I recommend the book "Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School Paperback" by Philip Delves Broughton. I read it on a weekend trip a few years ago and found it insightful. I got out of it that HBS it is much more diverse than I originally thought (ethnicity, job background, education background), and a lot more group projects/teamwork than undergrad. I knew the second point but I never contemplated how it affected the competitiveness of the class or how courses are structured.

 

I didn't like that book at all. Very biased. I found that it was no surprise that the author couldn't get a summer job and couldn't get a permanent job.

Poets & Quants is your best resource, I think, for starters. John Byrne does a very good job covering the admissions and the in-school part the MBA ecosystem. He has hundreds of articles, most recently his series on startups is enlightening.

I also find myself reading the business schools' newspapers for insight. The Harbus (www.harbus.org) is actually pretty good. I also read The Curl (Columbia B-School's paper). And student blogs. Some better than others. The "official" ones are less interesting, but they give a sense of what's going on.

Finally, yes, douche-canoe is the best. I miss miss miss our dear friend Bankerella. Had coffee with her once. She rocks.

And to the final question, Yes, I would do it over. Who wouldn't?

Betsy Massar Come see me at my Q&A thread http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/b-school-qa-w-betsy-massar-of-master-admissions Ask away!
 

I just lost so much time reading that thread. Now I understand why Brady was universally hated. Also, I live in Wellesley (pretty close to the school) and have never seen guys with HBS jackets walking around. Wellesley has so many liberal, lesbian Prius drivers who I doubt are into Bradyeque alpha male douche canoes.

 

Came into thread out of curiosity, ended up laughing forever at "douche-canoe". From now on to the end of time, from sunrise to sundown, whenever I think of WSO, I'll always think of the douche-canoe.

 

It's definitely more work than I thought it would be (I'm a first-year student at an M7). The ironic thing is that it's not the classes themselves that are difficult, but rather the volume of work between classes, clubs, recruiting, and general networking. Grade non-disclosure would have been a godsend. That said, I've made a lot of great friends, have developed some new skills, and will hopefully be able to use it as a platform to break into consulting. Overall, I'd do it again.

 

Bschool is amazing, I'm at an M7 program. Obviously opinions will differ depending on who you talk to but this has been the best decision of my life. I've made several lifelong friends from around the world with incredible backgrounds. The network of current and future bad asses I've built organically will definitely help my career in unforeseeable ways.

Recruiting is super stressful and more challenging than I had anticipated. Every job you are competing for has incredibly talented people vying for it. Time management is tough when recruiting, interview prepping, leading student groups, being social and... what am I forgetting? Oh yeah, studying! But once the job is locked up, life is amazing. As a second year with offers I'm excited about, I'm currently on cloud nine.

If you are looking to change careers, learn a ton, improve your credentials, build an elite professional network, and have a blast doing it, a top MBA is worth every penny. That said, fit is extremely important. Cultures, career ops and the academic formats vary among top programs more than you may think and its important you consider that if accepted to more than one.

 

I'd say GND (grade non disclosure for those not in bschool) is a mixed bag. We recently had it up for a vote at my M7. It passed overwhelmingly, but many of my friends who voted for GND were torn.

Pros: Lets you not worry about grades as much and take classes that really interest you and might stretch your experience. Also there are lots of group projects and during the core curriculum you usually have your team assigned to you. On the plus side, you could get an awesome team that makes getting great grades easy, on the minus, you could have to carry your team making it a struggle to get a B+.

Cons: It's harder to differentiate yourself. If you're coming into business school without a finance background, but want to show how you aced your finance classes ahead of recruiting, you really can't. People also tend to check out more during recruiting since they know they can skate by - attendance for my core classes dropped from 95% during the first few months to around 65% now that recruiting has started.

 

GND is great however I will echo that even with it I AM finding myself a lot busier than I thought I would be. Everybody at school is smart and motivated or they wouldn't be here so while people prioritize school work a little lower since grades don't matter nobody just flat out stops caring. So far though the learning in the classroom is not that challenging. The biggest challenge is balancing recruiting, clubs, classes and social events. Depending on your career path you either start recruiting almost immediately or networking like crazy. There are always 2 or 3 different events on any given night that you have to prioritize. Plus bars/drinking/networking. Then somewhere in there you find the time to meet for group projects and actually do case reading. There are definitely weeks where I look at my calendar and think how the fck AM I ever going to do all of this. However I'm also a career switcher so for me the classroom learning means a little more than somebody coming out of finance who can sleep through corporate finance and get an A.

 

In general first semester is extremely hectic (juggling relatively intense school workload, recruiting, and club and social activities). The second semester is a little bit more relaxed (especially if you finished recruiting in the first semester). If you have an offer with the company you interned at, second year is an absolute chill-fest. If not recruiting still keeps you busy, but most schools have you set your own curriculum by then, so its not too bad.

