Wharton vs Booth (w$60K) vs Sloan

Question

Dear Gmatclub readers,

I've got offer from Wharton (w/o $), Booth (w$60K), Sloan (w/o $).

Profile: female, Asia, Singapore, Vietnam, engineering, hi-tech industry
Post MBA: internal strategic planning (or consultant -- not really like) in hi-tech for short-term, entrepreneurship & trading for long-term
Post MBA location: does not matter. I stay where the opportunities are.

Financing MBA is a pain, and $60K means quite a bit to me. However, I know that $60K is negligible for long run. If any school of the 3 schools much better suits my career, I'm willing to overlook the scholarship. Actually my first choice is Wharton. And the old historic "H/S/W" trio at the top. I'm not brand concious, but I know brand-name may have huge impact to my career, my opportunities and network. Any comments/opinions are greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to create any hostility among students/alumni of these 3 schools. All schools are great, and I'm so lucky to be accepted. Please make this thread a friendly discussion. Thank you so much.
Pls forgive of my slow response (if any) as I am travelling.

Poem.

Ward2012 · Answer

I would pick Booth. I think the $ is too much to turn down, and all three schools are strong in all your post-mba goals.

aalba005 · Answer

There should be no issue getting all the funds you need from either of the 3 schools through loans as an international student.

I have visited and interviewed at all 3 programs on campus as well as networked heavily with students from all 3 programs.

First off, I would recommend you download their career reports for each of the programs. You will see the same top firms recruit at all 3. Wharton and Booth send about 40% of their class to finance related careers. MIT sends 20% of their class to hightech and internet based careers. All three send 20-30% of the class to consulting careers.

How do you like the campus atmospheres? 
I found Wharton to be very nice. Right next to the large UPenn campus, lots of activity. No dedicated space for MBA students as the Ugrad and grad wharton business students share the building and study areas. Very large class. With a large class comes tons of activities and interests to explore. Tons and tons of travel opportunities. You can take a semester at the San Francisco campus to study entrepreneurship your 2nd year. You can take a semester at INSEAD and live in Singapore or France for a semester.

Chicago's Campus is beautiful. Dedicated space for graduate students, lots of study areas and you also have the downtown campus to meet up. You will most likely live in downtown Chicago in the "Dorm" highrises. Chicago is the cheapest of the 3 areas to live. You will live like a king for what it would cost to get a studio at either Philly or Boston near the campus. Also Chicago is a great city. I currently work in Chicago. Top notch facilities including a huge gym and fitness building 10 minute walk from Booth. Chicago is also has more entrepreneurship activity than Boston or Philly. Booth works with "1871" with is a huge start up incubator and work space that is famous in Chicago. The polski center for entrepreneurship is also solid.

MIT is located in a nice area. Boston is the most expensive of the three areas. Smallest class size out of the 3 schools. MIT offers tons of lab classes which is a huge plus for me. School is more tech focused, opportunity to tap into other MIT departments. Very strong in entrepreneurship (Booth and Wharton is also quite strong). A good 50% of the student body come from Science Engineering or Technology backgrounds.

Overall, you honestly can not go wrong with any of the programs. There are statistics you can find on how much on average graduates make 5-10 years out of business school, Most of the top 5 -8 schools are within a +-10% variance from one another.

A 60,000 scholarship. Say you attend Wharton or MIT and took 60,000 in additional loans, after interest that would balloon to close to 75-80,000 with the interest. Saving that much money will potentially allow you more financial freedom to start a company of your own sooner. I know A LOT of people who have picked Booth over Wharton even when money was not in the picture. Booth is a great program and is rising very quickly in brand value. The last 5 years Booth has done all the right things.

Good luck on your decision. There is no wrong choice you can make with your particular career goals.

CobraKai · Answer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_KHwz_ZNFQ

kingfalcon · Answer

aalba005 did a really great job breaking down the decision. I suggest visiting all three schools and cities and see which resonate most with you. I go to Sloan (obviously) and I can tell you that all the big firms (including tech) recruit here. Furthermore, I think any additional brand value you would get from Wharton (which I would contest anyways given that you're not interested in finance) would be offset by the brand value of MIT as a whole should you choose to go to Sloan.

That said, if I were in your shoes, my decision would be between Sloan and Booth (Wharton is far too big for my tastes). There is no doubt that $60K is a huge amount of money, especially when you consider you will need to gross ~$90K-$100K to pay it off. While I love Sloan and I personally know people who turned down Booth with money to come here, I voted for Chicago (with the caveats I mentioned above).

