[Ryan335]

http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interac...special+report

Top 100 undergrad business school rankings of 2008.

[BimmerPowered]

i don't know how much you like NorCal, but Haas Undergrad @ CAL was just ranked #2 in the country. I just graduated from there as well.

[xtac]

I was choosing between an MBA, and Law school.

After careful consideration. I passed on both. Neither worth my time

[yomama69]

Originally Posted by xtac

I was choosing between an MBA, and Law school.

After careful consideration. I passed on both. Neither worth my time

That's just being lazy.

[xtac]

Originally Posted by yomama69

That's just being lazy.

It may appear to look like that, but people are quick to enroll themselves with a very false hope.


I said it was not for me, others have different goals in life. They are both beneficial regardless yes, but when you include Both take min of 2-3 years + lost wages + taking on debt, etc...

[sokdo]

Originally Posted by BimmerPowered

i don't know how much you like NorCal, but Haas Undergrad @ CAL was just ranked #2 in the country. I just graduated from there as well.

Goodluck getting into Haas lol I got rejected with a 4.0 gpa as a transfer applicant from a 4 year university along with numerous internships. USC is rated pretty high up there although the tuition will kill you 40k per year not including room and board/food/books/etc just tuition. Don't listen to these people who say undergrad education is not important unless you're planning on having your parents pay for your way through grad schooling. At my various internships, more than 1 person was a USC alumni with plenty of connections through the USC alumni network. Networking plays a huge role in what job you find.

btw I got 2 job invitations to work for a CPA firm and also for a finance job through usc alumnis after I graduate USC and right now I'm currently a junior at USC.
Also it's not very difficult to get into the Marshall business school. The average gpa was a 3.7 for transfers, not sure what it was for high school though but I would think it's the same but it's not as elite as some of the other schools such as UPenn and Cal.

[Maestro]

Originally Posted by mileydog

Who cares about undergrad business school. To say you graduated from undergrad at Stanford is impressive but still not going to get you your dream job right out of school. But it would help you tremendously to get into the MBA program at a Top 5 B-school.
Use the undergrad as a platform for getting your MS or MBA. It will also help you get a decent job out of school where your new employer could pay for your grad school. Well at least that was the route I took to get my MBA.

I have MBA yet my undergrad was Electrical Engineering. I worked in engineering while I studied for my MS in Engineering. The job experience probably helped in my admission to B-school. All my degrees came from Top 25 schools but unfortunately none are Top 5.

If you can get into Top 5 B-school...you must be doing things right. Being on this forum is not the route to MIT or Harvard.

I have to agree, where you graduated from some times helps getting the first job, after that you are only as good as your last accomplishment. Now this depends on what you want to do, if you want to work on wall street or one of the big consulting firms these companies usually only hire form the best Business School, if you're lucky to be hire form one of the other schools they usually stick you in the basement working for someone from Sloan or Wharton.

I too have an EE degree from a top 25 Engineering school, work in Engineering for a number of years and went back and got my MBA form Wharton and got my company to pay for it. I got in there because of my work experience and the companies I worked for.

I can tell you this, where most schools the professors have no clue about the real world teach from the book and getting the grade is about professor dangling that carrot and seeing how high you are willing to jump. Wharton professors have real world experience many of them consult on the side for lots of companies and they can tell you the inside scope on companies and how they run and operate.

The other thing is having worked in industry before going to Business School gave me lots more credibility in school and the professors listen to me more than some kids who has no real experience or is there because daddy is paying.

My advice is find a sold school that meets your needs, get the best possible grade, then go after your ideal job with the ideal company, being aggressive usually gets you what you want. Once there make a name for yourself and then convince them to pay for your MBA.

[BimmerPowered]

Originally Posted by sokdo

Goodluck getting into Haas lol I got rejected with a 4.0 gpa as a transfer applicant from a 4 year university along with numerous internships. USC is rated pretty high up there although the tuition will kill you 40k per year not including room and board/food/books/etc just tuition. Don't listen to these people who say undergrad education is not important unless you're planning on having your parents pay for your way through grad schooling. At my various internships, more than 1 person was a USC alumni with plenty of connections through the USC alumni network. Networking plays a huge role in what job you find.

btw I got 2 job invitations to work for a CPA firm and also for a finance job through usc alumnis after I graduate USC and right now I'm currently a junior at USC.
Also it's not very difficult to get into the Marshall business school. The average gpa was a 3.7 for transfers, not sure what it was for high school though but I would think it's the same but it's not as elite as some of the other schools such as UPenn and Cal.

completely agree, w.e criteria they use to accept people is pretty retarded. And USC is definitely a great school to go to minus the cost. USC/Stanford have some of the BEST Alumni networks available to us west coasters. I wish I had applied before going to Undergrad.

