Booth vs Wharton

Question

Hi all,

I have been fortunate enough to be admitted at both Booth and Wharton and now I have trouble deciding between them. My desired post-MBA career is in investment banking and my current background is in sales and trading. I did not receive any scholarship from either school. I liked both schools when I visited and didn't find either culture too difficult to fit in. Two things make me lean towards Wharton. First, I went to Chicago for my undergrad so I would like to diversify my alumni network. Second, Wharton seems slightly more prestigious, but only slightly. I did pay for my Chicago deposit already so that would be one reason against it. It is really a close call so far and was wondering if anyone faced a similar choice and/or could provide some insight into what they ended up doing.

Thanks in advance!

revul · Answer

For IB this is a total geography/fit/personal call. If you want NYC, it'll be eaiser to put in 'face time' with recruiters coming from Wharton, and the brand has a small edge on Booth. If you want Chicago IBD then Booth offers the same benefit. Almost anywhere else in the US, the two both open pretty much the same doors. Internationally, Wharton is known better.

My only other opinion is that Booth's crown jewel is the finance program, so Wharton is a slightly safer choice for if you want to do something completely different one year into the program.

My only other opinion is that Booth's crown jewel is the finance program, so Wharton is a slightly safer choice for if you want to do something completely different one year into the program.

tj2013 · Answer

If we accept that W=B for IB; but that there is a reason people say Top tier is H/S/W. We must conclude W>B in many aspects. Therefore take W since you in essence get B plus some other things which may turn out useful later.

EuroEng · Answer

IB recruiting opportunities are pretty much on par so maybe you should look at other elements. for what it's worth:
- Booth's network is pretty much separate from UChicago's network
- Booth emphasizes flexibility, rigorous academics, and core disciplines (e.g. economics, stats, finance) while Wharton favors learning teams, fixed curriculum, and industry-specific focuses (e.g. real-estate, consulting, retail)
- Booth is highly focused on its full-time MBA program while Wharton has many undergrads, joint degrees mixed in

for the rest, talk to as many people as you can so you can form as good a picture as you can

good luck!

jlgdr · Answer

I'd go to Wharton because 1) it is more prestigious (Remember, its H/S/W and then the rest) 2) has a stronger alumni network in finance especially in Wall street, 3) it is much more flexible if you decide IB is not for you, 4) the community and program does a much better in shaping you as a leader.

I found Booth way too academic for my taste and really not the type of knowledge I was hoping to gain in an MBA.

Hope that helps
Cheers
J

jessepinkman · Answer

Booth is the most flexible of the m7 schools so no idea what jlgdr is talking about here. also he has no basis on point 4 when he hasn't started the program yet and (allegedly) just got into wharton off the WL

jlgdr · Answer

Yeah, I guess you allegedly got into Booth, but in your case I guess there's probably less of a reason to lie about it. I can talk about point 4 because I have seen how many friends have boost their careers after attending the program. Its just my 2c, to give OP another perspective. If you feel somewhat threatened or offended by the strengths of Wharton versus his other choice then you should probably try better to prove how Booth is the most flexible of the m7 schools. I'm really excited to hear about it.

jessepinkman · Answer

jlgdr - if you did in fact get into Wharton, then congrats, I have just seen you do weird things on this board the past few months I've been following like saying you got into HBS/Stanford (can't remember which one) and then admitting later that you didn't. Wharton is a great school and the case can definitely be made to attend Wharton over Booth (and vice versa), but flexibility is not one of the points in favor of Wharton. Booth has the most flexible curriculum of all the M7 programs with only one required course (Leadership Development) and the flexibility to choose from a variety of courses to fulfill the foundation requirements. A major advantage of this is the ability to take relevant courses starting your first quarter vs most other programs which require 1-2+ quarters of core before electives can be taken. Personally, I'm looking to go into VC so the ability to take a course first quarter which will be directly applicable to VC is huge and will hopefully help me gain an internship in the spring/summer. I'm sure OP has done the research but there is more information here regarding the Booth curriculum (https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/fu ... curriculum).

OP - have you made a decision yet? Everyone told me that you can't go wrong when I was deciding between Booth and Kellogg which isn't particularly helpful advice but it obviously holds in this situation as well.

jlgdr · Answer

No offense mate but flexibility is not a matter of being able to take electives in your first year. In reality, you start recruiting only a couple of weeks after you are on-campus, seriously do you think that taking 3-4 classes will make you more flexible in terms of targeting different industries? This whole thing about the flexible curriculum in Booth sounds pretty but in find it vastly overrated. 
Flexiblity comes from being able to tap into a strong network and resources in various fields such as finance, consulting, entrepreneurship, PE/VC and technology and I see Wharton far above Booth in this regard. Again, that's my opinion and OP can do a little research on both networks and programs and confirm this point.

Although, I am pretty confident about the strength of Wharton in this regard, I would not go as far as saying that Wharton has the most flexible curriculum within the m7 programs. Keep in mind that there are some of the other top tier schools like HBS with a very strong network in areas such as consulting, PE, entrepreneurship, government and social impact. I just don't think that Booth has that depth and breadth but you could try and prove me wrong.

Anyways, I just want to make sure OP doesn't fall into the trap of thinking he will impress his interviewer by saying he just enrolled in taking a course in XYZ 3 weeks ago. Again, bottomline is that flexibility isn't a matter of whether you have to take core courses or not. So as long as he can get that right he will be better suited to focus on what's really important and make a much better informed decision.

Peace,
J

angelfire213 · Answer

i don't know what it takes to get user banned - but mods should def look into jlgdr - from saying he was accepted to harvard - then being ED (supposedly) on cvs but still killing the booth and wharton boards claiming he really wanted to get in there.

i personally think he is just having a laugh.

op  - i LOVE booth (was very hard to say no to them) - you can definitely see and FEEL that everyone there is supersmart. i think that community - you have to KNOW what you want to do because it's definitely not a hand holding type of school.

They are flexible in the sense you get to go as deep as you like in a particular function - which is different from other schools that lean more towards a general management focus. can't say much about wharton bc i only did enough research to rule it out for me - but wanted to give you that Booth perspective

gcb09173 · Answer

Given you were undergrad at Chicago, my view would be to pick Wharton - It adds another dimension to your 'brand' than returning to your alma mater and will help with recruiting down the line. If you had been to Wharton previously, I would suggest Booth.

I dont think anyone on these boards would dispute the opportunities both schools would provide you and arguments between the two will often come down to perceived ranking. Therefore unless you have a particular gut feel for one school as a better 'fit' then I'd vote Wharton.

Booth vs Wharton

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