Go to Wharton or reapply in 2 years to H/S/W
I have 2 years of work experience (currently in a F100 corporate strategy role) and was accepted to Wharton round 1 (dinged at H/S). I am considering switching jobs to a late stage tech startup and reapplying to business school two years from now. The main reasons are as follows:
1) Change industries now instead of post-MBA. One of the main reasons I applied to business schools is because I wanted to change industries since I currently work in an industry I'm not that passionate about (but in a fantastic group where I learned a ton). I figured business school would be a great place to make the transition, but I have gotten several interviews in the type of companies I am interested in working for in the long-term (late-stage tech startups, e.g., Dropbox) since applying to b-school, and think I can reasonably land an offer within the next month
2) Wharton gave me no financial aid, so I'd be looking at taking out $200k+ in debt. If I reapplied, perhaps I would get some aid (HBS / GSB give great need-based aid; possible I could get a scholarship from W next time around). If I go to Wharton now, I would almost certainly work in a high paying field such as consulting for at least a few years to pay down my debt before I can join a late stage startup. It would also prevent me from being able to jump into something entrepreneurial if the chance arises in business school or immediately after.
3) Getting startup work experience pre-MBA would open the possibility of working in a late stage VC fund post-MBA - something I could definitely be interested in. It would still be tough to get, but not impossible as it would be in my current circumstance (with no startup / buyside experience).
Overall, I do want to go to business school for the experience and network, so the biggest drawback to not going to Wharton now is a) the time value of money (having to wait 2 years to get the same post-MBA compensation and having to do 2 more years of pre-MBA type work), and b) the risk that I may end up going to a lower tier business school. But, I think the biggest reason I didn't get into H/S this time around was because my story didn't quite add up - I was truthfully saying my long-term goal is to be a leader of a late-stage tech startup even though my work experiences didn't quite point in that direction. Getting two years at a company like Dropbox would show that I wasn't full of shit.
I'd love to hear this forum's thoughts.