Take this advice with a grain of salt, I have yet to matriculate. Maybe the matriculators can provide more insight. And the schools are different.

 

If you go to a school with grade non disclosure, very little to no studying. I'd say my time pre receiving offer was spent 50% recruiting and 50% partying. After offer 200% partying. I'm writing this as I sit in class fwiw

"They are all former investment bankers that were laid off in the economic collapse that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have no marketable skills, but by God they work hard."
 
Personal <abbr title=Masters in Business Administration><abbr title=Masters in Business Administration>MBA</abbr></abbr> Coach:

This really depends on the school you go to. As referenced above, at the schools that don't disclose grades, you will find a lot more social events / parties and less studying. Overall business school is not terribly intense and at some schools it is quite relaxed. Its up to you to decide how much you want to study / learn vs. everything else you can do including networking, socializing etc. If this is really important to you, then reach out and I'll explain some differences across schools.

So life is not so good at schools with Grade Disclosure if you're not into studying, but are just looking to have fun and get a job.

 

Comments are fair. It depends which route you are going for recruiting. (IBD / consulting is hectic first semester). Then it depends if you want to chill out or get in semester internships. You can really be as busy as you want after you have an internship offer or full time offer.

 
CorpFinanceGuy:

I ask this question at the risk of being trolled, but I hear about the partying a lot, and am curious how it is because the class is 65-70% male. Are all of the parties just a giant bro fest?

I'm pretty sure the other grad student chicks are down to rage with six-figure prospects (esp. masters in social work, sociology, teaching, etc)
 

I'm at Kellogg, and even with grade disclosure, I can assure you that there is plenty of partying to be had. For what it's worth, not a single bank asked me my GPA, and this seemed to be the norm with the majority (if not all) of the other IBD candidates. The only firm that I've heard that has asked GPA is Google. However, just about all banks asked for GMAT and UGPA. As much as I thought grade disclosure would be a negative point, I've yet to hear that it's had an impact on anyone's recruiting efforts.

 

Yeah totally forgot that Kellogg does not have GND. My best friend went there, and he joked that if there were no GND, Kellogg would be a total animal house. It already is pretty fratty and has one of the craziest social scenes out of any top b-school.

 

The social scene is definitely a strong point of Kellogg...and I think the lack of GND has little impact on our recruiting because all of our peer schools have GND - so recruiters have no one to compare our grades to aside from other Kellogg students. I suppose if it came down to two Kellogg candidates with otherwise identical stats/background, grades may be used as a differentiating point, but otherwise I don't see them coming into play.

 

I will say this also depends entirely on what classes you choose to take and how much you care about them. You can overload on soft/fluffy classes that require 0 work because you can bullshit any question you get asked in class. On the flip side I have taken a couple classes that easily require 10-15hrs/week of work outside of class. It is really up to you what is important. I have no finance background and if I'm going to spend $200k on a degree I would personally like to actually learn something. I went to a state school undergrad, I don't need to play flip cup and beer pong on a Wednesday night at 30 years old, I did that when I was 19.

 

yes 98% networking and socializing. The kids who DON"T realize this are the ones who don't have jobs now. I have a friend who just recently got his MBA and I told him over a year ago that getting your MBA is all about networking and school brand name. He said thats not true and I think he really tried to do a lot of "class work" during his 2 years and now he is sorta struggling to find a good job.

Needless to say now he asks for my advice more often.

The one who does not fall, does not stand up
 

Typical day in your first year:

I would say an average of 5/6 hours of classes usually 4 days a week.

One or two meetings a week with your group's members to work on goup assigments (these could take a while depending on the course)

Then there are networking events, on campus speakers...

absolutearbitrageur.blogspot.com
 

You're an idiot if you pay full price for school. Most b-schools give out scholarships to qualified candidates. I don't understand why anyone would go to b-school and not be able to pay for it up front or pay it off within a year or so.

If you go to b-school and come out with over 100k in debt, then there is a reason you work at UBS or some other bottom rung institution and you don't even make street average money at bonus time.

 

The B-school I go to works you harder than most - I've networked with a lot of kids at far higher ranked schools (M7) and they do far less work than I do. They also get less academic knowledge, but in the end, it doesn't matter because most of the shit you learn you'll never use and it's all about your network and OCR.

My first year was about 6 hours in class, 4 days a week, plus 1-2 hours of homework/projects. And a good 6-8 hours on the weekend reading/problem sets/more project work.

And then you need to fit in networking. My GPA in b-school is lower than my undergrad GPA (think 3.6 vs. 3.8), because I spent more time than most of my classmates looking for a job. I ended up with arguably the best internship options in my class and I credit it to my search. I had 4 offers, 3 of which were front office internships, whereas the other front office internships in my class were all OCR and unpaid/tiny stipend.