DJOnion · Answer

I voted Wharton - if that is your first choice then $$$ should not make much of a difference. IMHO, 10 years from now the money will be less of a concern but your experience, network, and first career out of b-school will still mean a lot. Follow your heart!

jumsumtak · Answer

Did you (politely) ask Wharton to match the offer?

chromium73 · Answer

It is quite astonishing how much money booth offers for scholarships, granted this message board is a small sample. I have yet to see this kind of money offered at Wharton, CBS or MIT. My opinion is that if you are doing traditional ib or consulting, take the scholarship. If you are targeting something more niche, all schools should be on the table. I am almost glad MIT wait listed me to reduce my universe. I voted for MIT since you seem to be of the tech variety.

poem · Answer

Thanks all for your comments. Really appreciate that. 
Special thanks to aalba005 and kingfalcon for your breaking down decision, and CobraKai, it was funny. 
Hi Jumsumtak: I haven't talked to Wharton Adcom yet. It will be the last step I will do because I am not sure if Wharton is open for this kind of discussion. I don't want to damage the relationship too soon, haha.

jumsumtak · Answer

Well, I thought this was the last step

. Nah, just make sure you want to go there before you initiate any such conversation. Can't really go wrong. Good luck .

urarunner2 · Answer

1) Congrats on getting that much money from any school. I'm glad our admissions board can ID talent lol

2) If you really want to go to Wharton (or MIT) for that matter, tastefully bring up with your admissions rep your conflict and ask for some assistance. Admissions boards have the discretion to increase scholarship offers. One of my friends was accepted to Wharton off the W/L a week before the semester started. She was really conflicted because she would have had to pass up a free ride at Tuck. Wharton offered her 30k a year. I did the same thing with Chicago Booth and NYU-Stern.

3) It's about fit. Where did you feel at home? Where did you feel that you would be pushed academically, socially, and professionally? If you can answer those questions then your decision will be much easier.

Good luck!

randomwalk · Answer

Congratulations on getting through such great programs poem. This is a remarkable achievement. I have voted for Chicago booth. As an international student, I think $60K is just too much money to look away. You cannot go wrong with either of the choices in terms of reputation. All of them are top tier. Just like others have mentioned the only thing you have to gauge now is your personal fit with the class and the school. I would advise you to shell some money out and fly to US to attend the admit reception for all the three programs and experience the atmosphere there. I would also recommend to speak with other international candidates with similar background as yours on how they are find their experience 
This is such a great situation to be in. Congratulations.

rango · Answer

I would have chosen Wharton; as a technical guy ; you need not to go technical management school like Sloan. Go to Wharton if you care Business more and interested in multidisciplinary entrepreneurship in future. Thnaks :-D

cheetarah1980 · Answer

Ask now because others are asking. If Wharton is your first choice then there's no harm. If you do it right you just might get some funds. There is a limited pool of fellowship money. Don't let it dry up before you've even put your request in.

Money should only be a tie breaker, not the reason you choose a school. Take your time, ask for what you want, see what happens, visit the schools and evaluate when the dust settles. Deposits aren't due til February/March. Spend a few weeks pretending like you're gonna go to all three schools. These decisions tend to make themselves at a certain point.

poem · Answer

I'm terribly sorry for my slow response because of my travelling plan.
Well, I am reaching out to students of Wharton, Booth & Sloan, and hopefully I could make up my mind soon. 
I will let you guys/gals updated, and the logic behind my decision. And thank you so much, Gmatclub-ers!!!!!

And not to forget, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope 2014 brings everyone lots of fun, success and of course, happiness.

get2aditya · Answer

Poem,

Congratulations on such an enviable position that you are in. Please read this below link to see a last year's applicant who got into the same schools reach the decision. This might give you some pointers even though you might not arrive at a similar decsion.

https://mbaover30.com/2013/03/01/why-ive ... -business/

Good luck !!!

Adi

mgg234 · Answer

Definitely Booth, it's pretty much tied with Wharton in rankings nowadays, so its debatable if Wharton is even better.

poem · Answer

Thanks get2aditya & mgh234.

I have talked with a number of students & alums from all 3 schools, I don't have a very certain answer yet, I still have 8 days to go, but I am getting clearer & clearer. Anyway, as the "pay-it-forward" principle, I will post my final answer here (and the rationale behind) after the sweet Feb 14 date. Sorry it may not help R1 applicants, but I hope it helps R2 applicants in their decision.

By the way, just an update of $20K fellowship from Wharton after nicely asking, and $40K from MIT Sloan w/o asking. I am still surprised how generous Sloan is, esp I never asked for it. I was always impressed that Sloan rarely offers fellowship. Good luck to those who are asking for fellowship!!!

Best, 
Poem

Ward2012 · Answer

Congrats. That definitely makes this a harder decision. I think I'd still pick Booth, but I'd understand if you picked either of the other schools.

EngineeringMBA · Answer

Wow, this is a very tough decision. I'd be happy to get into one (without the $), let alone all 3!

I would say Wharton (as it was your top choice to begin with), and with them adding some $ to the table I think that's where you should go if you've always felt it was your top choice. If I were you, the only reason I wouldn't take it is if you don't like the environment there (i.e. you didn't like it there when you visited).

Wharton vs Booth (w$60K) vs Sloan

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