Yale ($) vs MIT

Question

Hi all,

Hoping to get your thoughts here. I was recently accepted to MIT Sloan in R3 after putting down my deposit for Yale. I am now having a really tough time deciding between the two schools.

Background : Three years in management consulting and 1.5 years in strategy & operations at a brand name tech company
 Short-term goal : Either MBB or returning to tech for a few years
 Long-term goal : Start my own company

Yale SOM  
- I love the people and the collaborative / friendly culture; would really enjoy spending two years there
- I'll be one of few focused on entrepreneurship, less competition for resources, albeit fewer overall resources
- Majority of alumni are based in NYC, where I plan to stay after graduation
- Several alumni are leaders within the industry I'm interested in; can get access through SOM
- Harder to recruit for jobs in the tech industry - less likely to get my top choice of roles after graduation
- One year core lends less flexibility; very academically rigorous, so not a ton of time to focus on entrepreneurship during first year

MIT Sloan  
- $70k more expensive than Yale (includes scholarship, higher tuition, higher cost of living)
- Very strong on entrepreneurship and tech - clearly will be a great incubator for my long-term career goal
- One semester core = more ability to explore; active learning style will help build real-world skills
- Stronger recruiting in the tech industry. Much more likely to get my top choice of roles after graduation
- MIT's brand skews towards operations, which I'm hoping to move away from. I'm worried the brand and network will pigeonhole me in ops
- I didn't feel like the school is a great cultural fit during interview days and classroom visits. Everyone seems very nice, but we didn't 'click' like I did at Yale.

Other Questions  
- At this caliber of school, does the brand name really matter?
- How important is cultural fit in the decision process?
- How is MIT's entrepreneurship support for non-high tech businesses?

Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Rohit6 · Answer

Hi Buddy,
I am no expert in these schools but I would say at this stage think of your short term goal more than your long term goal. If you decide to start your company in long term, say 5+ or 10+ years later I don't think it'll matter much if you're from Yale or MIT. You should focus more on the short-term goal. For tech. I believe MIT is definitely better. For MBB/consulting I believe both should be equally good. May be you should talk to more people in both schools and get a clear understanding of your short-term goal and then choose the one from where your short-term goal is more achievable.

What do you think?

jessepinkman · Answer

I'd go Sloan here given your interest in tech/entrepreneurship where Sloan is a lot stronger than SOM

bb · Answer

This is a hard choice and there is no wrong answer. You have done very very well! A scholarship from a top 10 is a big achievement!

I can comment on connecting with people at Yale vs. Sloan. I had it both ways in jobs and BSchool classes. It is definitely a better start if you start out with a sense of connection but I found that it is a minor readjustment as I had to figure out who I was clicking more with and how to fit in. Will take a few weeks to discover all of the great and horrible people in both programs...

Being a rankings whore that I am, I can't resist pointing out that Sloan has been ranked #4 by US News in the latest round. I don't know that it is on par with Stanford and/or Kellogg but may as well ride the high wave while it lasts and with your long term goal being what it is, perhaps you can cut through the crap and get to it faster (not sure if you want to be doing a startup with a bunch of bschool student debt but not unheard of). Having more people who are like-minded will stimulate and push you (and scare you too, which is helpful). You may realize that is not what you want to do eventually as you see everyone going into tech and startup mode what price it comes at. Could save you 10 years.... or accelerate you and save 20.

If you are going into Tech, MIT is a sexy name to have on the resume and while you went to the shiny BSchool instead of the underground math and physics labs, you will still share some of that cache.

P.S. At the same time, starting a business with 70K pays for a year's worth of living expenses. Had you been looking to start your business right after bschool, I would probably suggest weighing Yale more due to the financials. No wrong choices unfortunately ;-)

stonecold · Answer

MIT.
MIT.
MIT.
MIT.

You mentioned you want to return to tech in a few years, and i stopped reading after that.
To be clear and concise => 
MIT=Tech and Tech = MIT

MIT all the way.

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

My heart goes out to you, I can't imagine how difficult it would be to forsake a deposit that you put down as well as a scholarship. My clients get scholarships all the time but they never accept them because I always urge them to go to the higher-ranked school. In this situation I think you should get more clarity around your short-term goal. If you intend to go for MBB, I might actually recommend Yale, especially if you have an interest in projects relating to health care, social justice or other highlights of SOM. If you want a tech role post-mba then Sloan, Sloan, Sloan.

Wilch · Answer

Lack of scholarship wouldn't affect your ability to run a start up in the long run - especially if you're considering consulting and tech, as post-MBA positions from either sector should be plenty enough for you to repay your loans.

If you're certain about consulting, I don't think you can go wrong with taking the scholarship from Yale.

If you'd like to do strategy/business development/corporate development at tech firms, going to Yale won't stop you from getting internships/full time interviews; it really is up to your ability to interview and luck to secure a spot. Especially true since you're working at a brand name tech firm AND had consulting experience. You should be getting a ton of interviews.

If you'd like to make a big jump to a more technical role like product management or you're looking for very specific roles that's only made available to Sloanies (ask your POC at Sloan about their Gradleader/GTS postings), you may want to consider Sloan. To elaborate on the latter part, some firms seem to only some positions at certain schools for on-campus recruiting. E.g. Amazon recruits PM, Technical PM, Retail Leadership from every school and will take around ~X number of students from each school every cycle, while Apple (for reasons I'll never know) seems to focus on recruiting for Procurement/Supply Chain at Yale & AppleCare at Columbia. Google, Facebook, and Microsoft don't seem to have any real preferences, they hired a bunch of our classmates (along with some of my friends from other schools) for roles that fit their background well.

Few other thoughts: 
- If you're interested in entrepreneurship, shoot a note to Kyle Jensen (associate dean) if you have any questions, he's awesome.
- What I've seen with quite a number of alumni is that they do MBB first and then move into big tech and small startups with dope comp plans. This is something you can consider if you're not in a hurry to run your own startup.

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

I would go with Sloan here, great MBB opportunities. Great entrep training and better immediate networking opportunities in the Boston academic and professional community

pooryorick · Answer

Thank you everyone! I ultimately decided on MIT given the focus on tech / entrepreneurship.

bb · Answer

Thank you for posting your final decision! Congratulations!!!

HiLine · Answer

Congratulations! It's time to update your application status then, isn't it? You'll have a great time in Boston! :-D

Yale ($) vs MIT

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