We don't party as much as I'd like, but we hit Thirsty Thursday pretty hard weekly.

The first rule of business school is: IGNORE YOUR CLASSES AND WORK ON NETWORKING. Most of my classmates still don't get this and get all mired down in trying to get As in every class.

 
NorthEastIdiot:
The B-school I go to works you harder than most - I've networked with a lot of kids at far higher ranked schools (M7) and they do far less work than I do. They also get less academic knowledge, but in the end, it doesn't matter because most of the shit you learn you'll never use and it's all about your network and OCR.

My first year was about 6 hours in class, 4 days a week, plus 1-2 hours of homework/projects. And a good 6-8 hours on the weekend reading/problem sets/more project work.

And then you need to fit in networking. My GPA in b-school is lower than my undergrad GPA (think 3.6 vs. 3.8), because I spent more time than most of my classmates looking for a job. I ended up with arguably the best internship options in my class and I credit it to my search. I had 4 offers, 3 of which were front office internships, whereas the other front office internships in my class were all OCR and unpaid/tiny stipend.

We don't party as much as I'd like, but we hit Thirsty Thursday pretty hard weekly.

The first rule of business school is: IGNORE YOUR CLASSES AND WORK ON NETWORKING. Most of my classmates still don't get this and get all mired down in trying to get As in every class.

The higher ranked the b-school, the less work you have to do. At a place like tepper or darden, you will have to BUST your butt off to get a front-office job at a top bulge bracket bank or a top consulting firm. At HBS, you just party, travel, and bang boston chicks for 2 years and come out with a great gig. This is why people are so obsessed with going to an elite b-school. You get the best 2 years of your life, and professionally you're set for life.

 
Brady4MVP:
The higher ranked the b-school, the less work you have to do. At a place like tepper or darden, you will have to BUST your butt off to get a front-office job at a top bulge bracket bank or a top consulting firm. At HBS, you just party, travel, and bang boston chicks for 2 years and come out with a great gig. This is why people are so obsessed with going to an elite b-school. You get the best 2 years of your life, and professionally you're set for life.

Definitely true in my experience. I got the same type of internship that a HBS/Sloan/CBS finance student would want but I hard to break my neck networking AND I'm going to need to do it all over again for fall recruiting whereas those students just need to show up to OCR and basically pick from a couple of good offers.

And I'll not have a great network for the rest of my life unlike those guys. The cliches, most of which I thought were overrated going into b-school, are mostly true. Even at a multi-school networking event, a nasty-looking (smelly, ill-fitting suit, brown shoes with black belt) Sloan kid got more attention from senior management than anyone else simply because two of the recruiters were Sloan alumni. That's the real kick in the testies.

Edit: that kid of questionable hygiene and intelligence (based on the conversation I had with him) ended up getting an offer pretty much on the spot (he still interviewed the same day as me later on, though). MBA business schools">M7 schools really do have it better.

 
NorthEastIdiot:
Brady4MVP:
The higher ranked the b-school, the less work you have to do. At a place like tepper or darden, you will have to BUST your butt off to get a front-office job at a top bulge bracket bank or a top consulting firm. At HBS, you just party, travel, and bang boston chicks for 2 years and come out with a great gig. This is why people are so obsessed with going to an elite b-school. You get the best 2 years of your life, and professionally you're set for life.

Definitely true in my experience. I got the same type of internship that a HBS/Sloan/CBS finance student would want but I hard to break my neck networking AND I'm going to need to do it all over again for fall recruiting whereas those students just need to show up to OCR and basically pick from a couple of good offers.

And I'll not have a great network for the rest of my life unlike those guys. The cliches, most of which I thought were overrated going into b-school, are mostly true. Even at a multi-school networking event, a nasty-looking (smelly, ill-fitting suit, brown shoes with black belt) Sloan kid got more attention from senior management than anyone else simply because two of the recruiters were Sloan alumni. That's the real kick in the testies.

Edit: that kid of questionable hygiene and intelligence (based on the conversation I had with him) ended up getting an offer pretty much on the spot (he still interviewed the same day as me later on, though). MBA business schools">M7 schools really do have it better.

Sorry about your unpleasant experience. I personally would not spend the money and take 2 years off from work to go to b-school unless it's MBA business schools">M7. The people at those schools really do look down on those who did not go to an elite school. But more importantly, you just don't get the same opportunities. If you're at a place like HBS/Wharton/Booth, all the companies come to campus and kiss your ass. You just have to show up, do a little networking, and do reasonably well in the interviews. And socially, you're the envy of everyone in the city. HBS students are revered in boston while wharton students run the shit in Philly.

