Help mNeo pick a school

Question

Sorry for posting a newbie question. Now that Columbia has put me on the dreaded waitlist, I need to add one more school to my portfolio. My very basic requirements from the schools are:

* Bright fellow students who would have similar interests
* School's clear focus on Entrepreneurship (Kellogg's brochures, info sessions and alumni do not talk about entrepreneurship at all, which is a warning-sign, for example)
* Very frequent opportunities to connect with VCs (Tuck may have some problems because of its location?)
* Opportunities to develop my soft-skills -- usually underestimated skills that a successful entrepreneur needs (My interaction with MIT Sloan's students has kept questioning if there's a chance you get in 'nerd' and get out 'nerd' from Sloan)

The schools that I am considering are: MIT, Chicago, Kellogg and Tuck (I am intentionally keeping UC Berkeley out of the race. If all else fails, I may have to apply to UC Berkeley's part-time program in Feb 08. Thank you for the great idea, prasad

.. see I am not applying to the same round as you, so we can still be friends.)

I've been trying to pick one school from these 4 for a long time .. but every few days, my opinion changes. When it comes to my MBA dreams, you guys know about it as much as I do. So, maybe I should leverage things you guys learned about these schools in your researches. So what do you guys say? 2007ers? 2008ers? Which school would you recommend for me?

ps. I have time to apply R1 at MIT. But in case of other schools, I'll apply R2 only.

.. see I am not applying to the same round as you, so we can still be friends. ) I've been trying to pick one school from these 4 for a long time .. but every few days, my opinion changes. When it comes to my MBA dreams, you guys know about it as much as I do. So, maybe I should leverage things you guys learned about these schools in your researches. So what do you guys say? 2007ers? 2008ers? Which school would you recommend for me? ps. I have time to apply R1 at MIT. But in case of other schools, I'll apply R2 only.

ncp · Answer

Go apply to CHicago or that Tuck or whatever school in NH. Dont you dare apply to MIT. Its reserved for us nerds.

nervousgmat · Answer

Based on your entrepreneurship interests, I would go with MIT.

dabots · Answer

please stay away from my schools. kthxbye

deepuaries · Answer

mNeo - a few thoughts, I’ll recount personal experiences since that may give you additional insight:

Sloan: Since MIT is one of my target schools - obviously I've got a pretty high impression of it. One of my colleagues at work is from Sloan and he's a great down-to-earth guy. I also talked to another alum at Sloan - and my impression of the school has only gotten stronger. The strong east coast entrepreneurial network that Sloan offers alone makes it an oh-I-so-wanna-get-in kind of a school. I understand the "geek" factor at Sloan with lots of engineers in the mix. But it's not necessarily a bad thing - I mean if entrepreneurship is your target, then why close a door to the easiest form entrepreneurship of our times: technology? I think with your credentials, Sloan would be good target. 

Chicago: One of my buddies goes there - and he's psyched about it. It's numero uno on the BW lists et al. But somehow, the entrepreneurship focus isn’t as chiseled out as some of the other schools. With a quantitative focus, I think it’ll be a great learning atmosphere. It’s not one of my targets, but who knows I may change my view at some point.

Tuck: My line manager is a Tuck alum. He’s a fantastic chap – and a great consultant. I’m sure Dartmouth had something to do with that. But in discussing my bschool plans, he actually discouraged me from applying there for two reasons: (a) it’s in remote wilderness, and Tuck may not be the ideal place given my affinity for big cities and social interaction (he knows it ‘coz I crib when client engagements—as they invariably turn out to be—are in middle-of-nowhere small towns) (b) It’s got far fewer seats – my efforts would be best invested elsewhere. Both of which make sense. So depending on how much of these resonate with you – you can make an informed decision on your application to Tuck.

Kellogg: Think it’s a great school. One of the partners at my firm specifically asked me to apply there. But limited time and divided focus are both not good things – which eventually made me drop Kellogg from my target list. Also, just from a pure “perceptivity score” (again – just personal judgment here, no scientific basis at all), I feel Kellogg has withered down a bit in the recent past.

Hope this helps.

aviroop · Answer

Wat about Duke, Darden and NYU?

Would they not be good choices for Entre...

ncp · Answer

avi, I dont think mNeo wants to apply to non-M7 schools. right mNeo?

aviroop · Answer

my bad prasad..

lepium · Answer

Then why Tuck?

To mNeo: from the schools that you mentioned, the one most closely associated with Entrepreneurship is MIT. I would also add Michigan-Ross to the equation if you were willing to consider it.

L.

riverripper · Answer

Honestly, I always thought Columbia ED round was one of the easiest paths to M7 schools. I would continue on your previous path but maybe check out Ross and NYU both are great schools and will be easier to get into. I am using the R1 shoot for your dream schools, R2 hedge my bets with easier schools.

kwam · Answer

Please do not apply to MIT on R1 :lol:

I agree with Lepium, MIT and Ross are excelent Enterpreneurship schools, though Ross is not among the M7...

KingKREEP · Answer

Ditto. MNeo, since entreprneurship is so important to you, MIT seems the best bet. However, as Lepium mentioned, Ross is a great school too.

mNeo · Answer

Thanks for your comments, guys.

Well, I am trying (Although it's tough) to not value the "ease of getting in" factor when choosing the school. If I do not get selected anywhere else, then UC Berkeley's PT program would be my target. I think it fits perfectly with what I want to achieve (And I have prasad to thank for this idea). And if even Berkeley denies me, then perhaps I would need to realize that if all the B-schools think that I don't fit their requirements, then my path to success does not go through B-schools.

So, MIT and Ross seem to be the favorites so far.

kwam · Answer

I know this is really controversial, but some friends who attended Columbia and an ad consulting guy I talked to disagree with the Columbia ED easiness.

BTW, once you’re in WL are you still obligated with the Columbia first option issue?

KingKREEP · Answer

Dude, that's BS and you know it. A WL is bad, but not as bad as a ding. The Wharton deadlines are a couple of days away and if I remember correctly, you were applying to Wharton in R-1. So, you have work to do.

aviroop · Answer

this application process is turning into a game of indian arranged marriage proposals....


All the women (schools in this case) look tempting, only to find out you are suitor no. 1432 and if you are late in the game you lose, too early and you still lose coz you have to wait and get judged with the competitors.

mNeo · Answer

Well, I said this because you can apply to only so many schools, right?

Anyway, you are right .. time to work on W!

rhyme · Answer

The answer is so obvious: chicago gsb.

mNeo · Answer

I do want to work on their powerpoint essay. But that'll be such a wrong reason to apply to a B-school :roll:

rhyme, any pointers to Chicago's offerings in entrepreneurship and in 'making connections with VCs'?

riverripper · Answer

mNeo if your business idea is profitable then you will find capital. If it is not, even your best friend isn't going to give you money. Any top school is going to provide you with contacts that you can use to find funding. Even better, thanks to GMATClub you now have contacts at probably every single top b-school. 

I think if your plan is to found your own business then brand name isn't as important as your the business plan. I would rather go to a no name school and have an amazing idea for a business than go to HBS and hope I can come up with something. If you want a job in VC then the name is going to be important if you want money from a VC then your idea is whats going to get you the big bucks.

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