[xtac]

Also, if you don't goto a top school its not even worth it. If anything the networking aspect is your biggest reason for joining an MBA, and if its not at a top school, well than..

Just take a look at any PE or VC company, 99% of their hires are from top business school, hell 99% are just from stanford/harvard. It's almost impossible to break into these fields, especially VC

[dth656]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20090915/...B1c2xpZmVhdQ--


businessweek article trying to quantify some of the intangibles around the undergrad b-school experience...

[mileydog]

Originally Posted by xtac

Also, if you don't goto a top school its not even worth it. If anything the networking aspect is your biggest reason for joining an MBA, and if its not at a top school, well than..

Just take a look at any PE or VC company, 99% of their hires are from top business school, hell 99% are just from stanford/harvard. It's almost impossible to break into these fields, especially VC

I don't really understand what people mean when they say "if you don't go to a top school, its not even worth it."

I mean I went to UC Davis which isn't even close to top 5 schools, but it sure was worth it to me. I met some really bright students, attended some really interesting courses, worked with some really passionate profs, and overall had a really rewarding experience there. Although I don't work in PE or VC. Heck I don't even make 150k but I do enjoy my job and get compensated fairly (100k+). I would say it was well worth it to me.

Please explain how if you don't goto a top school its not even worth it. If anything the networking aspect is your biggest reason for joining an MBA, and if its not at a top school, well than....also this isn't an attack on you...just curious to what you are thinking?

[hhkim]

Well the reason for going to a top school is the name that comes attached with it. If an investment banking firm has 2 resumes that are identical but one is a Stanford MBA and the other is a UC _____ MBA then he / she is obviously going to pick Stanford.

[mileydog]

Originally Posted by hhkim

Well the reason for going to a top school is the name that comes attached with it. If an investment banking firm has 2 resumes that are identical but one is a Stanford MBA and the other is a UC _____ MBA then he / she is obviously going to pick Stanford.

Thats obvious. All UC students are aware of that.

But my real question is not why a top 5 is so good but rather why the other schools are not worth it? Does that mean that they shouldn't go to school there because they will never find a job. IB and VC are small sectors for graduates. Yes..i am aware they are sexy jobs but realistically if you ever worked in those fields...they are brutal. Money is not everything. Although its hard not to see that when you hear the stories of going to some Ivy league and becoming some high-paid fund manager.

[MJC///M3]

Originally Posted by mileydog

I don't really understand what people mean when they say "if you don't go to a top school, its not even worth it."

I mean I went to UC Davis which isn't even close to top 5 schools, but it sure was worth it to me. I met some really bright students, attended some really interesting courses, worked with some really passionate profs, and overall had a really rewarding experience there. Although I don't work in PE or VC. Heck I don't even make 150k but I do enjoy my job and get compensated fairly (100k+). I would say it was well worth it to me.

Please explain how if you don't goto a top school its not even worth it. If anything the networking aspect is your biggest reason for joining an MBA, and if its not at a top school, well than....also this isn't an attack on you...just curious to what you are thinking?

I think its just the general consensus bro. I work on Wall Street, and no doubt about it, there is the "ivy league" ceiling one like myself most break through. I went to a real good school (Villanova) 3.7 GPA ,but some positions I wanted to go for, IB/ S&T.... companies would not even look at me b/c I did not have Harvard, Princeton or Yale on my resume. Some private equity firms only recruit at ivy's, stanford, MIT..etc. Granted, there are some incredibly gifted individuals from those schools that are top notch intellects/ people I try to constantly learn from...but to be honest a lot of these kids are not all that great at all...I work with plenty am I'm like "how the hell did you go to Harvard." ...thus...I'm working towards my CFA, and hopefully I can parlay that into a top-5 grad business program. I cannot speak for other industries, but in Finance, it matters....YES..networking is key...and can land you one of those coveted jobs......but your alma mater still matters.

[hhkim]

Originally Posted by mileydog

Thats obvious. All UC students are aware of that.

But my real question is not why a top 5 is so good but rather why the other schools are not worth it? Does that mean that they shouldn't go to school there because they will never find a job. IB and VC are small sectors for graduates. Yes..i am aware they are sexy jobs but realistically if you ever worked in those fields...they are brutal. Money is not everything. Although its hard not to see that when you hear the stories of going to some Ivy league and becoming some high-paid fund manager.

I wouldn't say its not worth going to a school cause its not ranked in the top 10 or whatever, but it seriously depends on what you make of it. You can get a perfectly good high paying job at business firms, but you just wont break through to the jobs an ivy league or top tier mba will offer. Theres plenty of kids that slack around at a top tier school thinking they will get an awesome offer when they graduate, but the truth is, if your grades suck you won't get 1 offer. That's why you see ads in the newspaper by harvard grads, yale grads that do private tutoring. Its cause they couldn't get a good job. But on the other hand, if youre at a mid-level university and you work your ass off, then you will get a decent job with a decent salary. It honestly depends on how hard the student is willing to work for that job.