 
Brady4MVP:
Sorry about your unpleasant experience. I personally would not spend the money and take 2 years off from work to go to b-school unless it's MBA business schools">M7. The people at those schools really do look down on those who did not go to an elite school. But more importantly, you just don't get the same opportunities. If you're at a place like HBS/Wharton/Booth, all the companies come to campus and kiss your ass. You just have to show up, do a little networking, and do reasonably well in the interviews. And socially, you're the envy of everyone in the city. HBS students are revered in boston while wharton students run the shit in Philly.

I mean, depending on what you did before b-school, I'm not sure I agree with you (obviously I don't, as I'm in b-school now and not at an M7).

And I don't really care about how the city looks upon me. I went to an Ivy undergrad and, while it was nice, ultimately it's all about where you land. Luckily all I'm losing out on is 2 years of crappy salary and a pretty low ceiling at my former MO job. I took a huge scholarship at a 30s ranked MBA program rather than a top 15ish (think Darden/UCLA/Fuqua/Michigan) because I didn't think at the time (and I believe I am correct) that the returns of those programs aren't much better than a lower ranked, but good regional, MBA program with a ton of cash for a front office finance job.

Obviously, every case is different and if your end game is MBB, PE or HF, I think you're 100% correct that going to a school ranked outside the top 7 is a waste of time. If you want IBD at a MM firm (or BB if you're connected/network hard & get lucky) I think strong regional programs with good alumni bases can work. I think this is especially true if you went to a strong undergrad program, have a high GMAT, and had decent work experience.

 
Best Response
Brady4MVP:
wharton students run the shit in Philly.

These guys claim to run the shit in Philly. I think they're all Wharton alumni:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/iKa5gZTcJQs

http://www.youtube.com/embed/VUTLCS4YGF8

http://www.youtube.com/embed/-MOQDB_rh44

 

It will probably depend on how smart you are. I'm thinking of doing a MSF and I would try to suck it up for a year, do as well as possible, and join the relevant clubs. I didn't know what I wanted to do all of undergrad so I fucked around my whole time then (still got decent grades, but didn't look for career opportunities, or join business relevant clubs). I'd be all business at grad school. Though I'm sure your MSF will have some social functions.

 
mastertrader89:

It will probably depend on how smart you are. I'm thinking of doing a MSF and I would try to suck it up for a year, do as well as possible, and join the relevant clubs. I didn't know what I wanted to do all of undergrad so I fucked around my whole time then (still got decent grades, but didn't look for career opportunities, or join business relevant clubs). I'd be all business at grad school. Though I'm sure your MSF will have some social functions.

yea tho its mad internationals. I do hear classes include MBA students, hopefully some undergrads. Whats the deal then socially? College, like I had a good time, but it (think Villanova, Loyola Maryland, Fairfield) was basically a bigger higher school.
 

I would imagine that it varies from school to school but like most things, it's what you make of it. Asian girls can be quite fun though, if you know what I mean.

I've had more fun this last year than I've ever had and I did it while interning, participating in projects and maintaining a fairly respectable GPA. One tip: try to hang out with MBA girls when you can. It's not easy because the MBA dudes are pretty territorial and there's some exclusion.

“Elections are a futures market for stolen property”
 

How about working hard, networking and preparing for the real world? You're going back to school for an MSF so I assume you want to get another chance at recruiting & you've got only 1 year. Invest wisely. Instant gratification like parties doesn't matter in the long run.

 
mmq12:

How about working hard, networking and preparing for the real world? You're going back to school for an MSF so I assume you want to get another chance at recruiting & you've got only 1 year. Invest wisely. Instant gratification like parties doesn't matter in the long run.

no doubt, or else I'd go get a M. Ed or MA in poli sci or something if I ONLY wanted to rage. How can I implement both "work hard" and "play hard?" I'd beg to differ: skills with women carry over from HS to college and real life, esp. when annoying rings pop up on left hands. I'm one of those guys whose not terrible looking but much shorter than average. Doesn't work well at a 13-17th grade. I don't wanna live life marrying the next girl I meet cuz I'm desperate, get robbed of all my money and life.
 

Screw those parties for a year or so, this is your chance to improve yourself and strengthen your marketability. No sacrifices...No gains

".... We take a buck, we shoot it full of steroids and we call it leverage. I call it steroid banking ..."
 

I'm an undergrad at Wharton, but the MBA's I know here are generally pretty laid-back and fun. I think most of them just don't give a damn now that they're an MBA here and just enjoy partying. There are some fucking creepy ones though that show up to the Asian sorority girl parties(undergrad girls) though....But every school has that.

 

Our general requirements classes were cross-listed with the MBA classes (same professors, textbook, etc, just different hours) so they'd be in our classes on occassion and usually were OK to work with (no party animals or anything, but definitely not hopeless nerds either). You have to realize that most of these people are bordering on 30 so they may seem lame if you've recently graduated or in college.

