Which one would you rather have: HBS or Harvard undergrad?
Seems like Harvard undergrad is regarded more highly. But HBS is also a melting pot of driven and accomplished folks from all over the place. Curious to hear from you guys: if you could pick only one, which one would you rather experience and have on your resume?
I’d say HBS is more prestigious
Please stop MSing me guys, I’m begging you
Hahahahahahahahaha
Undergrad, no question.
Agreed. We’re splitting hairs because both degrees are highly sought after and exclusive but to add some nuance, Harvard undergrad is more impressive on your resume given the much higher level of competition for admission (legacy / diversity admissions aside which are present at both schools). Harvard itself views undergrad as the school's crown jewel.
H undergrad has a stronger claim to being the most prestigious undergraduate degree than HBS has of being the most prestigious graduate degree (MBA or otherwise for people who are not layman). Harvard undergrad gets the best students across all modes of study as it wins the cross admit battle against every school. Only Stanford and MIT come close at ~55/45%. HBS only gets some of the best business students since an MBA has a limited use case and the majority of the most successful people in business don't apply to MBA programs. Additionally, HBS loses the cross admit battle to Stanford GSB. An MBA is not useful outside of career switching (if your firm doesn't require it for promotion) and is incredibly expensive if you're in a desirable role already. Regarding HBS vs other graduate degrees it goes without saying that med school degrees are held in higher regard than MBAs.
I do think the MBA experience, HBS or elsewhere, is better if you don't come from a wealthy family. You're more mature, have money to spend, and academics are much softer.
Obviously undergrad…
imo HBS is more equivalent to T10 UG and top LAC
Congrats on the LAC admission
lol nope, went to HYPSM UG. But by top LAC I mean Williams/Amherst, and by T10 UG I mean U Chicago, Penn (non Wharton), etc.
This is ridiculous. HBS is top 2 in its program along with Stanford GSB. It also has the highest yield at 90% of any undergrad or graduate program (higher than Harvard undergrad, Yale Law, Harvard Med, Harvard Law, Stanford GSB). It is the most prestigious program in terms of social & cultural status.
Not anymore, last year it only had a yield rate of 77% according to US news, and the year prior 82% (BYU Marriott has similar yield rate as HBS btw lol). Also there's no shame in losing to Harvard UG in prestige lol. Additionally being more prestigious doesn't mean it's a better school. There are a few schools that I'd choose over Harvard UG, and same for HBS.
Everyone saying undergrad but does ur undergrad matter that much after an MBA? I feel like Recruiters would look at MBA first then UG if you have done both?
Neither degree is that helpful from a recruiting standpoint past your first or second job out of each program, so like an undergrad degree, an MBA degree declines in value with each year post graduation. Assuming you have relevant experience and demonstrated interest, you should be able to get pretty much any business related role out of Harvard undergrad / HBS. Where people seem to make the distinction is not in recruitment but in the social status each degree confers. Again, people are splitting the thinnest of hairs, but it's hard to place more status on a degree that you don't need and that is less competitive to get. You don't need an MBA for most careers and people who get them typically do so to switch roles. I expect most people to prefer to be in a position where they don't need to get an MBA in the first place.
Can I get into hbs with 770 gmat and 3.2 gpa. Top 2+2 exp. White male. Good EC. ?
Looks like a good profile for University of Phoenix
Your first mistake was being born a white male
Why not both?
HBS
Unless it's med school/impressive PHD program, no grad school is prestigious (especially an MBA).
Out of curiosity, what are some examples of impressive PhD programs?
Underwater basket weaving
In terms of pure prestige, obviously the college wins.
However when it comes to the tightness of the network and later career treatment, having a very strong professional school brand carries a bit more power.
If I wasn’t the small percentage out of the college landing a straight to buy side seat, I’d much rather have the HBS brand long term. H->lesser brand school also shows a lot less brand development than lesser school -> HBS.
Undergrad.
but some undergrads go on to make $50k a year. Not so much the case with HBS…
Career earnings for HBS will be significantly higher
This is a stupid question - for undergrad you get a HUGE array of people. You have the ecology major that's working at EDF vs. HBS you know you're getting a chad like Mitt Romney that killed it post business school. HBS for sure
Undergrad, by a decent margin IMO. just look at applicant pool (read: the whole world and a huge % of high achievers in the USA) and the acceptance rate. different universe for B.School applicants.
While I agree that undergrad > MBA, there is some self selection with the latter - people won’t apply to HBS with a 620 GMAT / 2.9 GPA unlike some HS students who just yolo an application to Harvard (and other ivies)
Your argument goes both ways. Low quality applicants may self-select out of the HBS pool but so do the highest quality applicants (again, an MBA is largely a pivot degree today). Many people who would be A+ business school applicants don't apply to HBS because they are already satisfied with their positions.
This is purely a thought experiment with no basis but think of a graph of each applicant pool illustrated as a distribution of quality. The Harvard undergrad application pool will have peaks in the A and A+ segment and F to C+ segment. Lots of A+ applicants because it’s Harvard and almost all the best students apply, but also many subpar applicants for the same reason (Harvard is Harvard), as you have noted. Harvard undergrad is able to maintain its position because there are enough of the A / A+ students to fill its class. The range of student quality likely ends up being B+ to A+, with few B+'s and many A and A+'s.
The HBS application pool likely looks different. Generally, the absolutely most successful people pursuing business / finance / entrepreneurship / tech at ~26 to 30 are not applying. There could be an argument that some extreme outliers make this statement true for undergrad too, but I'm almost certain that a much higher portion of these peak humans self-select out of b school than out of undergrad.
So, the concentration of A+ applications is much lower for HBS than it is for undergrad. For clarity I’m defining A+ applicants as the absolutely most successful people pursuing business / finance / entrepreneurship / tech at ~26 to 30. The Harvard is Harvard argument for an influx of subpar candidates applies to business school too, but I can get behind the idea that there may also be fewer F to C+ type of applicants because an MBA is expensive, and those people are self-selected out based on income. HBS ends up with a class of B to A quality students with many B+/ A-'s and few to no A+'s.
Ultimately, the status of each degree and school is based on who has the most impressive applicants (on a relative scale) and where they decide to matriculate.
Undergrad
What about HBS vs. HLS?
That's like comparing the NBA to your local YMCA. Harvard law school all the damn way
Harvard College >> HBS no question
Oxford
HBS anyday
bump
HBS is more prestigious. Can't believe this is being discussed.
HBS. Not sure how this is even a discussion.
I went to HBS after going to an Ivy and some of you are on crack. The most talented people I know from high school, college and work stayed far, far, far away from business school. The only purpose of bschool now is to appease the last few firms that still require it, transition industries or strengthen your educational background after going to a subpar undergrad (helps for raising capital).
Everyone in the world is effectively competing for Harvard College spots whereas only a small fraction of people in the business world only are trying to go to business school. Would absolutely not have gone if I had to pay for it out of pocket and even then, it was hundreds of thousands of dollars in opportunity costs.
Did your HBS classmates respect Harvard undergrad? Which group do you think was smarter in terms of pure brainpower: HBS or Harvard undergrad?
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