Harvard vs Stanford vs MIT Sloan vs Chicago Booth.

[hedgehogging]

Which school would you go to, if granted admission to all of these? What are the benefits of each? I guess the top question is Harvard vs Stanford as usual.

[Physics08]

Harvard > Stanford > MIT, Chicago.

[Lemi66]

Harvard > Stanford > MIT, Chicago.

I know that my answer does not differ from my foreposter, but it is just the way I see it, too.

[Mr. Crocodile]

It would depend on the program, of course.

[Mark_B]

Any reason Wharton or Columbia aren't included also?

[hi0parag]

Mark_B that is a valid question... even I was tempted to ask that the moment I saw this subject line.

[GoIllini]

I'd think long and hard before turning down an offer from Chicago in favor of Harvard- and vice-versa. Both schools have their strengths and weaknesses, and if you want to work anywhere between the Appalachians and the Rockies, Chicago is probably the place to go. Likewise, Harvard is very strong on the East Coast and Stanford tends to be stronger on the West Coast. All are excellent schools; Chicago has a strong analytical bent and (in the Midwest) has a reputation for producing brilliant people who are still pretty down to earth.

Also, why no mention of Kellogg (ranked #3 in Businessweek)? I think I'd take Harvard over Kellogg, but they've produced a lot of CEOs over the years. The campus is situated on Lake Michigan and is beautiful when the weather is decent.

Penn is a great MBA program for finance- probably the best in the country. The bank I work for hires a lot of associates out of it. Just make sure you really, really love finance before you turn down a school like Chicago or Stanford to go there.

Columbia is an excellent MBA program that I would be happy to get into. That said, I'm not sure it's in the same category as Chicago or MIT.

[MBAGuru999]

I think GoIllini's argument about Chicago, Wharton and Columbia is so random.
I think your argument lacks support. In my opinion it is difficult to compare MBA programs at the same level. However, reputation and rankingwise, I would put Harvard, Stanford and Wharton at the top of the list. Then Columbia and MIT.

I think Chicago wants to be badly in the top ranks of these schools, so they are starting to admit students with really weak backgrounds. As long as you meet the criteria of a high Gmat, # of years in work experience, then you are pretty much in. On the other hand, schools like MIT and Columbia I think are much stronger. They attract students that are a lot more successful. MIT tends to attract more consultants while Columbia more bankers. The alumni network of MIT and Columbia is also a lot stronger than Chicago. The Chicago graduates I have met are a bunch of business/quant nerds.

So, if you want to focus strictly on the academics, Chicago is a nice place. But if you want to succeed in business I would much recommend Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia and MIT. There is statistical evidence of this also, according to the Forbes billionaires with MBAs.

I would suggest for people to be careful to choose a school based on rankings. You might get stuck in a place like Instituto de Empresa in Spain, which is highly ranked worldwide, but attracts some of the most unsuccessful people in business.. I hope this helps