Wharton vs. Haas ($$$$)?

Question

I'm down to the wire to make a decision between Wharton (no scholarship) vs. Haas (full Consortium fellowship).

Live in SF so it's tempting to pick the easy choice of moving to Berkeley vs. Philly for 2 years and then TBD where next (although it seems like most Wharton grads end up in NYC), but I have no other attachments to the Bay Area.

I don't believe I need the networking/company/alumni connections of an MBA program but I am looking to dive deeper into the tech industry and believe it's where the future is headed. I can afford to pay for Wharton but it would be a substantial dent especially being out of state and compared to the full ride for Haas.

The smaller class size of Haas vs. Wharton feels like a huge differentiating factor - less people means more opportunity for recruiting just due to numbers and it also feels like the people and administration care about each student more, which arguably could lead to better outcomes just due to the more personalized feel and attention. It also doesn't seem like Haas at least at the MBA level faces the same public school access issues the rest of Berkeley is known for?

The tough part is the value of the Wharton brand in the long-term in case I choose to pivot out of tech, move to the east coast, or may get a better outcome 50 years down the line due to the much larger network (although it also feels like there's just so many Wharton grads that the name is also diluted on some level?). I also feel a strong personality fit at Wharton due to its social culture, but think there's much more value in cultivating closer ties with a smaller, more intimate, close-knit class such as at Haas.

bb · Answer

Congratulations on your admits and a scholarship!

I am a little bit surprised about your lack of attachment to the bay area. Not that it’s magical with all the homeless people in downtown San Francisco but I feel anyone moving to California has a really hard time leaving for whatever reason that is. You can see the alums of West Coast schools and they hardly go east.

I think the biggest difference is your experience with S Berkeley and Wharton are related to recruiting and class-size. You can check some of the older reviews from four or five years ago before the craziness of tech recruiting and you’ll see that Berkeley graduates felt they were quite the big gorillas the big three were. I think that’s a lot less noticeable when the economy strong and recruiting is heavy. You would definitely shield a differential more in the recession. In some ways you would be buying confidence and insurance. And if you don’t use the insurance, then you’re buying nothing besides peace of mind. Is that worth anything to you? To know that you’re giving yourself the best chances and the best opportunity and you have the best people in your corner? Maybe but is it worth $200,000?

It is helpful to have a larger program. I know many people get somewhat intimidated or concerned about it. I’ll definitely was back in my day looking for a smaller program and wanting to be a part of a smaller community. But there is strength in numbers. Do you have more like-minded people and you have more employers coming to campus and you have more clubs and more professors. You have some amazing classmates and of course you have some dinky ones but just because of the size, you’ll have more people who would inspire and challenge you to be better. The caliber of students would be higher and your network would be of greater caliber as well. I don’t think there’s really much of a concern about dilution or value deterioration due to the class-size. I understand that concept and I would be concerned about it as well but I don’t think that is the case in reality . I think there are enough jobs to go around.

Here’s may be the most helpful tidbit I have for you, this is some thing Maria from Applicant lab mentioned in the video at the MBA Spotlight Fair. A person makes the school, not school makes the person. If you’re past work experience is solid and it clearly is because you got into Wharton and you got a full scholarship at Berkeley, nobody’s going to look at your profile much differently when hiring you. They may be a little more impressed with Wharton name but if your experience sucks and you’re not a fit for the job, it doesn’t matter what name you have. So in a big part the reason Harvard graduates get great jobs is that so much because they went to Harvard but because of who they are. Another funny thing she said was that if your biggest achievement is getting into Harvard, then you won’t get in because you’re clearly not strong enough. Orton will not define your career trajectory so much unless of course there is a particular employer the tires on campus and you wouldn’t be able to net work otherwise. I feel that you have a very strong profile and I’m not sure that you need that extra layer of insurance and 800 pound gorilla weight behind you. Both programs clearly felt you had a strong profile and you would be highly employable Ed graduation so I don’t really see a huge need to spend $200,000. It would not be a mistake to invest this money into Wharton. I don’t think anyone could blame you for it I don’t think you’ll be regretting it but I don’t think you need to.

