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21 Apr 2025, 16:56
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Hi everyone,
TL;DR: International consultant (currently in MBB, lived on East Coast, VC background) choosing between Booth (prestige, consulting, global) and Haas (startup/VC, Bay Area). Short-term consulting, long-term VC/startup. Which would you pick and why?
I was fortunate to be accepted to both Chicago Booth and Berkeley Haas for my 2-year full-time MBA. Now I'm seeking advice on a tough decision which one to choose.
A bit about me: I’m an international student (from Europe), currently working in consulting (MBB), but also has a pre-consulting experience in VC (few years). Right after MBA I plan to stay in consulting in the US, but after 2-3 years I’m seriously considering returning to VC (also in the US) or joining a growth-stage startup. I’m probably an East Coast guy (lived in New York, love Boston). I have never been to Chicago. I’ve only been to the West Coast once (LA) and didn’t like it at all, but I know the Bay Area might a different story (however, my NYC-based friends who lived in SF for a few years after MBA claim I will not like SF).
Here’s how I see the schools:
Berkeley Haas
Chicago Booth
QQs:
Thanks for any insights or personal experiences!
TL;DR: International consultant (currently in MBB, lived on East Coast, VC background) choosing between Booth (prestige, consulting, global) and Haas (startup/VC, Bay Area). Short-term consulting, long-term VC/startup. Which would you pick and why?
I was fortunate to be accepted to both Chicago Booth and Berkeley Haas for my 2-year full-time MBA. Now I'm seeking advice on a tough decision which one to choose.
A bit about me: I’m an international student (from Europe), currently working in consulting (MBB), but also has a pre-consulting experience in VC (few years). Right after MBA I plan to stay in consulting in the US, but after 2-3 years I’m seriously considering returning to VC (also in the US) or joining a growth-stage startup. I’m probably an East Coast guy (lived in New York, love Boston). I have never been to Chicago. I’ve only been to the West Coast once (LA) and didn’t like it at all, but I know the Bay Area might a different story (however, my NYC-based friends who lived in SF for a few years after MBA claim I will not like SF).
Here’s how I see the schools:
Berkeley Haas
- Obvious strength is proximity to Silicon Valley and the Bay Area startup/VC scene. The networking opportunities for entrepreneurship are hard to beat
- VC: Skydeck is great, lost of mixers with Stanford GSB, and a student-run VC fund. Local VC firms are increasingly recruiting from Haas
- Reputation is strong in tech and startups, maybe less so in traditional business circles compared to Booth
Chicago Booth
- Booth has a stronger brand and is generally seen as more prestigious in business circles, especially outside of tech
- For consulting Booth is much stronger and many alumni at MBB
- The curriculum is super flexible, which I find a big big plus - I am also looking forward to full MBA experience (management, communication, negotiation, leadership, finance classes, case studies, etc.)
- Booth has a solid VC/entrepreneurship ecosystem too via the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which also offers hands-on VC and entrepreneurship classes
- Booth has stronger alumni network - truly global and influential + strong in Chicago, NYC and SF (whereas Berkeley would be strong only in SF)
- General MBA offer and curriculum stronger at Booth
- Booth has stronger network in consulting
- For a long-term VC or startup path, Haas’s location and network are big advantages, but Booth’s resources (e.g. Polsky Center) are still strong
- I could see myself building a VC network at either school - please correct me if I'm wrong
- In case I choose Berkeley, I’m not sure how much I’d enjoy living in the Bay Area long-term, given I feel good on the East Coast
QQs:
- Any international students here who can share their experiences at either school?
- If I want to keep both consulting and VC as strong options, is there a clear winner?
- In case I go back to Europe/Asia after MBA, which school brand and network will be stronger?
Thanks for any insights or personal experiences!
21 Apr 2025, 17:22
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I just typed up a large message and I think it got lost in the mobile app.... 🤦♂️
Hi mbbcons12345, I will make this less rambly and more bullet point like.
1. School power and strength declines with distance and time.
2. Your max "MBA" power is at graduation
3. Pivoting towards a long term plan/career goal is good but you are making decisions very far in advance and with so much unpredictability that the future carries, the weight of these benefits/decisions should be deprioritized if this makes sense.
Thus your plans 3-5 years after graduation (after your consulting career) are more important than what you may want to do after. Your VC/Startup conversion will probably happen based on your interactions while at MBB rather than your MBA network and connections you made while during the MBA as that network will get cold during your 3-5 year MBB career. This is kind of like your undergrad network - you probably have not worked it for a while (though I can be off of cours).
Seeing the Booth consulting club and their strength in getting MBB's and accessibility and program size, I think Booth wins for MBB with little hesitation.
If you are not planning to be in California, then Haas does not make a lot of sense. Few people leave CA (the truth is that the weather and lifestyle capture people there) so if you go to Haas and decide to move to East Coast, the value of your network will be diminished while Booth would not be potentially as strong in Bay Area, it does carry stronger M7 and Top 5 type of weight in VC space nationwide and esp in Chicago and East Coast where many alums settle.
I can't answer the going back to Asia question unfortunately.
Hi mbbcons12345, I will make this less rambly and more bullet point like.
1. School power and strength declines with distance and time.
2. Your max "MBA" power is at graduation
3. Pivoting towards a long term plan/career goal is good but you are making decisions very far in advance and with so much unpredictability that the future carries, the weight of these benefits/decisions should be deprioritized if this makes sense.
Thus your plans 3-5 years after graduation (after your consulting career) are more important than what you may want to do after. Your VC/Startup conversion will probably happen based on your interactions while at MBB rather than your MBA network and connections you made while during the MBA as that network will get cold during your 3-5 year MBB career. This is kind of like your undergrad network - you probably have not worked it for a while (though I can be off of cours).
Seeing the Booth consulting club and their strength in getting MBB's and accessibility and program size, I think Booth wins for MBB with little hesitation.
If you are not planning to be in California, then Haas does not make a lot of sense. Few people leave CA (the truth is that the weather and lifestyle capture people there) so if you go to Haas and decide to move to East Coast, the value of your network will be diminished while Booth would not be potentially as strong in Bay Area, it does carry stronger M7 and Top 5 type of weight in VC space nationwide and esp in Chicago and East Coast where many alums settle.
I can't answer the going back to Asia question unfortunately.
21 Apr 2025, 17:26
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Another item I would add is that the curriculum is not or should not be your big deciding factor for choosing the school so if you prefer booth, I wouldn’t put that much weight on it for a few reasons. First, many people pivot from curriculum towards recruiting demands And have to sacrifice study time. It’s just not realistic to spend all the time you want on classes and recruiting at the same time and get more than two hours of sleep.
Second, classes are also unpredictable in the sense that you don’t know which professor you will get or how the class will go or how the schedule will be and while the overall structure may be an OK decision factor, I wouldn’t that money on specific classes or professors.
Second, classes are also unpredictable in the sense that you don’t know which professor you will get or how the class will go or how the schedule will be and while the overall structure may be an OK decision factor, I wouldn’t that money on specific classes or professors.
