Why does the Wharton MBA get no love on here?
I'm planning on applying to B-school at some point in the next couple years, and the consensus all over seems that H/S/W are the absolute top-tier. Ok, makes sense.
Within these three, it seems like people on WSO totally just discount Wharton altogether. Very confused as to why this is the case, since Wharton seems to consistently rank at the top in B-School rankings, and from my general experience the name "Wharton" bears a ton of prestige. Though from what I'm reading, it seems like Wharton is a backup for those who get rejected from HBS/GSB.
Specifically for PE/HF, would anyone ever take Wharton over HBS/GSB? I know a drawback of Wharton is that you have to share space with undergrads and there's no defined MBA campus, but what other metrics are people using to put Wharton behind the other two? Or are people just making these "ranking" decisions based on admissions statistics and selectivity?
Disclaimer: Obviously all 3 of these schools are amazing, as are all M7 schools. Not trying to bash on anyone or force arbitrary rankings here - just genuinely curious to see why public sentiment seems to be shifting away from Wharton.
I would argue Wharton is closer to Booth/Kellogg than it is to Harvard/Stanford.
Edit: Easily has the worst culture of the MBA business schools">M7 aside from maybe Columbia.
Edit 2: LOL at salty Wharton MBAs throwing shit. I suppose it makes you feel better about your inferiority complex to the Wharton undergrad kids
Really? I'd imagine Harvard is the most competitive. Wharton doesn't disclose grades, right?
I think only Kellogg and Sloan disclose grades among the MBA business schools">M7
Grade disclosure is pretty irrelevant. No employers really give a shit besides maybe Google, GS, and one or two others? Since employers can't compare grades across schools 99% don't bother asking even if your school discloses. I interned somewhere which required a 3.5 GPA yet they never asked me about my GPA or for a transcript or anything.
why do you say worst culture?
Bump
H/S are just a level above in terms of brand, student body, prestige, opportunities, etc. Wharton is much closer to Booth than it is to H/S and arguments can be made for Booth > Wharton.
I don't think anyone is doubting that Wharton is an elite school or implying its elite status is slipping, it is that for certain industries (Private Equity, Venture Capital, Funds, etc.), Harvard and Stanford are better options that would improve your chances; Wharton is your next best choice. Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton are the three elite MBA schools. Other schools might be playing catch up or performing quite strong too, but its just from a branding perspective that these are the best schools you can go to. Nobody cares to look up the numbers or take a look at the latest rankings.
You can pull the employment reports for the best MBA finance programs. Different school sizes may complicate some comparisons, but it helps to see some numbers.
HBS: 3% of the class went into IB 19% of class went into PE/VC
Wharton: 11% went into IB 13% went into PE
GSB: 1% went into IB 16% went into PE 9% into VC
Booth: 15% into IB 8% into PE 3% into VC
Columbia: 14% into IB 7% into PE 2% into VC
Stern: 18% into IB 2% into PE 1% into VC
Wharton/Booth/Columbia appear to be more diverse where they place within Finance, whereas HBS/GSB are more focused on PE/VC, which are arguably the more prestigious jobs. Wharton still performs well with PE (Booth not too far behind) but it is possible that the make-up of the class is more divided between those going for PE and those going for IB, where at HBS/GSB, recruiting for IB does not even cross a student's mind.
Stern isn't in the same league as those other schools even if it's a "finance school." If I wanted banking or PE I'd go to Kellogg, Sloan, or Tuck over Stern all day.
Ok for MBA business schools">M7 over Stern but Tuck over Stern “all day” is nonsensical.
Probably just poor reporting on the school's part.
The same thing happens, arguably much worse, with Kellogg. For example hires by industry (7.4%) for PE are drastically higher than the hires by function (1.3%) and I'm highly doubtful that it's because people head into IR or Value Creation/PortfolioOps over the Investment teams.
Ditto for AM where they report 2.6% in the function section versus 1.7% in the industry section. Even VC has 0.8% in the function section versus 1.7% in the industry. It's only IB that remains relatively consistent. Seems like who ever compiled these numbers needs to do a better job.
Difference could be because of different % when comparing internship hires vs. full-time hires
You’re also missing hf/lo which is the probably more desired role for the east coast schools than vc
Wharton gets love and is great. The difference is that Wharton probably just has a wider range of people there than the other 2. Stanford class is so small that they screen incredibly carefully and Harvard is Harvard. Also almost certainly the top of the class at Wharton (given the finance slant) is gunning for PE/HF so it often gets a rep for competitiveness (rightly or wrongly) relative to the other 2. MBA rankings are useless- it comes down to who recruits where. Some employers won't look at you outside of H/S; some don't go below HSW; some dont go below HSW+ couple other MBA business schools">M7 so that's generally where the tiers come from. Most of the same opportunities are there though and difference will likely just be your classmates (but they will certainly be high quality at all)
Which employers won’t recruit you outside of H/S (say if you went to W). Asking as people quote this but don’t name names so unclear if it’s actually true…
wharton is extremely prestigious, but not that close to H/S
as others have mentioned, it's closer to kellogg / booth
if you get in and like the culture, go to wharton. if you cross admit H/W or S/W you'd be a moron to go to wharton barring huge differences in scholarship
For HFs it's on par with H/S
Maybe for MMs like Citadel. H/S are way better for the Tiger Cubs
Got my MBA from Wharton and had no trouble recruiting for MFPE. I think most people with the right background got an offer. At my fulltime class (though small), Wharton was the most represented school but I don't disagree that HBS carries a better brand.
GSB will probably give you the best chances on a per capita basis. It's a much smaller class but they place phenomenally well. On total headcount basis they didn't seem as prevalent at least in NYC.
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