifestyle out there is awesome. But in the most part, it really doesn't matter and I have never felt my education is inferior to that of any of the so called "top tier" firms.
By way of reflection, a year out of school and I have recently been laid off and am on a job search. So far I have had one person mention my MBA, because he was an alumnus. No one else has even mentioned it - it is there on the sheet of paper, it is in the past and just assures them that I - most probably - am not an idiot.
Finally, the whole commuter school thing that applicants seem to create is the biggest pile of crap I have ever seen. It is as though there is some belief that living in a hamlet would build a bigger sense of "community". You all head to the same fricking building, you all have cell phones to arrange stuff. Where you live really doesn't matter unless you want to be a peeping tom or a stalker. People are well wired up to move around, be contactable and have an experience beyond living on each others toes.
I am confident Booth has an excellent atmosphere.
If you like sitting in a room, drinking beer and deriving Pi to 314 decimal places.
But at Harvard you will hear people talking about who their parents are and who they know more than about themselves, so.....
Ignore the stereotypes. Visit the schools again. Meet the students. Take time over your decision to support your own mind. Once you have done that, I expect you will go to Booth. But wherever you go, you will go with the peace of mind that you really thought things through.
I am voting for pragmatism. 
Most likely, I'll also get some financial assistance from HBS (maybe as much as a half scholarship if I'm lucky) so the question becomes "awesome fellowship opportunity at Booth where I would have more personalized attention vs. awesome brand name of HBS".
