I consider myself very fortunate to be admitted to both HBS and Stanford GSB this week. I spent the first day or two celebrating, and while I’m definitely not complaining in the least it’s starting to set in that I am going to have to decide between these two amazing schools! There have been a few threads on this topic in the past, but nothing I could find recently. Can anyone provide me with any current thinking or advice? Please feel free to PM. I am interested in private equity post-graduation. I do not have an investing background, but I did spend years in M&A investment banking at a BB before taking a different track outside of finance. I am hoping I can leverage that into a buyside role.
I will probably get asked for my stats. Nothing too atypical. Ivy League Undergrad, 3.9+, 750+ GMAT, blue chip employment. My only real advice is to go personal and dig deep for the essays. Show who you really are and why you want this degree. If you can convey that succinctly and poignantly then you will stand out.
And this is not a flame or trolling in any way, just want to make that clear. Thank you all!
I don’t have an MBA or a background in business, but I’d pick Stanford in this situation simply because you already graduated from one Ivy. Stanford will expand your network and your outlook more than Harvard would, simply because Harvard is in the same part of the country and likely has the same vibe as your undergrad school.
I’d try telling people where you’re going (try one school and then the other) and see their responses, too, so you can see what you’ll face from others for the rest of your career.
Depends upon what you want to do. Both are great choices
Stanford is plugged into the high-tech ecosystem of Silicon Valley – at Stanford you find both the MBAs and the engineers. Many Harvard MBAs are in the Valley as well (but the school is much larger). Only 10% of Stanford MBAs went into consulting, 21% to financial services and 35% into technology.
Harvard does a fabulous job on MBA education and places people in consulting/lots of companies but the financial sector has a big draw. 20% of HBS’s class of 2015 went into technology (which is way up from the past), 24% to consulting and 31% to financial services (probably a fair bit into private equity).