Admitted: Berkeley or MIT? [Solved: Haas Berkeley]

Question

Was lucky to get into two of my top 4 desired programs: Sloan and Haas. No scholarship money on the table at either school.

Spent my career in policy and now want to work in edtech. I do not have a business or STEM background, so I'm honestly a little nervous about my ability to jump directly into a more niche part of tech. This leaves me thinking I need to consider "hedging" my bet with Big Tech or even consulting. I know these jobs are competitive, its just my impression they take on people from a wider array of backgrounds.

I eventually want to settle out West but am fine with a few more years on the east coast (currently in DC).

Big question is which would be best for my main goal: edtech. Interested in companies like Coursera/Udemy/Udacity/Pluralsight, etc. Most of these big players are in the Bay Area, so it seems like my decision here is location versus brand.

People also talk about class "fit" but with COVID-19, I'm not able to visit campus before making decisions, so I'm not sure exactly what their culture is like, especially MIT.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance for insights on this decision!

bb · Answer

Congrats on your admits! This is a tough one!

By the way, before even jumping into the decision, I have to say that admit weekends are not representative of the program and future. It is more like a movie preview - it has some truth and then lots of things made to make you buy a movie ticket. So if you have a bad admit weekend experience or good experience, that's not how life will be for 2 years. You will have good and bad days in either program so my bottom line message is that while it feels like you have lost a decision-making tool, the reality is that it is not precise to start with so you are not that worse off. I see lots of arguments and reason to go with Haas Haas is a strong program; it is in Bay area, close to your target destination. I think you would not make a mistake going to Haas and BananaNation likely will support me here but at the same time on-campus recruiting always weaker on the west coast (not Haas's fault per se but just it is esp with smaller programs). I feel MIT would be a super a strong Tech play and message. I feel Sloan can holds its ground even vs. HBS and what better and stronger name can you present to a tech company other than MIT? At the same time recruiting from afar is always tricky but what you may lack in distance you should be able to make up in brand. saga31 , what do you think?

MBAApply2022 · Answer

Two great options! I went through a similar decision criteria in February, ultimately choosing Haas over Wharton, although money was a large contributing factor in my case (I was actually rejected at Sloan).

Both will likely get you where you need to go, although I envision it will be easier to venture to local start-ups from Haas for networking and interviews. Looking at both employee reports, it looks like Coursera was the only company that recruited at either school from your list last year. This tells me that it will probably be more like start-up recruiting, where you will need to take the initiative to find positions. You could also probably do an internship locally with a EdTech firm during your first year if you wanted to at Haas which could give you relevant experience to help with full-time recruiting.

With that being said, I'm sure you could do that from MIT as well (which has an unbelievable brand within tech), but you may have to do treks to SF along the way (if that is where you want to end up) to meet with firms. Boston does have some EdTech players, but they all appear rather small.

I've also anecdotally heard from a few MIT students that I talked to when I was doing initial school research in early 2019 that the MIT career center is not super helpful for non-traditional paths, but I also heard that they were working to improve that, so it may not be an issue anymore. Haas is also very student-driven, but being in the Bay Area would make it easier to do the outreaches on your own.

Finally, if you do think East-coast down the road would be an option, the MIT network is obviously way larger on the East coast. It also offers a better chance to get into MBB (every single person I met at Haas' admit weekend going to MBB was going to the SF office, so if you want to go to a different office, it will likely be more difficult from Haas). It's also strong on the West Coast as well, so it kind of offers the best of both worlds.

I would recommend reaching out to alumni or current students who went down the EdTech path from both schools. Given your specific goals, they will be more helpful than most people on here who are taking a shot in the dark. I'm sure AdCom at both schools could help put you in touch, but if not, just find people on LinkedIn and reach out to their alumni email address.

sdfn19 · Answer

Hi OP, congratulations on being admitted to both awesome programs!

So, considering your goals, it would be important to know whether you could recruit for your target companies more effectively while being physically close. I saw both Coursera and Udemy in Sloan's career central with recent recruiting opportunities.

From my experience recruiting for tech, big companies don't care much about networking (i.e. Amazon, Apple, Google), while the smaller ones (i.e. Hubspot for example, or Cargurus) do, but it's not like you have to be physically present or go to their offices all the time - if you do it's more for your own benefit. I went twice to those companies during the semester (one to meet a PM and another for an event organized by Sloan) and had a number of calls with alumni working there, which I think was more effective. I am unsure whether this is different for edtech though.

If you realize that being closer will definitely help you recruit for those companies, then by all means Haas is the better option. If you don't, Sloan opens more doors in terms of other industries/locations that you could take advantage of.

In terms of culture, I think the question is not so much what the culture is like, but what are you particularly looking for in terms of the school's environment - approaching it this way helped me make my decision much faster than trying to compare or navigate aspects of different schools I didn't even care about. Business schools are very similar, I don't buy the stereotypes of "culture" or "fit" because regardless of class size, you can always find a group of like minded people or the environment you are comfortable in. I can happily share with you my perspective and experience while at Sloan through PM if you want, and answer any more questions you may have.

Good luck!

mcwalcott · Answer

My 2 cents of reality - when it comes to Tech, especially mid/small size firms/startups, the school you go to doesn't matter as much as your past experience (relevant/transferable skills), passion for your field and networking. The latter matters a lot for non-big Tech as sdfn19 pointed out, especially for non-traditional streams like edtech, foodtech, greentech etc., and that's where Haas has an edge over many schools given its alumni network in Tech and location. Talk to alumni in edtech

Congrats with offers!

wamilk · Answer

Mods requested a follow-up: In the end, I picked Berkeley. Things have worked out (got a full-time offer from an edtech company I had hoped for from the start). I am very lucky to be in this spot.

Now that my MBA experience is over, I still sometimes wonder what would've happened if I picked MIT. The reality is, I picked Berkeley because it was physically closer to where I want to be long-term but I think things would've been about the same either way. I generally like my classmates here but may have fit in better at Sloan. The lack of ideological diversity at Haas does dampen the experience.

I would definitely do it all over again, though. That's the bottom line. I appreciate the help folks here provided in the process. For any T30ish MBA, you'll be fine just about anywhere unless you have very specific goals (company/industry with pretty narrow recruiting pipeline, long-term goals related to narrow region, etc).

bb · Answer

Thanks so much for coming back to share your experience and share some of the thoughts. I would say that MOST Bschool students I talk/talked to are unhappy with their classmates. That seems to be the rule/law/always.

I am not sure that is the effect of the diversity where there are so many different people that someone definitely rubs someone else the wrong way or bschools on purpose do not want to let you have a vacation and create this situation but most folks I talk to, have referenced disappointment with their classmates. That is just something you have to set your expectations to (future bschool students). Congrats on your admit and awesome to hear your plans have worked out and you got an offer lined up!

Admitted: Berkeley or MIT? [Solved: Haas Berkeley]

Best option to pursue edtech?

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