@peterquill Not having an undergraduate degree, not applying at all or being dead will all PREVENT someone from getting into an elite MBA program. You are playing with words. The intent of the OP’s question is whether going to a state school will lessen their chance for admission.
No graduating from a CSU will not prevent you from getting into an elite MBA program. Focus on taking the GMAT & getting over 700. The next thing you will need is 2 to 5 years of work experience. This is where a CSU degree might harm you because the feeder companies may not recruit at your campus. Try to get on with a Big Four.
@uskoolfish, this particular assertion is false: Not having an undergraduate degree does not prevent one from being admitted to an elite MBA program.
“Though it is rare for HBS—or any other professional or graduate school—to admit a student who does not have an undergraduate degree, admissions officers made an exception for Blake Gottesman…”
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/5/22/bushs-personal-aide-to-enroll-at/
And similarly, the word ‘prevent’ is defined as being to “keep something from happening” (according to Google). Clearly, as Publisher concurs in post #21, having a CSU degree does not prevent somebody from attending HBS.
Rather than imputing what we think the OP’s intent is, perhaps it would be easier to simply ask him. I took his intent to being whether holding a CSU degree excludes him from admission to HBS. The evidence clearly indicates that it does no such thing.
I agree that having a CSU degree does not prevent OP from being admitted to HBS or Stanford. I interpret the question as chance or probability for admission to top MBA school. Given that there are many applicants with impecable stats (high GPA, high GMAT, great work experience, etc.) applying to HBS/Stanford/Penn/MIT/Chicago, NW (top 5 or 6), OP’s chances are stacked against him/her, especially if lacking the right work experience and perhaps lacking a good quality undergraduate degree from a highly competitive school. OP has a much better chance of admission from the lower group in the top 25 (i.e., USC, Texas, Georgetown, etc.).
Actually, they do support the point the Peter is making. Unfortunately, that is all that the data shows.
The fact is that CSU students, on average, are much poorer test takers than those who attend highly selective schools. In other words, Harvard and their ilk, which admit by SAT/ACT (among other things), will have much better test-takers. On average, they will do much better on the GMAT, and thus better on MBA admissions.
The other thing that the data do not show is the diversity factor, which is a plus factor in professional school admissions. (CSU’s are much more diverse than the afore-mentioned top private colleges.)