Need your input: Kellogg vs Tuck vs Wharton

Question

Hi all,

I am in a fortunate position to be accepted by 3 great schools (all without any scholarships).

Several factors that I consider:
- Brand Name: I think Wharton has an edge.

- Alumni network / support: There are more alumni from Wharton than other schools. However, I am not sure how supportive they are. For Kellogg, although the number is smaller, from my interaction and my research, they seem to be quite supportive. Same with Tuck.

- Culture: I prefer a collaborative culture and a tight-knit community. From my interaction with Kellogg's and Tuck's students, I get the positive vibe. They are a bunch of nice people. For Wharton, I don't feel much connection. From my research, it seems that the culture is competitive at Wharton. People are more arrogant. Having said this, I have also heard many comments that nowadays Wharton's culture is quite collaborative due to the more diverse background of the students.

- Cost: Wharton seems to be the most expensive. Cost of attendance information provided by the schools indicate that Wharton's cost in general is more expensive 5K to 15K / year compared to other schools. That will mean additional loan amount for me. While for some people the amount is a small sum, I am concerned about the loan repayment (MBA salary here is not as much as that of in US, and General Management career might not pay as well as Consulting). Can someone provide insights on the possibility of getting fellowship / scholarship as a first year student? Is there a chance to be considered? How about becoming teaching assistant?

- Leadership opportunities: Part of the value of MBA is to participate in clubs / organising conferences. I am worried that the opportunities in big school such as Wharton is quite limited, since there are so many students competing for the position. In Kellogg and Tuck, it seems that there are more opportunities.

Appreciate your input and help. Thanks.

bdepp · Answer

Congrats on the acceptances!

As far as partying, you will be able to find a group of people who want to party as much or as little as you do at any of the schools. If you look at the stats, generally 20%+ of incoming students are married (not to say that married people don't like to party, but usually they are not as interested in the hardcore partying that may appeal to the singles crowd).

I was definitely impressed by Dean Blount at DAK. She was very passionate and seemed to have a strong drive to make Kellogg even better. Other than what you wrote above, I don't really know anything about the deans at the other schools.

Good luck with the decision! If I can influence you in any way to go Kellogg, let me know and I would be more than happy to!

mgg234 · Answer

I had her for undergrad at Stern and now going to have her for Kellogg. I really liked her at Stern (although I disliked Stern itself due to its culture, she tried to fix it though, they just let in too many people with poor social skills), she's a smart cookie. She was one of the people who truly "gets it." She also worked very closely with one of the clubs I was in to get us approval for things we needed, it's nice to have a dean that can both create a long term vision and also is willing to interact with students day to day. Not sure what the current Kellogg students opinions are about her, I heard she was controversial, but haven't read much about it myself.

edit:
Here's a good article I found:
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... turnaround

apadong · Answer

Thanks bdepp and mgh234 for your input. I also have the feeling that Kellogg's program will be getting better. Strong argument in favor of Kellogg. Lol.

apadong · Answer

Any comment on Wharton's network?

Zomba · Answer

My $.02 (keeping in mind that I didn't apply to Wharton or Tuck):

I'm married w/ a kid at Kellogg and get along just fine. I was actually drawn to Kellogg partly for it's strong emphasis on JV's (partners), as something like 40% of us are married/in a serious relationship.

As for the international bit--I actually just got back from GIM Southeast Asia (over spring break), and I was simply blown away by the level of support that we got from alumni in-region and companies that our professors have consulted with. In Jakarta, for instance, our group spent half a day with the CEO and CFO of Astra owing to an old relationship with Kotler and some of the marketing department. Kellogg's alumni network in Asia seems, perhaps, more concentrated in certain industries/functions than Wharton, but the alumni really have been good about helping current students out with research, job hunts, and the like. Kellogg has a huge number of alumni consulting in Asia.

At Kellogg, international recruiting is very much up to the individual candidate (with the sole exception of consulting--as many firms recruit on campus for international locations). If you are set on consulting, that is not a pain point for Kellogg. General management is a bit more tricky if you want placed overseas immediately. I think that the CMC is pretty good about establishing relationships in most regions, though I think it is somewhat industry limited (e.g. finance in HKG).

Leadership activities: Kellogg is very much student-run outside of the classroom, and everyone who wants a chance to lead a club will have the opportunity.

Need your input: Kellogg vs Tuck vs Wharton

Kellogg vs Tuck vs Wharton

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