Does where you get your undergraduate degree affect your chances of getting into a top business school or top MBA such as Harvard, Stanford, Uchicago, Columbia, NYU, Umich?
And once you do graduate from one of these top business schools does where you get your undergraduate degree matter once you enter the workforce?
(Assuming all else is equal)
Certain colleges appear to graduate students who attend highly-regarded MBA programs with greater frequency:
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/infographics/top-feeders-mba-programs
A few also offer a direct HBS experience for their undergraduates:
Merc81, I see what you are saying but I don’t know their standards for each class of selectivity. What is extremely selective and what is moderately selective?
You will need a bare minimum of two years of increasingly responsible professional experience in order to be a viable applicant at a top MBA program. More experience would be better. Provided you graduate from a decent undergrad program with a good GPA, you will be a reasonable candidate. Graduating from a “top” undergrad program is not necessary.
But what exactly is a "decent’ undergrad program? The lines are blurry. Would SUNY Binghamton be considered a decent undergrad program?
Sure.
@Ezekiel17 : Their selectivity terms would appear to roughly correspond to those used by U.S. News: most selective, more selective, selective, less selective and least selective. (“Extremely selective” would appear to be a subgroup within “most selective.”)
Thank you merc81.
Happymomof1, what other undergrad business programs do you think are decent for somebody with a 90 weighted gpa with 8 AP’s and a 34 act in the northeast and mid Atlantic?
I think that most of those schools on that link you sent me merc81 are reaches for me… If not all of them.
By ACT score (if this were the only criterion), you would be qualified for all of them, @Ezekiel17. That said, most are reaches for most students, that would be true.
I agree with you but I do have a 90 weighted gpa and very few extracurricular activities but I think I can explain it with some family issues that happened through high school.
You may want to carefully select a few reach schools, then, @Ezekiel17. Or simply pursue colleges with solid undergraduate business programs, since this may most relate to your primary interest.
Today’s MBAs are somewhat different from those 20-30 years ago. In the past, at least 2-3 years’ quality working experience was a must. This requirement has been somewhat relaxed for highly qualified students who are fresh out of colleges; e.g., silver scholar program at Yale. Many top/elite MBAs today state that work experience is expected but not required. Having said so, a few years’ quality working experience makes an applicant’s life much easier in terms of admission and being able to do well once gets in.
“And once you do graduate from one of these top business schools does where you get your undergraduate degree matter once you enter the workforce?”
Almost does not matter; maybe just a little bit because you always have a few picky people out there. Almost always, it is the terminal degree that counts. What is more important is the working experience one had before the MBA and the internships during MBA. It may has implications on whether one can get into very desirable big-league professions.
“Does where you get your undergraduate degree affect your chances of getting into a top business school or top MBA such as Harvard, Stanford, Uchicago, Columbia, NYU, Umich?”
Yes. A 3.7 GPA from UChicago is different from a 3.7 GPA from a typical state flagship university. Having said so, over years, I have a few students got into HBS and my university is a fairly typical state flagship university; it just did not happen often.
Thank you very much for your very detailed response @prof2dad !
If your 3.7 is from flagships like Michigan, Cal, UNC, UVa, it will not be viewed differently. Those schools are viewed as good selectors of talent. Your work experience is still much more important. Some top schools steer students into program A for no experience, program B for some experience + full time, program C for some experience + part time, and program D for lots of experience + part time .