I would say one thing to probably muddy up the water 🤦‍♂️ Whichever program you go to, you will have setbacks and failures. Learning is all about making mistakes and failing. You will have a lot of learning

during those times dark thoughts start creeping into our minds creating doubt and make you think that you should’ve perhaps picked Wharton. So you have to consider do you tend to be susceptible to regret and if that happens often, I would suggest that you go to Wharton and you pay the full price but if regret is not your issue and you can make a decision and MoveOn and be 100% behind it, I feel Berkeley would be a very strong choice that would give you flexibility to be comfortable, not so stressed, and give you some secure a cushion to experiment, travel and pursue some options.

At the same time, it’s not uncommon for people in Tech to be back their loans within three or five years. I think of a mud it up the water enough now 😂

Posted from my mobile device

during those times dark thoughts start creeping into our minds creating doubt and make you think that you should’ve perhaps picked Wharton. So you have to consider do you tend to be susceptible to regret and if that happens often, I would suggest that you go to Wharton and you pay the full price but if regret is not your issue and you can make a decision and MoveOn and be 100% behind it, I feel Berkeley would be a very strong choice that would give you flexibility to be comfortable, not so stressed, and give you some secure a cushion to experiment, travel and pursue some options. At the same time, it’s not uncommon for people in Tech to be back their loans within three or five years. I think of a mud it up the water enough now 😂 Posted from my mobile device

desertEagle · Answer

Go for Wharton. I believe the tag always help. It has helped me a lot since i am one of the top Engineering Colleges in my country. The tag has always helped me be it promotion, be it following my half baked ideas(though most of them turned out much better than my peers and gave good returns) or be it posting of my choice. Even when i had some other commitments, my bosses would support me even if i was late on a few things. I personally feel the tag helps a lot. Also people would take you and your ideas seriously. Many people would like to talk to you just because you are from Wharton. You will get undue advantage due to college tag when you will be due for promotion. Also people tend to pardon small mistakes just because they think you are smart enough. This is my personal experience. Rest is up to you

Best of luck

You can apply to tech industry even after graduating from Wharton. Inspite of

Admissionado · Answer

@angel42:

Wharton feels like the right pack. It is really considered a much stronger brand than Haas. The larger class size has not diluted the brand. The same could be said of HBS which has the largest class size in the country!

Don't forget, Wharton also has a new SF campus, which you could take advantage of if you really wanted to focus on tech. Plus, in general, Wharton has moved away from being a pure finance powerhouse to focus a lot on tech, entrepreneurship, innovation, etc. I don't think you will feel like your options are limited. That might be different at a lower-ranked finance-focused school, but not Wharton.

The biggest issue would have seemed to be the money, but if that's not a major concern you should go for the better brand.

Congrats on both. Good luck with your decision and your ultimate experience!

thembaexchange · Answer

Congratulations on your two illustrious acceptances! The hardest decision is often the choice between two good options. It’s hard to provide a fulsome response knowing only what you have provided in your post because there are so many outstanding questions (For instance: how much debt will you be taking on and at what interest rate? Do you intend to work for a non-profit in a middle management role ($) or a social impact-oriented VC firm ($$$$) post-MBA? How much does conventional school ranking matter to you? Is there professional utility for a NYC-based education for you? What market do you intend to work in after b-school? How much does the international student body matter to you? Does culture matter a great deal? Would you prefer a smaller class size? etc.).

While neither of these schools are “social-impact-focused” per se, both are generally prestigious enough that they will propel students forward regardless of the professional segment of their ambition. It’s true that Stanford GSB, Yale SOM, and Dartmouth Tuck are likely stronger “social impact” players, but I think a good argument could be made for Wharton or Haas over Yale SOM or Dartmouth Tuck assuming social impact ambitious *without scholarship considerations* given that Wharton and Haas are generally more highly ranked than Yale and Tuck.

