HBS vs Darden vs KF vs Kellogg

Question

Background on myself and career goals:
From South Carolina and work in the manufacturing industry. My long term career goal is to advance to the C-Suite of a multinational company (I enjoy heavy mfg and automotive - not banking or healthcare). I want to explore VC (not my priority but have always been curious) but my immediate goal is to work for MBB after school. Long term, I think I want to live in the Southeast US (not Atlanta) but short term I am open to other locations. I am super excited about the HBS acceptance, but I am concerned that I won’t benefit as much from HBS because of my long term goals to work in the Southeast. Is HBS really worth it over cheaper, more regional options? Thanks in advance.

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bb · Answer

Wow. That's an interesting mix of programs. Congratulations on your admits! There is one funny unspoken rule in this sub-forum and that is if you get admitted to HBS, you go to HBS

and I really admire you asking the question and considering the other options. The value of HBS is that you will get ability to get an interview for most positions you will consider. I don't know the dynamics in SC and if you would be considered a Yank but there are huge values in attending a top MBA program. I have a post about it here and won't repeat too much of it: https://gmatclub.com/forum/value-of-a-t ... 13365.html but it all comes down to your classmates. The classes will be similar. Textbooks probably the same. You will use the same laptop to take notes, etc. However, what will be different is your classmates and their caliber. They will push you harder, motivate you stronger, and build a stronger bigger network. Ultimately any MBA is a huge plus to your personal growth and any of these programs would have a huge positive impact on your life and career. You can totally pick any of the offers and you strike me as a pragmatic and modest person but I think people would wonder why you went to UNC or Darden vs. HBS if they found out. However, for what plans and goals you may have, either degree would likely drive value. I can also see taking a scholarship in case you are a woman and planning to take a break in the career for kids, which makes things tricky to come back to the workforce. Again, the fact that you are considering other options talks about your confidence in your path and your career and I think that's an awesome position to be in. And some may want to be the biggest fish in small pond. Depends on your growth goals and plans for the MBA. Sometimes it makes sense if you have many other things going... P.S. One concern about money can be addressed in a simple way. When I was recruiting I got an offer that was not very competitive, let's put it this way, and I told the employer that I really wanted to work with them but all of my classmates were getting much higher offers and I gave them the average salary of a few of my classmates that were higher than the school's average but were real ones. That helped take awkwardness out of negotiation and they bumped my pay by about 15%. That's not even considering the rest of benefits.

Braintree · Answer

Not to undermine your concerns, but even if you don't benefit 'as much' from HBS as you would otherwise because of your long-term location plans, the overall quantifiable benefits will likely be higher than from the other schools you mention.

Note that a lot of value of HBS comes not only from the network and the brand-name, but also from the learning quality as reflected in the quality of classmates, professors, pedagogy, and in just the overall learning environment. Imagine studying in Baker Library, where many notable economists, Nobel Laureates, and other prominent business leaders studied.

Imho, it's a no-brainer with the options you have right now, and with your objectives. The one case where I may not disagree someone opting out of Harvard in favour of another school (other than for Stanford), is if one feels the Ivy-league, elitist, culture is not for her, AND the person has an admit from another top 10 school, such as Berkeley, which has a diametrically different, and a more suitable culture for her. Kellogg, imo, is not one of these other schools.

woohoo921 · Answer

Congratulations!!! You should be so proud of yourself. I realize that other users will drool over that HBS acceptance, but I would carefully consider your long-term goals as you mentioned, and if you can get there via a less expensive option if money is a concern. People will say that money should not be a concern, but I know of a handful of HBSers who were not as successful as you might think (in MBB recruiting, in launching their start-ups, etc.) The brand name may help/their HBS experience may have been invaluable for them, but it comes down to you at the end of the day. Success is relative. Ultimately, I am sure you will achieve great things whichever path you choose. If you choose UVA or UNC, be sure to list you (likely high) GMAT score on Linkedin/note you got a full ride. It will help you continue to stand-out among peers.

bb · Answer

I totally agree, I admire anyone who is taking even 30 seconds to think before tearing their clothes off and running to HBS. 
In this case it is very inspiring and illustrates that there are many roads to the end goal. I love a quote Maria from ApplicantLab gave which said "Applicants make the school, not the school that makes applicants. If getting into HBS would be your life's biggest accomplishment, you won't get admitted"

Braintree · Answer

The whole point is why would anyone who does not consider HBS as high priority apply to that school in the first place? As a safety-net? All that research and introspection should go BEFORE going through the tedious process of applying. I agree 'drooling' and 'tearing clothes' over HBS is silly.