MBAs had a weekly Happy Hour on campus at the Grad building (free papajohns and beer) and since I lived nearby, my friends and I used to sneak in for free booze and food. We looked young and people probably knew we were crashing but it was the kind of crowd that wouldn't or couldn't "forcibly remove" anyone.

The constant networking was annoying and if you weren't an MBA, they acted like you didn't exist. I still hate the whole "I'm a Wharton MBA" mentality.

Overall, I'd say that there's definitely interesting and outgoing people and there are nerds (just like in UG) and that if you're social and outgoing yourself you'll find those people quickly. Be curious to hear info from other schools.

 

I think if you look at a school as a whole you won't find as many party animals... but in the case of my school, we found a good group of 10 - 15 ppl and just go out hard with them. Obviously it depends on the school location too, I'm sure it will be fine, but at the end of the day the work load can build up and there will be times people are stuck not going out.

 

B-Schools in general are known for being fun and pretty laid-back. However, some serious work does get done. It's just the work hard play hard mentality. Note though that Chicago has the reputation for being more serious and less fun than some of the other programs. To a lesser extent I would Wharton has this reputation as well.

I don't think location has anything to do with how fun a school is. I was at an event at Tuck recently and it might be in the middle of nowhere, but those people party like crazy! Different than being at a bar in NYC, but still a lot of fun. MBA's might not go out every night, but I think it's in general pretty social. It probably does depend on the crowd to some extent. If you're married you're probably not partying it up as much as if you're single.

 

I'm from Canada, here it does depend on location, my school is a communtor school, so people don't live on campus as much, versus other schools that do. I find those schools as a whole will party harder, whether frats, house parties or local bars. For us we go to the clubs or bars in the city, it's a difference experience more than anything.

 

The students at my college's business school (think Wharton/Harvard/Stanford) were chilled out and had a good time - in the way that people in their late 20s/early 30s do.

But for some reason the associates I know from my firm are absolutely insane (I'm in London but I'm talking about the NY associates) - party like maniacs and are great to be around.

Chicago is not a cool school at undergrad, why would it be cool at b-school, think about it.

 

As to Chicago GSB, you might have been in a bad subset. Was this party in hyde park, or the north side of the city? I don't know many people in the 1st year class, but the 2nd years are sort of "clicky". There is the group that parties a lot, teh group that studies too much, the groups that are 100% career obsessed, etc. This results from the academic flexibility and therefore lack of cohorts that you take all yoru classes with. Most of the social stuff is student organized and away from school on the north side of the city. If you are into going out, there is something going on almost every night of the week. However, I have heard that the 1st years this year are a little dorkier than we are.

I also know columbia pretty well and people there get really close with their clusters who they have all their classes with. But the actual parties and social scene is pretty similar. Its just a matter of self organizing and picking your own group vs having one made for you by the school. Columbia is more typical and similar to wharton, kellogg, HBS, etc.

 

I am a first year MBA student and MIT Sloan and have been somewhat surprised to find such an active social scene. Most of the people at Sloan are really down to earth and fun to hang out with, which is a good start. On top of that there is always a ton going on. Unlike Chicago, most of the students live within a subway stop of campus and love to go out. MIT throws a bunch of parties with free open bar during the first few weeks of school to get everyone acquainted. Recruiting season starts in the second month with plenty of corporate sponsored parties (which often serve as a starting point for a weeknight evening out).

On any Wed. night you can find about a quarter of the class socializing at Beacon Hill pub. On most Thursday nights there is a 'c-function' which is basically a giant theme party sponsored by one of the Sloan clubs. The Japanese c-function for example had free Japanese food and beer, students competing in a karaoke contest and a few skits. These things are really fun and a good portion of the class is usually in attendance. On the weekends most Sloanies go out with friends to restaurants, bars, and clubs in Boston and Cambridge or head to a party at "141" a 4 story brownstone that is passed down from one class to the next and is the site of some of Sloan's wildest parties.

The first semester at Sloan can be intense at times but the people here are great and there is no shortage of social life!

 

awesome topic. I am looking into bschools this year so definitely interested.

As for chicago gsb, I like the academics, but if the it sucks socially speaking, what about the city? Can you party/meet people easily outside of bschool? Maybe events with Kellogg perhaps? I heard Kellogg is a fun school.

 

Most is true. Definitely for SY's with offers, life gets easy. It also depends on what courses you want to take (Advanced Derivatives, or Negotiation?) and what you want to get out of it. Im an SY now and I am actually exhausted with the party scene. I am pursuing more personal goals, getting my fat ass in shape, etc. I know others who put up massive xbox gamer scores. To each their own, but yes, you have a large amount of time to spend how you like.

