Is HBS / Wharton MBA / Stanford GSB worth it?
Currently working in PE, just completed my undergrad from a non-target in Canada. Was able to somehow land a good PE role in Europe and have done various internships. Planning on doing an MBA in the next two years and heavily considering starting preparing my applications for Harvard, Wharton, or Stanford. All the seniors I work with either went to HBS / Wharton / Stanford. Other juniors went to Oxford / Cambridge. Nobody knows my alma mater at my workplace and it feels disappointing. Now, I got an opportunity to work at this shop because of my CV. However, I do feel a Harvard / Wharton / Stanford MBA adds to your reputation. Plus, if I do well at this firm, I might be able to get a Letters of Recommendation from my seniors at work. The question is, is it really worth it? I’ve seen these schools have exclusive recruiting events and Alumni mixers. Not entirely sure if it’s worth bang for buck wise. A lot goes into preparing for these apps from GMAT to financial planning and thinking about a career break.
Hey bro, I'm currently a H/S deferred MBA admit (plan on matriculating in 2 years) going through the same dilemma too. I came from some shitty non-target school in London and managed to secure a BB gig, but now when I'm here, I kind of feel out of place compared compared to my peers who went Oxbridge/LSE (and maybe it's just me but I feel like some impostor). So my thought process of trying to rebrand myself was the same as yours, a brand can definitely add weight to your background (And idk give me a sense of pride that I went to these schools), and I think the networks I could gain within my class would help me out a ton for the future.
Yeah, it's very expensive and I'm going to have to take hefty loans. I guess you could consider justify the ROI if lets say you wanted to transfer locations to the US, and these names just open up so many doors in virtually any field you can go into. I personally would like to get into VC after, and US is arguably the best country in the world for this. Also as much as people hate the idea of an MBA here, it is really useful to upgrade your background with an elite name (for the sake of employers and your own personal pride). If you went to Harvard or something for undergrad, an MBA from H/S/W won't be as marginally beneficial for you in terms of extra opportunities compared to if you had some no-name non-target undergrad and did the same. These are just my .02 cents, I'm pretty new to this idea but it's how I personally look at it.
In terms of GMAT, honestly it's a practice game. I studied for it and just rinsed all questions 2-3 hrs a week over 2 months and was able to get a >740 score. Note that I was a deferred applicant, so application was slightly less competitive as I was mainly competing with kids my age and not many used facilities like admission consultants, which I think the majority would use in a normal round.
Sorry for the yap, Hopefully I added something of value in this thread:)
Super helpful bro, thanks a lot!
Good luck on your MBA journey, crush it!
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Hi, I am interested in a deferred MBA program. I am relatively new to WSO so I don't know how PMing works. Please PM
Hi, I am interested in dMBA programs for candidates with a traditional background (finance/ib). Would you be able to PM me? Thank you so much!
Hey! Also in the UK from a non target school - aiming to apply for the 2+2 scheme. Would be great if I could chat with you (my situation is a little different)!
Good luck getting into H/S/W. You should look at remaining M7 too. They'll give you an equal brand cache.
Wanting to do MBA at just H/S/W is like saying I want to do banking at MS/GS/JPM only or PE at only the top mega funds
you're setting yourself up for massive disappointment if you dont realize how competitive profiles. I was a former IB analyst at a top bank in London and then joined a series c start-up in a leadership before going for MBA. I did not get interviewed by harvard, got waitlisted at wharton, and got in booth/columbia/mit.
Yes, well, I will have my target schools and then semi- target and then safety schools when I apply. I understand how difficult it is to get into H/S/W. Columbia, Booth, MIT etc are all good schools no doubt.
I will throw in my .02 because I resonate with this post. For context I did buyouts, no banking, graduated from H/S/W, and went to a top tier VC firm. This was 1-3 years ago.
Your problem is your undergraduate network as you mentioned (you don't have lots of friends in high finance) and pedigree. I went to a top school in the US but not a finance feeder and so whether it's warranted or not, you have a chip on your shoulder about undergraduate education and you will gain confidence by having that pedigree which might be worth as much as whatever that pedigree actually is. And also my first job wasn't exactly a talent diaspora so I felt like I needed to be part of a DNA of people that were high performance in business across the country.
The MBA experience is first and foremost one for you to have a debutante into your field of choice. If you are in PE you will hang out with lots of PE people, and you will have a roster of future operators you can do business with (the MBB people). You will learn more than you think (everyone shits on the learnings but if you apply yourself in class it is like having two years of intellectually eating at the diner that has a 20 page menu - you'll cover greater breadth than whatever you do at work, even if you are not getting "skills" from it per se, you are getting broad exposure).
Was it worth the cost, I mean, if you want the above, probably, but most people get comfortable with the cost around "this is a life experience I want to have" and not "will the dollar for dollar ROI exceed x% over y years". So I would shift your mindset to that, it's just a different career trajectory where you decide to pause your career for two years, make a broad network in business, gain some aperture to the world of business beyond just doing deals, and then dive back in to the same old grind all over again.
