phBOOM Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I went to a full-time MBA reception at Booth. One > guy got in with a 2.99 GPA. So don’t count > yourself out just yet. So, there is hope for schmucks like me after all!
CFADetroit - Spend whatever amount of time it takes to get your GMAT score to the 700 level and go to a top school. Think about it: If you spend $5K and 300 hours of prep on the gmat and that gets you from the Indiana/Notre Dame level to Booth/Kellogg then you just made the greatest investment you will ever make. Start now, put in the time, get whatever supplements you need to excel (e.g. manhattan gmat, tutors, gmat club math tests, etc) and crush the thing. If you can get a 640, you can get a 700. Seriously man, you have the chance to get into a top 10 program if you put in the work, don’t settle for anything less.
Whats the value of getting into a Top 10? Other than brand recognition? And also, say I want to work in a certain region (ex LA,) would an MBA from Chicago or Kellogg have advantage over say UCLA or USC or even Cal?
Very good advice there numi and DirtyZ. Both have been there done that, so I’ll take their advice at premium to face value!
No problem, LaGrandeFinale. I haven’t actually started business school yet but after having going through the application process, one definitely learns a lot about the different business schools. Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!
ancientmtk Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Whats the value of getting into a Top 10? Other > than brand recognition? > > And also, say I want to work in a certain region > (ex LA,) would an MBA from Chicago or Kellogg have > advantage over say UCLA or USC or even Cal? If you want to work in LA and can’t get into Stanford, I would say USC is a good bet. I have been told the alumni network is referred to as the “Trojan Mafia” and is very tight out there. UCLA is much cheaper though. I have thought about USC myself to get out of the Midwest for school but that might put a damper on things if the alumni and recruiting for that school is mostly west coast based. That being said, Chicago and Kellogg are schools that are prestigious enough that companys will come from all over the country to recruit there I am sure.
This has been said multiple times I’m sure, but the region of the school you attend can be very important. If you want to be in Southern California, I’d take USC over virtually any school. Likewise, if you want to work in oil and gas in Texas, you can’t go wrong with Texas, Texas A&M, or Rice. Boston College is great for finance the northeast. If you can’t get into a top 7 school, you can also do quite well out of a regional powerhouse that nationally may not even be in the top 30. Having clarity as to what you want to do post-MBA is vital though. If you go to BC and then decide you want to work for in Houston in oil and gas, you are screwed. Likewise, if you go to Texas A&M and then decide you want to work at a mutual fund in Boston, you have a snowball’s chance in hell.
I haven’t read all the responses but I thought of something from the OP that I’d never really considered directly. See its I haven’t read all the responses but I thought of something from the OP that I’d never really considered directly. I’m a big believer in networks and previous jobs being the number one indicator of future opportunities and clearly most agree that only the top schools really offer a networking value that trumps the opportunity cost for someone already a couple years into their career. See most ppl in business and finance in general will probably not leave their good 75+ k jobs to go to a school and lose 2 yrs of income/ promotion opportunities to only get a 20k bump in salary. The only schools that can really guarantee a payoff for someone thats already with a good firm and on a good track are the elite ones- and at the same time that is why ther are elite- because they are full of contacts to these most highly sought after firms/ careers. Someone mentioned the other half of their FO contacts don’t have MBA’s… well thats likely bc unless its the H/W/S’s of the world it would likely not be worth it for them to go through the trouble. They would be wasting time by going to a mid tier school and since thats the case these schools are kinda stuck in a situation where they don’t really develop that all important network. Its kind of a self sustaining loop I guess. Just an observation. I guess its unique to MBA since there is not some thing one actually HAS to go to school for vs Medicine or Law or something of that nature where everyone has to go somewhere if they want that career no matter what their opportunity cost may be.
akanska Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I haven’t read all the responses but I thought of > something from the OP that I’d never really > considered directly. See its I haven’t read all > the responses but I thought of something from the > OP that I’d never really considered directly. I’m > a big believer in networks and previous jobs being > the number one indicator of future opportunities > and clearly most agree that only the top schools > really offer a networking value that trumps the > opportunity cost for someone already a couple > years into their career. See most ppl in business > and finance in general will probably not leave > their good 75+ k jobs to go to a school and lose 2 > yrs of income/ promotion opportunities to only get > a 20k bump in salary. The only schools that can > really guarantee a payoff for someone thats > already with a good firm and on a good track are > the elite ones- and at the same time that is why > ther are elite- because they are full of contacts > to these most highly sought after firms/ careers. > Someone mentioned the other half of their FO > contacts don’t have MBA’s… well thats likely bc > unless its the H/W/S’s of the world it would > likely not be worth it for them to go through the > trouble. They would be wasting time by going to a > mid tier school and since thats the case these > schools are kinda stuck in a situation where they > don’t really develop that all important network. > Its kind of a self sustaining loop I guess. Just > an observation. I guess its unique to MBA since > there is not some thing one actually HAS to go to > school for vs Medicine or Law or something of that > nature where everyone has to go somewhere if they > want that career no matter what their opportunity > cost may be. So in a nutshell: CFA>MBA…kidding!, just couldn’t resist.