Discovering a school's culture...

Question

Question regarding culture...

What are some of the reputations and truths about the culture of the top schools? I have heard Wharton, Columbia, Chicago students tend to be incredibly competitive, while students at Duke, Stanford, Darden, Haas are much more friendly and team oriented...

Is there any truth to these reps? What kind of culture pervades the top programs?

I think this information could really help some people (myself included) help decide which schools to really research and visit.

Thanks!

~Sam

kryzak · Answer

haha, sam, you might have opened a can of worms here, especially with the debate going on in the "H/S/W Selectivity" thread.

To keep myself out of more trouble, I will only speak of the 5 schools I did extensive research on:

Stanford: Collaborative, friendly, laid back, want to "save the world", slightly aloof (not arrogant, but just distant)

Haas: Collaborative to the extreme, very friendly, laid back, passionate about what they do, socially responsible.

Kellogg: Collaborative, team oriented, friendly, very good interpersonal skills

UCLA: Collaborative, "Excellence without Attitude", laid back, friendly.

Chicago: Smart, friendly, *slight* commuter school feel, slightly less emphasis on doing everything in teams, a little more individualistic (nothing bad about that), and very flexible curriculum.

Hope that helps from my end.

terry12 · Answer

I'll also confine my remarks to schools I've looked at (more specifically, those I applied to

) Agree with what Kry's written on Stanford (though I haven't encountered the aloofness in my interactions with students and alumni), as well as Kellogg. Sloan: very friendly, but driven and really smart (a nice combination, I think) HBS: I know what everyone says about 'em, and yeah, I have met some people who weren't so nice. But I also know a lot of students and alumni who are very approachable and helpful. I'm not a huge fan of the case method, but to each his own. Wharton: I really disagree with the general consensus on Wharton. On my visits, etc., everyone's always been extremely helpful and pleasant. Admittedly, a lot of my interactions have been with the Health Care Management students (known as a close-knit bunch), but even the finance people I met were cool and down-to-earth. No disputing, though, that the curriculum is darn tough.

sam77sam7 · Answer

Thanks for the inputs guys... I did start the thread because of the HSW Selection thread discussion. :wink:

I think if we kept it geared to schools people have actually visited instead of what people "hear" it may be more beneficial!

togafoot · Answer

in that case :- NUS :- Empty I went during the xmas holidays :-D

everyone had gone home except for adcom who showed me around :shock:

Travel09 · Answer

Thanks for the input. It's hard to generalize culture "type" based on few interactions. But from what I hear schools go to great lengths ( admissions, teaching methods, social activities e.t.c) to maintain desired image.

kryzak · Answer

Oh, I forgot to add:

UCLA: The admissions office is so disorganized that it seems unprofessional to the applicants (the infosession presentation was very rough, the admissions office unresponsive, etc...), but if you spend some time meeting alums and students, you will find a gem of a b-school through all the chaos that is UCLA admissions process.

riverripper · Answer

I think most people when they attend a school find their fit…There may be an overall feel and reputation a school has but some students of a school will stray from the norm at that school. I know I couldn’t have been more different than the majority of people at my undergrad and I still found my fit. It was small enough and we were in close enough contact that everyone got along but people tended to form groups which is most likely what b-school will be like outside of the class. Whether its married folks with kids, people from certain countries, or whatever…people go with who are the most comfortable.

Schools have these reputations for a reason...because they are often fairly true. Yes, there will be competitive folks at Kellogg, extremely uncompetitive people at Wharton, unhelpful people at Tuck, and so on. But overall there is sort of a self selecting and policing nature. People know the perception a school has and if that fits their personality they are more likely to attend that than someone who isn’t anything like that. For the small amount of students that don’t fit that image the overall attitudes of the majority tend to push them more towards that than they would at a different school where that smaller group would be part of the majority.

However, one thing to consider is that a lot of people hold particular perceptions of schools and when you graduate from there that label is going to be attached to you whether it fits or not. If you go to MIT, some people will probably think you are a nerdy quant jock, if you go to Kellogg people will think you have better soft skills but weaker quant than a Wharton guy.

Some schools have much more polarizing images and in certain areas that can be good or bad depending on the industry and the place you work. There are schools that have reps for being arrogant or having a sense of entitlement, and this probably isn’t true for the majority of the students but unfortunately all of the students are painted with the same wide brush. So whatever you hear about a school is probably a good representation of what the general view is of that school…good or bad that is how a lot of people will view you if you go there.

However, that should be shortlived since once you show up at work and people know you, your work will have more to do with image than your school. But before you walk in the door they will see where you are coming from and will peg you with a stereotypical view of that school. Remember if you go to an ultra elite no matter what there will probably be greater expectations on you and your abilities.

bsd_lover · Answer

I got a similar impression from NYU . The admissions guys took ages to respond to my emails. However, my doubts were put to rest the moment I spoke with some current students and alumni.

togafoot · Answer

Forgot to add. Adcom at NUS were HOT!!! :shock:

ryguy904 · Answer

I feel silly asking this, but NUS stands for?

Thanks-

aaudetat · Answer

I feel like it's hard to talk a lot about a school you haven't attended -- most of us are smart enough and value our degrees enough that we won't try to be an impediment to the admissions process.

In addition, River - I couldn't agree with you more.

That said, I will chime in on Team Fuqua. Yep, they're serious about it. It's real, and not just some admissions ploy.

Here are two stories that show TF. (And NOT that stupid story about how a student came out of an interview and gave a heads-up to the next person to interview. I heard that story at every school I visited, from students and adcom. It happens here - happened to me on Mon - but is a fairly weak example, IMO.)

1. During term 1 my section organized "office hours" where students who rocked a subject would hang out in the Fox Center and answer any questions that other students had. Those smarty-pants could have saved that time to study themselves. And helping me hurts the curve overall, but that's TF for ya.

2. There's a guy in the second year who has a reputation for being a little underhanded. He once - in front of a recruiter - asked another student if she needed more help with a class. In other words, he tried to make her look bad and himself look smart. Everyone here is polite and friendly, but he has the reputation of being "that guy." My point is that "that guy" is both uncommon and frowned upon.

sam77sam7 · Answer

Thanks for the input on Duke, I am very interested in their program and have heard good things about TF as well...

bsd_lover · Answer

I believe it stands for "National University of Singapore"

kryzak · Answer

Haha, maybe that will push me to select an Elite instead of a UE? Lower expectations = better

Discovering a school's culture...

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