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mbalady
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Joined: 30 Oct 2009
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Status:I want that purple stuff!
Concentration: Strategy, Social Entrepreneurship
Schools: Northwestern (Kellogg) - Class of 2014
GMAT 1: 680 Q44 V40
Schools: Northwestern (Kellogg) - Class of 2014
GMAT 1: 680 Q44 V40
Posts: 108
Kudos: 22
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Booth vs. Yale vs. Kellogg vs. Reapply 02 Apr 2012, 08:22
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robface
mbalady
Hey robface - Sorry about the HBS ding, but congrats on all your success otherwise!! I was about to respond to your original question, then a question came to mind.

What does transformational mean to you?

Good question...I think transformational in terms of an MBA is about becoming a person that you wouldn't have become otherwise...for example, gaining those soft skills that many leaders possess...a certain gravitas and ability to communicate effectively your ideas...I think its more about those soft skills and becoming more of a leader rather than learning a bunch of "technical stuff"
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I have no knowledge of hedge funds piece (don’t even know what a hedge fund is) but I will speak to the transformational bit.

Like most folks, I consider value of an MBA from a top school beyond just learning about business. I fully expect to come out of school in 2014 stretched in more ways than I have before; I expect to graduate a better version of myself. Be it in my abilities in leading/motivating people, communicating, my ability to impact people and businesses, in the way I perceive issues and solve problems etc. From my interaction with classmates from around the world, to the network that is opened to me, to learning about careers that I didn’t know existed, travelling and meeting (both business and political) leaders in various countries…. I also expect a transformational experience. If I will leave everything and make this very costly two year investment, I have very high expectations of the business school experience, BUT I understand that it is up to me to take the opportunities that the school I go to provides… it doesn’t just happen.

I didn’t apply to HBS but I have been there a few times for conferences, and during one of the weekend long events, I sat in on a class (they sent us the case beforehand). The class was fantastic. Granted, it was a room full of prospectives and the case was particularly exciting and deliberately selected for the demographic of people who attend said conference, it as an amazing session nonetheless. The discussion was invigorating!

I know a couple people ( known ‘em since childhood) who have graduated from HBS, and I see who being in an environment like that has made them. They think differently, they approach situations differently, they carry themselves differently.. they even party differently lol. But I do know this isn’t limited to HBS. My guess is most top schools will provide you the opportunity to be transformed, but I don’t believe that ‘transformation’ comes by default – self-awareness is key. It is up to you to figure out:

1. What areas you want to grow in
2. What you want from the 2 year experience
3. What school gives you the best opportunity to grow in the way you want to grow

From a Soft Skills perspective, my vote is Kellogg.. but only because I know what the school offers. If you are leaning most towards another school (esp for the career piece of your decision), def see what opportunities other schools provides, that will meet your ‘non tangible’ needs.

All the best!
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tctc33
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Booth vs. Yale vs. Kellogg vs. Reapply 02 Apr 2012, 11:05
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maki04q

Now on HF --> as someone in the HF world right now, unlike PE shops, HFs DO NOT care whether you have an MBA or not. It's true that Harvard attract most HF recruiters than any other school but HF recruiting is self initiated anyways wherever you go. Harvard won't get you HF job guaranteed.....My friend at HBS just told me that there are about good 30 2nd yrs currently looking for HF job (they will be graduating in about a month - sad). HF recruiting is all about your own networking and etc.. Big catch here: AGAIN, I would say about 90% of HFs DO NOT care about MBAs. So if your goal is to get into a HF thru an MBA (200K of cost, foregone comp, and 2 yrs of time), it doesn't make sense as HFs DO NOT care whether someone has an MBA. PE does care but not HF. They don't give a crap about MBA. However, if you need 2 yrs time to look for a HF job, then maybe MBA might be worth it. HF is not like PE, you don't need an MBA to get a HF job. Even if you get into a HF, your compensation as a post MBA dude/gal will be exactly the same as a guy/gal who came in w/o an MBA. Period.
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I also work in the HF space and in my experience this is absolutely correct. Very few of our PMs/analysts have MBAs at all, and those that do have them come from a variety of top 10 to (gasp!) top 15 schools - not just HSW.

Most hedge funds are staffed on the lean side, so they don't really have the manpower to bring in people with potential but no experience (either i-banking or previous buy side work) and train them up. You need to be able to demonstrate that you can hit the ground running, and an MBA alone just doesn't make up for lack of experience (I'm not sure if OP stated what field he worked in before, but if it wasn't a technical finance position this could be a problem later on)

I know you said hedge fund preferred, but if you're willing to go the mututal fund route (which isn't as sexy, but actually has a lot going for it), you will get the top shops recruiting on campus. Looking through a few of the big guys' websites, I see this

Capital Group: HSW+Booth and Columbia
Pimco (from older file, so may have changed): Wharton, Booth, Columbia, Stern (no H or S for portfolio management)
Wellington (info sessions listed on website): Booth, Sloan, Wharton

You get the picture - Booth is fine. And it kills me to tell you that because I'm on the waitlist

As for the whole transformational experience business, I tend to agree with my boss (himself an HBS grad). Harvard sells its students on the whole transformational experience thing so they're more likely to believe their later success is a result of their HBS education (rather than their innate abilities) and they are then more likely to donate money to the school and hire future HBS grads. As an aside, he thinks HBS and Stanford are complete jokes of schools and would rather hire Booth/Wharton if forced to hire MBAs
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