 

I just spent the weekend at Darden with a bunch of second years. I would say they 'party' 3 nights a week (Thursday, Friday, Saturday). Sunday didn't really involve too much drinking, just some football watching, some fatty food eating and then prep for the start of the school week. This, of course, differs considerably from the first year students there, and even varies from student to student in second year depending on their focus (hard classes vs. easy classes), whether that term is light or heavy with credits (you have some flexibility with how your work load is scheduled) and whether their classes are early or late in the day.

It certainly seems like you have time to have fun, but all the time in your first year is absorbed between reading and reviewing cases for class, networking with random alumni or industry professionals (phone calls and emails) and then recruiting events. You can also sprinkle in the extracurricular activities like industry/career clubs and social clubs...plus there are opportunities to hold various leadership positions within the class, like section leader, social liaison, athletic coordinator/director (Darden Cup) among others. It's plain to see that it would not be all that hard to stretch yourself thin.

I do think life can be a bit easier if you know what you want to do when you go in. Since a lot of people are career switchers, they just know that they don't want to work were they used to work...so they end up going to every career event on campus just to meet companies and learn about what opportunities are available. That would be minimized greatly if you are certain you want to do banking or marketing or consulting or whatever...simply because you will spend less time going to career fairs you don't need to attend.

Second year is also going to depend on how your summer went. As most people are aware, the vast majority of b-school students are career switchers and they are using their summer internship to test the waters for a new career. This isn't generally the case with finance folks because they know they want...or should I say 'need'...to do IB, so they are trying to find the best internship at the best IB they can and then evaluating their summer experience against what they can find out from people that did summer associate positions at other banks.

I met a number of second year students that are evaluating offers now and still recruiting because they decided they did not want to pursue the industry their summer internship was in. One guy in particular interned at a top consulting firm and decided he didn't want to do that and is now following up with the other opportunities he has.

I will say that most people that are currently undecided seemed to be getting ready to make their decision in the next few weeks, so I tend to think the last 'semester' of school is pretty fun. I know some folks have ski trips planned over the break. Also heard about a guy (I believe he graduated last year) that front loaded his schedule and did certain electives (I believe it was a self study type course) and he finished up half way through the second half of his second year...so midway through his last 'semester'...about 3 months early. He actually left school to go travel, while everyone else was on still on campus counting the days. Although that sounds kinda cool at first, I don't think it's worth it simply because those last few months on campus have to be the most fun when you consider about 90% of your class has a job lined up and just wants to have party before returning to the reality of the real world.

Lastly, I will say that Darden certainly feels like undergrad as far as the social events, the closeness of the class, the tailgating at the football games, drinking at the local bars, etc. Really great experience overall.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

Cph, excellent summary of the darden trip. I know their first year is insanely brutal in terms of the workload, but uva overall is a very fun well-rounded school. It's way too fratty for my tastes, but i could see why a lot of people love it.Also, being in a major city as a MBA student is clearly more fun due to the plethora of restaurants, clubs, and stuff to do, as well as access to women at other schools and the city overall.

 
MBA-policy:
Cph, excellent summary of the darden trip. I know their first year is insanely brutal in terms of the workload, but uva overall is a very fun well-rounded school. It's way too fratty for my tastes, but i could see why a lot of people love it.Also, being in a major city as a MBA student is clearly more fun due to the plethora of restaurants, clubs, and stuff to do, as well as access to women at other schools and the city overall.

"access to women at other schools"...hahahaha, classic. Oh Brady you're too much, still going strong!

 

Sign me up. Except it seems like you'd be stuck with your classmates, which will include many many tools. But indeed a good point.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

OK.

many, many of the people who advertise "how much partying" they do in b-school are probably kids who got left out during ugrad, who look back and think they missed out. there is NO way that bschool partying could begin to compare to what goes down during ugrad at some schools...i am sure they have more money and are surrounded by high achieving types. but WTF(?) does that have to do with getting wild? i'm talking about having fun without having to eat at fat duck / flash a jlc / let people know you're an ex-banker and in hbs / circle jerking happy the fact that you've made it into the upper echelons. i'm talking about a bunch of kids with just enough money to get hammered, enough people who share their vision of good times, and enough space in their apartments for roommates to disappear when they wanna have fun.

on another note, is there really any doubt that the people who partied hard/hardest aren't, in general, the ones heading for HBS?? if you think there is (and i don't mean being able to come up with 2.5 examples), then you have not ever really partied.

no need for hate since i'm not comparing anything more than simple, raw, getting wild as mowgli stuff. i'm just making an observation that's kinda unrelated to the original post, but related to what you get to hear about the "crazy partying" that goes down at bschools.

