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09 Apr 2024, 10:27
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Hi! I'm facing a tough decision regarding which business school I will attend starting this summer.
A little about my background: I'm an older applicant, 30+ yo, with experience in supply chain. I have worked in emerging markets my whole career, and now I'm looking for a pivot to entrepreneurship in the long term and consulting in the short term to gain key experience within the US industries. I plan to work in the US after the master's program (during the OPT + STEM period), and moving outside the US afterward.
Several programs accepted me, and now my top two options are:
1) GSB, the one-year msx program. I expect to receive 50k USD, as others from my region have previously received.
2) TOP 15 business school, I was awarded full tuition.
I know there are many differences among those programs, such as opportunity cost, cohort experience, etc.
Would you turn down a full tuition at a top 15 business school to attend gsb, even though it is not the FTMBA program?
A little about my background: I'm an older applicant, 30+ yo, with experience in supply chain. I have worked in emerging markets my whole career, and now I'm looking for a pivot to entrepreneurship in the long term and consulting in the short term to gain key experience within the US industries. I plan to work in the US after the master's program (during the OPT + STEM period), and moving outside the US afterward.
Several programs accepted me, and now my top two options are:
1) GSB, the one-year msx program. I expect to receive 50k USD, as others from my region have previously received.
2) TOP 15 business school, I was awarded full tuition.
I know there are many differences among those programs, such as opportunity cost, cohort experience, etc.
Would you turn down a full tuition at a top 15 business school to attend gsb, even though it is not the FTMBA program?
09 Apr 2024, 15:20
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Congratulations on your admits!
This is quite a good fortune or rather hard work 👍
Getting a free MBA is a really strong value preposition. It’s gonna be really hard to say it wasn’t worth it.
What I would look at in your situation is how you plan to recruit. If you are looking at consulting, the best way to go through the on campus recruiting and through the internship program. Unless you feel that’s not a good path for you, or in case the top 15 program is not focused on consulting, maybe I would doubt it but otherwise I feel like it would be a better fit. At Stanford, you would get a great name and exposure to some amazing older students who are going to be in VC, startups, tech and so on but nobody will be pursuing consulting most likely and you can sort of team up with younger kids in the full-time program But I’m not sure how well that works in terms of schedules and things like that. Also it’s only a 12 month program so you don’t have the traditional summer internship that is quite important for consulting and gives you basically two chances to recruit for it.
Knowing as much as I know, and your immediate goals after you graduate, I’m probably leaning more towards a lesser ranked program but this is a really hard decision to make. Stanford just topped the rankings chart and it’s really hard to say no to that strong brand.
Posted from my mobile device
This is quite a good fortune or rather hard work 👍
Getting a free MBA is a really strong value preposition. It’s gonna be really hard to say it wasn’t worth it.
What I would look at in your situation is how you plan to recruit. If you are looking at consulting, the best way to go through the on campus recruiting and through the internship program. Unless you feel that’s not a good path for you, or in case the top 15 program is not focused on consulting, maybe I would doubt it but otherwise I feel like it would be a better fit. At Stanford, you would get a great name and exposure to some amazing older students who are going to be in VC, startups, tech and so on but nobody will be pursuing consulting most likely and you can sort of team up with younger kids in the full-time program But I’m not sure how well that works in terms of schedules and things like that. Also it’s only a 12 month program so you don’t have the traditional summer internship that is quite important for consulting and gives you basically two chances to recruit for it.
Knowing as much as I know, and your immediate goals after you graduate, I’m probably leaning more towards a lesser ranked program but this is a really hard decision to make. Stanford just topped the rankings chart and it’s really hard to say no to that strong brand.
Posted from my mobile device
MBAGuide
Joined: 24 Jul 2019
Last visit: 21 Apr 2026
Posts: 2,358
Given Kudos: 28
Location: India
Concentration: Operations, Marketing
Schools: Insead Sept'18 (A$$) ISB '19 (A)
09 Apr 2024, 19:57
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Seveleven
Seveleven congrats on the admits.
If you are an international, from a purely recruiting standpoint and to gain some stability in the US, it makes sense to choose a flagship program at a T15 school. Not to mention the fact that you received full tuition as an older applicant, you must have done something fantastic with all those years of experience.
At the same time, it's hard to beat the networking and learning opportunities that come with being part of the MSx cohort, especially if your eventual goal is to break into entrepreneurship. One very important point is that MSx markets itself as a program for mid-career professionals (i.e., people who have a solid fallback option after MSx), but since it's a masters program in management and not an MBA, I think the branding can be a bit confusing if you are moving out of the US. Where do you see yourself in the long term?
Out of MSx, you would be largely on your own when looking for a job, and if targeting consulting, you may be able to interview along with the MBA students with whom you would also share some classes and build your network. You will ofcourse have a fantastic peer group at MSx but uncertainty will linger in the background without enough time to pursue an internship and lacking job market relevance of a Masters of science degree in management. You did not specify your age, but note that it could also play a role. When it comes to hiring consultants, some schools in T15 may offer opportunities only for younger applicants. Only you know how risk-averse you are, so be sure to do your research before taking the leap.
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Best wishes
Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alum, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
Founder, MBAGuideConsulting (former MBA admissions consultant at top global firm)
LinkedIn |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/| Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]
