Why does the Wharton MBA get no love on here?
I'm planning on applying to B-school at some point in the next couple years, and the consensus all over seems that H/S/W are the absolute top-tier. Ok, makes sense.
Within these three, it seems like people on WSO totally just discount Wharton altogether. Very confused as to why this is the case, since Wharton seems to consistently rank at the top in B-School rankings, and from my general experience the name "Wharton" bears a ton of prestige. Though from what I'm reading, it seems like Wharton is a backup for those who get rejected from HBS/GSB.
Specifically for PE/HF, would anyone ever take Wharton over HBS/GSB? I know a drawback of Wharton is that you have to share space with undergrads and there's no defined MBA campus, but what other metrics are people using to put Wharton behind the other two? Or are people just making these "ranking" decisions based on admissions statistics and selectivity?
Disclaimer: Obviously all 3 of these schools are amazing, as are all M7 schools. Not trying to bash on anyone or force arbitrary rankings here - just genuinely curious to see why public sentiment seems to be shifting away from Wharton.
I would argue Wharton is closer to Booth/Kellogg than it is to Harvard/Stanford.
Edit: Easily has the worst culture of the M7 aside from maybe Columbia.
Edit 2: LOL at salty Wharton MBAs throwing shit. I suppose it makes you feel better about your inferiority complex to the Wharton undergrad kids
H/S are just a level above in terms of brand, student body, prestige, opportunities, etc. Wharton is much closer to Booth than it is to H/S and arguments can be made for Booth > Wharton.
I don't think anyone is doubting that Wharton is an elite school or implying its elite status is slipping, it is that for certain industries (Private Equity, Venture Capital, Funds, etc.), Harvard and Stanford are better options that would improve your chances; Wharton is your next best choice. Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton are the three elite MBA schools. Other schools might be playing catch up or performing quite strong too, but its just from a branding perspective that these are the best schools you can go to. Nobody cares to look up the numbers or take a look at the latest rankings.
You can pull the employment reports for the best MBA finance programs. Different school sizes may complicate some comparisons, but it helps to see some numbers.
HBS: 3% of the class went into IB 19% of class went into PE/VC
Wharton: 11% went into IB 13% went into PE
GSB: 1% went into IB 16% went into PE 9% into VC
Booth: 15% into IB 8% into PE 3% into VC
Columbia: 14% into IB 7% into PE 2% into VC
Stern: 18% into IB 2% into PE 1% into VC
Wharton/Booth/Columbia appear to be more diverse where they place within Finance, whereas HBS/GSB are more focused on PE/VC, which are arguably the more prestigious jobs. Wharton still performs well with PE (Booth not too far behind) but it is possible that the make-up of the class is more divided between those going for PE and those going for IB, where at HBS/GSB, recruiting for IB does not even cross a student's mind.
Stern isn't in the same league as those other schools even if it's a "finance school." If I wanted banking or PE I'd go to Kellogg, Sloan, or Tuck over Stern all day.
Ok for M7 over Stern but Tuck over Stern “all day” is nonsensical.