be for real. the vast majority is a bunch of kids who studied hard all the way through from 8th grade to senior year college, busted their ass all the time. the "cooler" ones really tried to at least outwardly convey the message that they were super social and party animals but in fact weren't either of those things. they were basically trying to convince themselves that the were the best of both world. no, you weren't. you choose one world. you were at best mediocre at the other one. you chose the right one btw. be happy. and leave these pretensions of being party animals behind, bain/bcg/ms. haha.

 
islandoffmorocco:
OK.

many, many of the people who advertise "how much partying" they do in b-school are probably kids who got left out during ugrad, who look back and think they missed out. there is NO way that bschool partying could begin to compare to what goes down during ugrad at some schools...i am sure they have more money and are surrounded by high achieving types. but WTF(?) does that have to do with getting wild? i'm talking about having fun without having to eat at fat duck / flash a jlc / let people know you're an ex-banker and in hbs / circle jerking happy the fact that you've made it into the upper echelons. i'm talking about a bunch of kids with just enough money to get hammered, enough people who share their vision of good times, and enough space in their apartments for roommates to disappear when they wanna have fun.

on another note, is there really any doubt that the people who partied hard/hardest aren't, in general, the ones heading for HBS?? if you think there is (and i don't mean being able to come up with 2.5 examples), then you have not ever really partied.

no need for hate since i'm not comparing anything more than simple, raw, getting wild as mowgli stuff. i'm just making an observation that's kinda unrelated to the original post, but related to what you get to hear about the "crazy partying" that goes down at bschools.

be for real. the vast majority is a bunch of kids who studied hard all the way through from 8th grade to senior year college, busted their ass all the time. the "cooler" ones really tried to at least outwardly convey the message that they were super social and party animals but in fact weren't either of those things. they were basically trying to convince themselves that the were the best of both world. no, you weren't. you choose one world. you were at best mediocre at the other one. you chose the right one btw. be happy. and leave these pretensions of being party animals behind, bain/bcg/ms. haha.

No doubt that undergrad parties, especially at big state schools, are wilder than b-school parties. And of course the chicks at college are a lot hotter. But it's a different type of fun, and once you're in your late 20's or so, the college scene gets a bit tired, and you want to try something new. At top b-schools, you won't have to worry as much about landing a job, grades don't really matter, and you spend a lot of time just networking, going out, and travelling. I know MBA students at schools like hbs, wharton, chicago, who in the course of a year travelled to belize, argentina, brazil, turkey, thailand, china, and numerous other places. They formed friendships with the future leaders in business and landed jobs that they otherwise couldn't get. It really is an amazing experience, even worth taking out $150K in loans.

 

^ right right, no doubt. i have a few friends in bschool, and know a few others who were in bschool a while back, and the experience seems great. who wouldn't want what you describe in your last post? haha sounds like an amazing experience.

like i said in my previous post, i was just making a somewhat unrelated observation about how "partying" in bschool (no more, no less) couldn't even begin to compare to partying at many ugrads. and that many kids in bschool wish (and try to convince themselves) that it did.

brother i grew up in a place famous for its sins...the "college scene" was a bit tired to begin with. but i guess i went overboard anyhow...

 

If you are 25-26 and you cannot wait to get into MBA program to "drink" and "party", then I feel bad for you. Sure drinking and going out to bars is fun, but I don't plan on taking 10 shots of vodka in 15 minutes and then blacking-out.

To an average IB/PE monkey, MBA costs about $800K (cost of program + opportunity cost of working 2 years FT). That's more than $1k/day.

I agree with islandoffmorocco. Only very few kids got to party like crazy animals and succeed. And yes, I am very jealous of those kids (good jealousy). I partied like numbnut first 2 years of college, but then I stopped because I had shit to do, internships to get, and my mom was making less than tier 1 bonus of a 1st year analyst.. Some of my friends continued doing that, but now they have nothing lined up. Most sophomore wanna-be-bankers have more impressive resumes than those guys.

 

I think it is all a bit relative. Obviously with an apples-to-apples comparison, bschool wouldn't hold a candle to a good undergrad (foam parties, dayglo parties, stupidly drunk hot chicks by the dozens getting naked and jumping into a pool/hot tub with you, etc), however, I think if you grade on a curve it certainly could. Basically, as one of the previous posters mentioned, I think your idea of fun changes as you mature a bit (not slamming half a handle of rum before heading out to drink or drinking 5 beers in 3 minutes...don't try it you will feel miserable, not to mention you will fail) and you enjoy nice dinners and drinks with your friends (networking), traveling, living in conditions not reminiscent of a frat house and having money for strippers and blow...jk.

So, while it might not be the "best" years of your life, they could definitely be great.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

I hope that my 30s will be the best part of my life. Hopefully by then I'll be senior enough not to be a complete bitch working 24/7 and will have a lot of money (can drive around in an aston martin, sick vacations, high quality food and womens, etc).