Although Haas is generally ranked lower than Wharton, it is often more highly regarded in certain markets given its larger international student body (especially in Asia). Haas is also a smaller class size in the much larger, more cosmopolitan NYC (versus Wharton’s Philly). Wharton has a very strong relationship with INSEAD, but Haas has a stronger brand post-MBA in Singapore and SEA. Wharton and Haas are both strong in finance (if by social impact you mean social-impact fund), but Wharton may be a tad stronger reputationally. Although both schools adhere to “grade non-disclosure” policies that dissuade gunner-mentality academics, many people believe that Haas has a less competitive culture than Wharton (perhaps stemming in part from the smaller class size and that finance-oriented pointiness of the Wharton student body). Both schools allow for grade-related signals on resumes (e.g., dean’s list) so gunners are gonna gun at both places. There are probably just more of them at Wharton. You might look into your scholarship to make sure that there aren’t stringent GPA requirements, because that could be a drag having to maintain a GPA in what should be a non-competitive grade-nondisclosure environment.

I wouldn’t put too much stock into the non-Haas consortium utility associated with Haas versus Wharton. Recruiting for social impact will be more self-driven than the corporate pipeline recruiters where The Consortium will be most helpful. In reality, the social and professional utility of the network will be tied to the school itself, rather than The Consortium (even though Consortium marketing probably claims otherwise). Note that both Haas and Wharton are part of the Ivy Consortium, so both should ostensibly have job-board sharing opportunities with each other and other Ivy-equivalents. From the recruiters perspective, however, recruiting is very intentionally school-specific (since the recruiters are often alums themselves). For the past 7 years or so, Wharton has had many graduates going to the Bay area. It's still more finance oriented than other b-schools, but the geographic distribution of those finance people is increasingly tilted to the western-US (PIMCO, SF-based M&A groups, VCs, etc.). See geographic distribution of 2021 MBA graduates here: https://statistics.mbacareers.wharton.u ... 50f11-8cdd

Since much of your short post focuses on the scholarship choice, though, I’m assuming that much of your decision is based on the ROI of tuition dollars. You don’t need to take economics at Haas or Wharton to know that the utility of a dollar is determined by the # of dollars you have. Is the $80K differential a large amount for you relative to your current or near-term future wealth? If so, then I’d choose Haas over Wharton. In our experience, very few Haas or Wharton alums have trouble repaying student loans and most believe that their educational experience was “worth it.” Those who struggle often choose professional areas that don’t cash flow well or don’t cash flow right away (e.g., government, some social impact, entrepreneurship). If the professional path that you are pursuing is significantly less remunerative than the school averages for alums, I’d follow the scholarship money. What good fortune to be making a choice between two great options - you’ll win either way.

aangel42 · Answer

Thank you all for the really helpful input and detailed thoughts!

Wanted to clarify that I am not interested in the social impact space. I declined going to Yale SOM for that reason and am on the waitlist at Columbia (which is based in NYC). Haas is actually based in the Bay Area near San Francisco and I am interested in non-technical roles within the tech industry. No preferences for an international student body or class size, but I am a very extroverted person and not very outdoorsy.

I am still definitely very conflicted because of the brand name / perception benefit that Wharton offers vs. Haas. I'm not sure how to weigh the full ride from Haas vs. the benefits of the Wharton name in a few decades for senior corporate roles... also the perceived future value of a Bay Area education in a world that's moving more in favor of the tech industry vs. a more general management education at a traditionally reputed top school like Wharton. Is it better to be someone that's recognized as worthy of a full scholarship by a lower ranked smaller school or to be one of many at a top school with no additional benefits?

bb · Answer

Wharton vs. Haas ($$$$)?

Wharton vs. Haas ($$$$)?

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