[cchan21]

interesting.

my school (uni of illinois urbana champaign)

got A+ for job placement.

Out of my friends that graduated the past 2 years with an bachelors in business, I only know 3 with full time jobs in the business field. That's out of about 15-20 kids, (myself included).

I have a few friends with a 3.5+ gpa that can't get a job.

I disagree w/ the A+ rating. Median of 54k. LOL yea right. guess it doesn't take into any account of the ppl that can't find jobs.

[dth656]

having friends who came out of both haas (UC B) and stanford gsb, at least in banking and consulting, you should have a shot a pretty decent shot from the UC. i have noticed, however, that a lot of VC and PE firms are heavily skewed towards harvard, princeton, stanford, etc.

elevation partners is an example (i chose it only because i had worked on a project involving them):

http://www.elevation.com/EP_IT.asp?id=187

if you flip thru the profiles, you won't see a lot of state schools in there.

Originally Posted by hhkim

Well the reason for going to a top school is the name that comes attached with it. If an investment banking firm has 2 resumes that are identical but one is a Stanford MBA and the other is a UC _____ MBA then he / she is obviously going to pick Stanford.

[dth656]

btw, if you click on "administrative team", you can see the rest of the schools pretty well represented...

[nj335i]

If your purpose of going to a good undergrad b school is to get a good/great job after college, then you should consider going to school in a city (NYC) with many financial job opportunities (NYU Stern).

Stern and Wharton are the only 2 schools I can recommend based on personal experience. Apply early decision to one of these schools. Don't listen to all those people saying that you don't need to go to undergrad b school in order to land a good finance job. Maybe you don't HAVE to, but it'll make it 10x easier. If you keep your GPA above 3.2, you should be able to land a great job paying at least $55k. It was $52k for entry level the year that I graduated.

UPENN has an actual campus whereas NYU does not. NYU will force you to become more independent... not as big on frats, college bars, etc.

As for MBA, I haven't gotten into a position where I would definitely need one to move forward. Obviously, it would be helpful, but if you have to pay for it yourself, you really have to weigh out the pros and cons. I'm already in finance and getting an MBA wouldn't bump up my comp by much. I hear stories of people already in finance, take 2 years for MBA, then come back to the same job making almost the same amount. Doesn't seem worth it.

Oh, and there's people on the forum giving you the worst advice by telling you to go to a sports school with lots of girls. That's just going to be detrimental to your future if you don't know how to balance your studies and your partying.

[jaiman]

Originally Posted by MJC///M3

I think its just the general consensus bro. I work on Wall Street, and no doubt about it, there is the "ivy league" ceiling one like myself most break through. I went to a real good school (Villanova) 3.7 GPA ,but some positions I wanted to go for, IB/ S&T.... companies would not even look at me b/c I did not have Harvard, Princeton or Yale on my resume. Some private equity firms only recruit at ivy's, stanford, MIT..etc. Granted, there are some incredibly gifted individuals from those schools that are top notch intellects/ people I try to constantly learn from...but to be honest a lot of these kids are not all that great at all...I work with plenty am I'm like "how the hell did you go to Harvard." ...thus...I'm working towards my CFA, and hopefully I can parlay that into a top-5 grad business program. I cannot speak for other industries, but in Finance, it matters....YES..networking is key...and can land you one of those coveted jobs......but your alma mater still matters.

This is going to come off as harsh, but you need to hear it and understand it.

If you think the school on your resume is keeping you out of IB/S&T you don't have what it takes to be successful in those areas anyway. You aren't in IB/S&T because you don't know anyone in those areas or have not convinced those you do know that you can add value to them. You are already on Wall St. That's the hard part. Finding the people you need to talk to to get the job you want is easy. But if you can't talk someone into hiring you, you won't be able to close deals either.

[yomama69]

Originally Posted by jaiman

This is going to come off as harsh, but you need to hear it and understand it.

If you think the school on your resume is keeping you out of IB/S&T you don't have what it takes to be successful in those areas anyway. You aren't in IB/S&T because you don't know anyone in those areas or have not convinced those you do know that you can add value to them. You are already on Wall St. That's the hard part. Finding the people you need to talk to to get the job you want is easy. But if you can't talk someone into hiring you, you won't be able to close deals either.

+1, Some of the most successful people in business went to average schools. It's not about what is written on the paper hanging on your wall; it's about making connections and creating opportunities for jobs.

[orangeman1026]

Syracuse Whtiman School Of Management