Then when I start to look decrepit around age 45, I plan to marry an 18 year old supermodel from Brazil.

 
Buyside CFA:
quote: "To an average IB/PE monkey, MBA costs about $800K (cost of program + opportunity cost of working 2 years FT). That's more than $1k/day.""""

Tuition is 100K. FT Programs are 21 months long. To an average Pre-MBA IB/PE analyst makes $400K ($700K/21*12) annually?

http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/costsummary.html $79,600 / year * 2 years = $159,200

After 4 years in Finance (4 IB, or 2/2 IB/PE), I think it's reasonable to assume annual $320k all-in compensation. JPM paid its 1st year associates $300k+ in bad year, although idk if they do A2A promotions.

 

You need to exclude cost of living expenses (room and utilities; board personal; healthcare; etc.) from that comparison. You're going to be paying to live regardless of whether or not you're in school, and if you're in finance in New York then your cost of living is likely to go down while you're in school -- unless you go to Columbia or NYU.

Of course, this would be just a blip to the very, very few people who are pulling in $300-400k per year. The opportunity cost of lost compensation is another debate entirely.

 

I partied more on any given Thursday night during undergrad than I did my entire time at bschool. I went to one of the nerd schools listed above. I wasted my undergrad being the most social guy at school.

It should be noted that the era of "guaranteed jobs" is over, and I felt it was important to graduate at the tip top of my class in order to secure a job. It worked out for me. The guys who were partying instead of networking....they missed out this year.

Saying that, an MBA can be extremely fun. But although grades don't typically matter, your rep at school does matter. The banks know who is smart and well liked.

Chicks were awful at my school, and the workload was enormous - especially the first year. The hours won't be a problem for the Analyst types, but it's a different kind of stress. My school was reputed to have the most rigorous workload, and it was quantitative (not case based), so my experience may be different than your typical HBS or CBS guy. Second year things opened up a bit. But I was the President of one of the professional clubs, and I was doing a long distance relationship so my partying was essentially non-existent. Dating outside the bschool bubble, IMO, is somewhat difficult. I had a girlfriend (now wife) before school started, but obtaining one during school is tough because you're a) Broke b) keep weird hours c) always traveling in annoying packs of MBAs who talk exclusively about school related topics.

Anyway, I know that people at my school were incredibly social and active. But believe me, no way is getting an MBA more fun than your undergrad experience.

 

So you got your information from people who actually go to top MBA programs and then you post the question on a forum.......who do you think is going to answer your question?

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
 

Although there are far too many young folks to get a bunch of educated answers, I think it is a relevant topic. It is often mentioned that they are the best years of your life but what about those two years qualify for that title?

Maybe some of the experienced MBA holders could enlighten us. It is likely I will go back to bschool in the near future and would love to learn more about the topic. I assume it has to do with the camaraderie and the lack of true responsibilities (just the implied ones like studying, networking, finding a job...not that those can't be stressful)?

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

Statement 1:

jjc1122:
Virtually everyone I've talked to, who is currently attending a top MBA program, said it's by far the best 2 years of his life. There are social events and parties going on constantly, lot of travelling, meeting smart and interesting people, etc.

Statement 2:

jjc1122:
I would love to hear from current students.

Let's turn that around.

Statement 2:

jjc1122:
I would love to hear from current students.

Hmm, I wonder what they'll say on this topic. Hey! Here are some MBA students right here, lets' talk to them.

Statement 1:

jjc1122:
Virtually everyone I've talked to, who is currently attending a top MBA program, said it's by far the best 2 years of his life. There are social events and parties going on constantly, lot of travelling, meeting smart and interesting people, etc.

Looks like you've answered your own question, pal.

 

This sounds like you're comparing the college experience and the b-school experience as a like for like, and that some people simply have a better time in one or the other. That's misguided. These are qualitatively different experiences. If you acted like a 28 year old in college while everyone else was acting 20, you're probably missing out just as much as someone acting 20 in b-school while everyone else is busy being 28. Often times, it's the same person acting out of sync in both environments.

The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
 

From this thread on GMATClub: http://gmatclub.com/forum/3-years-post-mba-a-reflection-141207-20.html

Shawshank:
Rhyme, unbelievable thread. Thanks so much for sharing your insights with us.

Couple of questions.

  1. Is the social scene at top b-schools really that awesome? Everyone says it was a transformational experience and the best 2 years of their lives.

  2. Were you impressed by the intellectual caliber of your classmates? Did you initially feel intimidated by their pre-mba achievements?

LOL I thought this sounded just like Brady. It's fine that he has a hard-on for HBS but the need to bring up the social scene in every thread is just ridiculous.

 

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Quisquam esse omnis labore sint voluptatem totam. Delectus veniam sit maiores eligendi.

Alex Chu www.mbaapply.com
 

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