The alumni networks at these schools are super helpful. People are responsive and lots of alumni come in for guest lectures all the time. If you take the time to do research on them before classes (e.g., make a PIB style research, just read all about them) and ask good questions, ask them if they'd like to go get lunch, you'll get a chance to meet CFOs of public companies and learn from them and have them in the "light" version of your rolodex (if classmates and former coworkers are in the "heavy" rolodex).
The other thing is, honestly I career pivoted without intending to. I spent a lot of time on self reflection and investigating areas outside of the classroom. Some of that was helped by the school and some helped by just doing work on my own. Orthogonally, I would say school isn't amazing for pivots, generally a pivot is hard anywhere, even from like MM PE to some other variety of investing for example, and a lot of that you have to take care of on your own. In strong macro you'll have big funds recruiting and in weak macro you won't, so I would just plan for MBA to be a hustle just like PE if you want a different job post-MBA. If you have a return offer it's waaaaaaaaaaay more chill.
Hope this helps.
This is incredibly helpful and hits the nail on the head. My thought process has been similar to yours. Definitely leaning towards an MBA.
In that case, go for it and don't look back. My advice for when you get there is to participate fully in everything you do. Sit with friends at lunch every day, have meetings with your professors and get to know them, do well in class, go to social events across cliques, travel all you can, network rigorously in areas that are interesting to you such that it does not feel like networking, get back into shape, join clubs and organize a conference or bring in guest speakers, whatever. Whatever it is you choose to do with your time, do it fully, and you will look back on your two years without regrets because you will have learned a lot, gained many friendships, gained respect for being hardworking and good to people, and will be better off in not just your career but in your life for what you have accomplished.
In short, if you do it, do it fully. It will be more rewarding than you could understand from or could be conveyed through any description from reading an internet post. You will finish the two years equal parts exhausted and refreshed, but you will not have one iota of a regret.
Good lord... H/S/W, works in VC, intentionally uses words like "orthogonally" and "iota"... I can already tell you're a huge tool IRL.
thanks for that
Different era but I still think it exists. Brother is an HBS grad from the late 80s. Went the MBB route when they only recruited from four schools (H,W,S,Booth). He is a C-Suite guy in the pharma world. The network really matters. He has started businesses all over the world and has leaned on the network for connections and shortened the learning curve of doing business in countries who's gov'ts can be difficult. Several of his classmates are senior people at major companies. He has used this network to set up JVs, source investors for start up concerns, etc. Between HBS, MBB, and a long career in industry, he basically knows every senior player in his industry. Networks matter especially if you want to play at a high level.
Thank you. Quite helpful.
how much of it is his actual classmates from his section, in contrast to the HBS branding + being able to warm intro other HBS alums across years
With your non-target Canadian school, it's definitely worth it. However, it's not easy to get in, and your profile doesn't look that good: 1) lot's of applicants from PE with exceptional profiles that you'll have to compete against for a limited number of spots for PE candidates, 2) you're doing PE in Europe - European PE market is very small and not impressive compared to US, 3) your undergrad is weak, 4) are you white straight man?
What exactly are you trying to contribute with such useless comments? Read the ones before yours. They were actually helpful. No sht it is not easy. That is a universal fact. You really think competitive college athletes stop entering the draft just because the NFL is incredibly difficult? I hate such negative mentality. Keep your pessimism to yourself. You know jack sht about my profile. People like you hardly do well in life overall, let alone in their careers, because you’re too big of a p**sy to give things a shot and work hard for them. The way I see it, there are two kinds of people in this world. There’s people who were actually insightful / motivating on this thread AND actually went to H/S/W. And well, there’s people like you who are just taking up space in this world.
Ooof your tears make me hard, Canadian non-target working in Europe. I actually went to M7 and work in finance in US. Good luck with your HSW application. Report back once you get your decision - we'll see who was right.
MBA is great for connections with rich people and marrying wealthy husbands / wives.
quick question, how did you land the PE role
The process was quite rigorous. It is a mix of few things: LBO knowledge, overall valuation knowledge, intense networking, good CV / grades. At the end it will boil down to the case study. Practice everything from paper LBOs, a 2-3 days / a 5 hour modelling test, simulate a take private by doing an LBO of a public company using just the annual report / IR decks. It sounds like a lot perhaps but buyouts are not that difficult to understand. Once you get the basics down, you can essentially build a model very easily.
The key is to truly understand what makes a good buyout candidate. There are different nuances to every business. So, a good exercise would be to look at websites of private companies and just by doing web research forming an 80/20 view of the business and if you’d buy it out.
Some Resources: WSO PE threads for case studies, reading about historical buyouts (RJR, Hilton, Hertz, etc).
Hope this helps.
If you get into H/S/W (and a few others) the ROI is definitely there. Is it necessary to succeed? No. I’m approaching an age where it probably doesn’t make sense for me to do one but I’ll always wonder if that was the right decision or not. I would also think beyond purely professional ROI. There is some value to getting a 2-year break and getting to know a bunch of people during that time. Everyone I know who have done MBAs are much closer to their MBA classmates then there undergrad classmates, even outside of a business context. Plus your career is long. You shouldn’t worry about not working for 2 years under any experience but certainly in this case. Even if you landed in a similar spot as you entered your MBA from the time is really a rounding error in the course of a 30 year career.
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