H/S/W vs. Top 10 with Scholarship

Question

I am very curious what GMAT Club members think/feel is a value of a Top 3 MBA vs. Top 10.

If you were admitted to Booth and HBS for example but Booth offered a scholarship, which would you pick? Similarly, if you were admitted to Stanford and Kellogg but Kellogg offered a 50-100% Tuition Scholarship, what would you be your choice?

I am starting a poll and appreciate everyone's vote as well as any comments you wish to share.

Thank you!
BB, Founder of GMAT Club.

jessepinkman · Answer

including wharton as an option here is silly imo. nobody is choosing W over 100% ride to a top 10 and few if any would choose W over a 50% ride to a top 10.

Narenn · Answer

I respect your opinion but our survey findings show different results. Last week we had contacted 21 users who got into H/S/W without $ and other T10 programs with $. 9 of them have so far responded back and ONLY ONE of these respondents turned down H/S/W offer and enrolled in a T10 school that offered him/her a scholarship. And in Wharton's case, every respondent who got into Wharton turned down scholarship offers from other schools and enrolled at Wharton by paying full price. It is unclear though how much money these guys were offered from Non H/S/W T10 schools. https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=46960 HSW vs T10 Survey.png

bb · Answer

Interesting... thanks for running this Narenn. I would not have expected it from Wharton either... what years does the data span? Is it this year or last year?

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Narenn · Answer

All students we surveyed are last year's admits, i.e. Class of 2020 students. We have not surveyed R1 admits of this year yet.

ENGRTOMBA2018 · Answer

Let me chime in as well. I don’t agree with jessepinkman above as I would’ve gone to Wharton (my dream school) considering the list of schools I applied to. This consideration is including getting full ride say at Kellogg or Columbia or MIT. You cant buy brand and pedigree which Wharton gets you. I wont call it a ‘poor man’s H/S’ but if you only start with a Wharton or Booth and work your way down, Wharton wins hands down for me. Again, 1 data point and I’m a person who has seen the benefits of brand/pedigree from very close.

Wharton is still a powerhouse for IBanking, PE, consulting (still the major hitters wrt hiring).

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Wharton is still a powerhouse for IBanking, PE, consulting (still the major hitters wrt hiring).

Posted from my mobile device

jessepinkman · Answer

my guess is that those scholarships weren't massive. The main point here is that H/S/W really shouldn't be lumped together anymore and that I think very few people would take Wharton full fare over a full ride at an M7 while many people would take H/S.

financenoob · Answer

Would only consider HBS and GSB. Also think it’s really only top two these days.

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TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Hi  bb , 
Thanks for your polling system. I've a great curiosity to know why people wanna get admission in HBS over Stanford  . What's the specialty of HBS over Stanford?

HBS---> 32%  
Stanford---> 17%  
Wharton---> 4%  
A Top 10 Program with a 50% scholarship---> 4%  
A Top 10 Program with a Full scholarship---> 39%

Narenn · Answer

Many users may disagree with me but it's really like winning an Olympic gold or silver medal. If you offered a chance to choose, you are more likely to choose gold medal over silver. In any case, you will still be called a world champion.

bb · Answer

Except the guy/woman who won silver is technically the first loser

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TheJaffeAdvantage · Answer

There are many things to consider so it is hard to answer the question out of context but a couple of thoughts and questions for you to consider:

1) Will HBS or Stanford offer you something you can't get at Booth? For example - do you want to work in Silicon Valley? If so, it makes more sense to go to Stanford

2) What are your post MBA goals? If you plan to strive for a high paying career such as I-Banking it may not matter. However if you plan to focus in General Management, Marketing, or even Consulting - those loans will take a long time to pay off. Not having the loans gives you more flexibility down the road to take chances: join a startup, take a chance on an interesting company that doesn't pay as well, start your own business, etc. This is all much harder to do when loans are hanging over your head for ten or twenty years

3) IMO - I would choose a top ten school over a second tier school with scholarship but I wouldn't turn down a scholarship from a top ten school for HBS / GBS. All ten schools have fantastic brand names, an amazing network, and recruiters from every company you can imagine. While there is definitely an aura and a pedigree that comes with HBS / GBS there aren't necessarily a significant number of concrete advantages.

Finally - visit the schools and see where you feel most at home. Some people turn down HBS for Booth or Columbia because they want a specific experience that only these schools can offer. Each school has a defined persona. Yes - HBS / GSB are generally considered the top two schools but that doesn't mean they will necessarily give you a leg up. You need to think about what school is right for you and for what you want to do.

Pamela Jaffe
MBA Admissions Consultant
The JAffe Advantage

Arro44 · Answer

As it is a once in a lifetime investment, I would chose a full priced Top 3 over fully funded top 10 (maybe with the exception of MIT Sloan).

Especially because schools like Tuck or Russ are not that well known in Europe especially compared to the cache of the top 3.

iratclif · Answer

I think there's an issue with your poll since you have both top ten school with 50% scholarship and top ten school with 100% scholarship as options. I think you meant to make the last option top 25 school with 100% scholarship. Otherwise, why would anyone choose 50% scholarship at a top ten versus 100% scholarship.....

bb · Answer

Totally agree. It is not clean in that respect but sometimes messy polls provide unexpected results and I was shooting to see what people would choose as their baseline type of thing. Do you actually need the full ride or would 50% be sufficient... if this makes sense.

The poll is not perfect, but the idea is what would you be willing to take at the minimum, and it seems some folks are willing to trade off H/S/W in exchange a 50% scholarship to a top 10 program.

iratclif · Answer

That was a rhetorical question and I was pointing what seems to be an obvious flaw in the poll. The question is "Which Would You Choose if You Were Admitted?" and has 2 options where any sane person would clearly choose a full scholarship at a top ten versus a 50% scholarship at a top ten. My guess is the 21 people who chose that option weren't paying much attention.

bb · Answer

A rhetorical question about an obvious flaw ... I fell for that

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Businessconquerer · Answer

Quite frankly there is no curiosity here
HBS prides itself for a need based aid
So there was a calculator that I used to estimate my cost at HBS
Turns out I only had to pay 10000 USD each year based on need based aid
So even if I got a full tuition fees waiver, HBS, is a near full tuition waiver option for me. 
Again as I was Rejected by HBS, this question would not be applicable to be, would it?

H/S/W vs. Top 10 with Scholarship

Which Would You Choose if You Were Admitted?

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