Leveraging Wharton MBA Acceptance (w/ $) for HBS Further Consideration

Hey guys-

I've been accepted to Wharton with a partial scholarship and am in "further consideration" with HBS (i.e. deferred to round 2, then may or may not get interview). Wondering if and how I can leverage the Wharton acceptance (and specifically the scholarship as a further signal) to tip the scales at HBS.

And a related question- I've seen a lot of discussions about negotiating scholarships playing schools against each other (such as this for anyone else looking), but is there a way to negotiate the Wharton $ without another acceptance on the table (e.g. "hey I'm really interested in returning to PE and my current firm outlined a 12 month path to a VP spot w/o an MBA, but I still see value in an MBA at Wharton so can you help reduce the opportunity cost...")

Also it goes without saying, I'm very grateful for the Wharton acceptance and would be perfectly happy attending, just trying to maximize options.

Thanks!

10 Comments
 
Most Helpful

You can always do what you said with Wharton: "hey I'm really interested in returning to PE and my current firm outlined a 12 month path to a VP spot w/o an MBA, but I still see value in an MBA at Wharton so can you help reduce the opportunity cost..." No harm in asking.

However, leveraging the Wharton acceptance with HBS may or may not backfire. Likely is that it won't help. From HBS' side, they see Wharton as less selective than they are, so likely won't budge on their decision. They may release you sooner though to simplify your decision.

 

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