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June 30, 2026
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Aren't you facing the same dilemma if you go to Stanford?
You sound like that guy that gets rejected by a beautiful girl then tells them how you didn't really want them anyway
You don't?
I am currently an RC (the silly term that HBS 1st year students call themselves) at HBS and I actually regret taking the plunge into business school... May elaborate in a future post, but I just want to tell you that it could be a blessing in disguise (the fact that you were dinged)
I know more than a small handful of people who regret pursuing their MBAs-including a couple from H/S/W (though they don't go around advertising it-no one would ever feel bad for them anyway).
What I find they mostly have in common is some combo of: didn't have clear career goals, took themselves off paths w/ great upside and pay to chase "prestige", strived for "unicorn" jobs that few people can access, or switched into industries for which they were ill-suited (more temperament than skill).
One just had to-gasp!- IBR his massive loans after getting laid off from a start-up a few months back and taking a freelance/ contract consulting gig. He's been interviewing for F500 Strategy jobs in the interim.
That's prob the most shocking thing I've seen that these schools never mention-just how many people get fired or laid off within a year of graduating, especially in some of the more high pressure/ high turnover fields. Your degree doesn't mean dick in those instances. We also never consider just how unappealing some of the "best" outcomes might be for some people-the e-mails/resumes I get from folks looking to escape particular "high prestige" fields or companies would make you chuckle.
That said I'd still take an M7 degree in a heartbeat, just for the optionality and credibility it affords. Even if I got a "bad" outcome (for me), it's tough to quantify the value of that network or attention from recruiters assuming you're not out there constantly chasing the next "unicorn" job. But that's just me.
IlliniProgrammer we get it man, you're just a regular bootstrapping kinda guy that's too smart to need an MBA from Harvard. Bottom line, you had no shot at either so it's hard to take your commentary seriously...
Look, just do me a favor and put on your Armani jacket and rolex watch, get in your ferrari and drive to Harvard and land in private equity if you're lucky. Then on the weekends, go get bottle service at 1OAK. Oops I forgot to mention Goldman
I put on my US-made Joseph Abboud suit, grabbed my cell phone, and drove my rusty honda from UIUC and Princeton, got lucky and landed in statistical arbitrage. I go hang gliding on the weekends.
Look, your WSO ad-lib is slightly cooler, but mine gets to poke fun at other peoples' ridiculous cliches, so I think mine is better.
Have a good one. Back to my rusty honda. :-)