So bottom line is the school is no ones first choice and there really is no culture and the only culture (rigor) they stand behind is misplaced. If you don't want to do finance (Investment Banking, Corporate finance, NOT IM) go somewhere else.

Ask me anything

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3386011&forum_id=2#31639196)

What are employment prospects looking like? Do people who dont have stellar preMBA experience do well?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3386011&forum_id=2#31643478)

first year or second

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3386011&forum_id=2#31643750)

business school should primarily be for people who can't show analytical or business acumen through undergrad work, people who went to TTT ugs and think prestige will help them climb the ladder, and people who are set on working towards c-level positions for which you might need an mba

hbs and maybe w and s and maybe columbia can be justified for people who could do well even without business school for access to the network and for their reputations. and a slightly lesser school is justified for people who need b school for the reasons listed above. but i think places like booth attract people who have good enough backgrounds to set themselves up professionally without b school but who set their minds on b school and settle for the best they can get.

for these people i think if they don't get hws it might not be worth it. booth might be ok enough and it's great for someone who went to a TTT ug majoring in english but not so much for someone who went to ivy majoring in econ or who has already done some work in consulting, etc. they can go to hws if they get in but a lesser school isn't doing them much good.

if you're looking to switch to a different industry you should really be able to do it on your own if you really want it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3386011&forum_id=2#31643845)

the people i know at booth went to a prestigous boutique consulting firm, microsoft, and amazon (product manager). they all had great backgrounds (grades, W/E, ugrad) but it would have been tough to make those jumps otherwise.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3386011&forum_id=2#32031980)

i think a place like booth, northwestern, etc. is in a no man's land of mba programs in that it is too good for people who *really* need business school to get into (e.g. the people who went to ttt ug's, didn't do great in ug, don't have great work experience, etc.), but that it isn't really doing the students who go there a ton of good because it isn't hsw

ends up having a lot of students that come from pretty good ug backgrounds, etc., but who are ultimately pretty middling because they've accepted as gospel that an mba is the way to progress, people chasing degrees, etc. (though really most mba students are pretty middling, even hbs)

booth might be the best of these but my point stands regardless

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3386011&forum_id=2#32033550)

All of the people i have in mind are very bright and hardworking; if they wanted to forge a path without B school I'm sure they could have, but B school opened many more opportunities than what would otherwise have been available.

B school can help people with strong work experience make a transition that they're work experience hasn't necessarily prepared them for, like going from consulting to product management at a tech company. That's the big value of the degree.

Also, I think you overstate the quality/outcomes one gets from HSW relative to booth etc. firms will go deeper into the class at Harvard but from my observation they don't appear very different in terms of the quality of student or in terms of career outcomes

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3386011&forum_id=2#32034175)

Most popular firms for your classmates?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3386011&forum_id=2#34259431)