. But the argument is within the context of the OP's application and objectives. On those lines, even business education in itself may be considered over-rated - No closed-room academic course may provide you with the skills needed for actually running a business on ground level; Indeed quite a few successful leaders are dropouts from such elite schools. My younger brother quoted the same argument when he wanted to run a business before finishing off his undergrad (he cited the example of Dhirubhai Ambani, who was one of the most successful business leaders in India, and a classic rags to riches story). I just told him to look into the statistics - and not just into the outliers. What's the percentage of successful business leaders who are educated vs. not educated? Researchers will tell you that it is indeed very difficult to establish causality (so will CR experts for that matter

) Maybe there is one in this case, maybe not. Who knows what may pan out for the OP on the HBS vs KF decision? On a broader note, and at the risk of sounding too philosophical, 'success' need not even be defined by one's career or money, why not just by happiness and contentment? On second thoughts, maybe all the drooling and the tearing of one's clothes for HBS - if that's what makes one happy and content, is not that silly after all

. And neither, of course is pondering on the decision for 30 seconds or more!

bb · Answer

You’re making an interesting argument about LinkedIn, and including your GMAT score as well as scholarship information to help you stand out.

I guess my question would be, what makes you stand out a full scholarship and a high score at Darden or HBS?

I happened to be the guy who puts his GMAT score and his scholarship info on the LinkedIn but I feel it would’ve been easier to put a strong brand instead 🤷‍♂️

PS. At this point, I feel dirty advocating for Harvard. I don’t know why. 😂

souvik101990 · Answer

The value of the eliteness of your school drowns out dramatically each year after graduating. If you’re looking for MBB, I’d recommend asking Kellogg for a scholarship. Knowing what I know now, I’d pick kellogg with money over HBS any day, especially for MBB.

For VC, HBS will give you an edge since a lot of it is network driven.

But honestly, I have almost switched three jobs out of business school and where I went to school never EVER mattered. But I work in tech which tends to be a bit school agnostic. Kellogg has incredible networks in MBB so I think you’d be pretty sorted there.

I generally agree with  bb  on pretty much everything but I’d disagree on student caliber. I have a strong feeling that Kellogg will, on average, have higher caliber students than HBS. Caliber is of course subjective but I have a sneaky feeling the proportion of trust fund kids at HBS will be a lot higher than Kellogg. You seem like a better fit at Kellogg with your background and aspirations.

Anyway, congrats on the admits! Incredible accomplishment. Id love to get you on our YouTube channel and ask you questions that might benefit the community. Think it would be pretty awesome.

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bb · Answer

Good idea to talk to Kellogg! 
Let me know if you need some tips on scholarship discussion - I have a template topic about it in this sub-forum.

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woohoo921 · Answer

bb To your point, it feels like splitting hairs at this point. I don't know... some people may make the assumption if you are at UNC that you had a lower test score. Not a fair assumption, but the decision to go to a great program like UNC on a full-ride is something to be proud of/MBB loves the high GMAT score. That's why I made a suggestion to put it on LinkedIn. Yes, fancy schools like HBS have high GMAT scores, but they take some low ones too now and then

Again, no argument that HBS is the strongest among the schools the applicant got into. However, I think with the layoffs we are seeing right now (yes even HBS grads get laid off, and I don't completely buy the argument that the "superior" network from HBS would position you soooo much better than someone from Darden on the connections from the school alone... it comes down to many other factors at the end of the day), we can't fall in love with prestige. Prestige doesn't pay the bills, as they say! I wouldn't overthink this. Try to visit the schools if you can, get a feel etc. Talk to students. Let your heart/mind guide you in the decision process. It comes down to you at the end of the day, and the decision you can live with. There are also outside scholarships for HBS/pitch competitions in school to fund your studies (although I wouldn't count on them... something to consider). Carefully make a list of the pros and cons. Congrats again and best of luck!

Braintree · Answer

What  woohoo921  says is the best way about - get first-hand feel of the programs. Attend a few classes, talk to current students, alumni, and profs, and maybe a few potential recruiters too.

Second hand information and opinions can biased both ways. On the one hand there is all the awe and drooling towards Harvard and Stanford, but on the other, there might be a bit of an us vs them syndrome among grads of the other ‘lesser’ schools.

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HBS vs Darden vs KF vs Kellogg

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