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Round 2 HBS dings Forum's RSS Feed Share

petergibbons's picture
CO
(Gorilla, 633
 
Points)
  on 2/14/12 at 1:09pm

Expected it after not getting an interview two weeks ago, although it does grind my gears a little bit that someone from an old case team that I ran circles around got an interview and I didn't.

Any other monkeys want to commiserate?

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Starwood Points
Tags:
Brady4MVP's picture

Sorry to hear that, bro.

HF
(Neanderthal, 2,609
 
Points)
  on 2/14/12 at 1:48pm

Sorry to hear that, bro. B-school admissions is not entirely "merit" based, so inevitably people who are less qualified will get in for a plethora of reasons. Hopefully you will get into at least one of your top choices.

Good luck.

waterboy's picture

MBA admissions to any

 
Points)
  on 2/14/12 at 1:50pm

MBA admissions to any specific school = crap shoot.
If you're good, you'll get into a good school though.
Also, HBS tends to like kids who do everything right early on with high undergrad GPA rather than late bloomers that take chances and pulled it together with job performance/GMAT
One of the smartest kids I know in finance with a stellar resume (gs -> PE megafund) got rejected from HBS this year so you're in good company.

burnt tangerine's picture

770 GMAT and MBB

 
Points)
  on 2/21/12 at 1:13am

770 GMAT and MBB experience... that sucks

Did you apply to Stanford?

shorttheworld's picture

got into cornell with an

ST
(Neanderthal, 3,881
 
Points)
  on 2/21/12 at 8:44am

got into cornell with an invite to their scholarship weekend, lets go full ride!!! wiating on duke and yale

One particle of unobtanium has a nuclear reaction with the flux capacitor, carry the two, changing its atomic isotope into a radioactive spider.... Fuck you science!

Don't ever let the place you start dictate where you finish

FutureBanker09's picture

burnt tangerine wrote: 770

AM
(Orangutan, 367
 
Points)
  on 2/21/12 at 10:18am
burnt tangerine:

770 GMAT and MBB experience... that sucks

Did you apply to Stanford?

Reading this post and the post below it makes me smile. Potential full ride to Cornell with a non-target sub 3 gpa, and 700 GMAT, while the 770 MBB guy is getting dinged. I'm assuming OP didn't apply to Cornell, but I'd be curious what the results were if he did.

duffmt6's picture

shorttheworld wrote: got into

IB
(King Kong, 1,426
 
Points)
  on 2/21/12 at 10:22am
shorttheworld:

got into cornell with an invite to their scholarship weekend, lets go full ride!!! wiating on duke and yale

congrats STW

"Social cohesion and puritanical morality place roughly on my list of concerns between whether I'll pick up jock itch at the gym this week (not likely, since I don't go the gym) and whether it'll rain in Christchurch, New Zealand next Tuesday."
-Eddie

petergibbons's picture

Congrats Short. You've got a

CO
(Gorilla, 633
 
Points)
  on 2/21/12 at 4:42pm

Congrats Short. You've got a great story, and the fact you are where you are shows schools you won't fail.

No, I didn't apply to Cornell. Yes to Stanford.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Starwood Points

bleedblue82's picture

Petergibbons - I'm at MBB

CO
(Baboon, 138
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 9:34am

Petergibbons - I'm at MBB too, with some insanely cool case experience and a promotion under my belt. Got dinged from HBS flat out in R2 as well - stings to not get an interview, huh? Now I'm waiting on Stanford for an interview invite, and I've interviewed at Wharton... That's why I applied to multiple schools I guess, but I'm still pretty surprised that most people (90+% anecdotally) at my shop got interviews and I got a flat ding.

Now I'm trying to figure out whether (assuming I get in) I should go to Wharton. Great school, but it worries me that there's a lot of poison around about W being H/S' safety school. I have a top 3 undergrad, I don't really need the HBS/Stanford "glow", but I don't want to be seen as having an inferiority complex for the rest of my life - I've dealt with not being at Harvard before and I managed just fine!

shorttheworld's picture

i dont think theres any

ST
(Neanderthal, 3,881
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 9:35am

i dont think theres any external inferiority complex with wharton, only if you create one in your mind ;P

One particle of unobtanium has a nuclear reaction with the flux capacitor, carry the two, changing its atomic isotope into a radioactive spider.... Fuck you science!

Don't ever let the place you start dictate where you finish

shorttheworld's picture

i dont think theres any

ST
(Neanderthal, 3,881
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 9:35am

i dont think theres any external inferiority complex with wharton, only if you create one in your mind ;P

One particle of unobtanium has a nuclear reaction with the flux capacitor, carry the two, changing its atomic isotope into a radioactive spider.... Fuck you science!

Don't ever let the place you start dictate where you finish

duffmt6's picture

bleedblue82 wrote: Great

IB
(King Kong, 1,426
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 10:13am
bleedblue82:

Great school, but it worries me that there's a lot of poison around about W being H/S' safety school. I have a top 3 undergrad, I don't really need the HBS/Stanford "glow", but I don't want to be seen as having an inferiority complex for the rest of my life - I've dealt with not being at Harvard before and I managed just fine!

Is this for real?

"Social cohesion and puritanical morality place roughly on my list of concerns between whether I'll pick up jock itch at the gym this week (not likely, since I don't go the gym) and whether it'll rain in Christchurch, New Zealand next Tuesday."
-Eddie

petergibbons's picture

I've definitely met people at

CO
(Gorilla, 633
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 10:49am

I've definitely met people at my firm from Wharton with an HBS inferiority complex. People who are 5+ years out, absolute rockstars (i.e. top 10% of their class, early promotions) who still talk about their HBS ding with bitterness.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Starwood Points

bleedblue82's picture

duffmt6 - not sure which part

CO
(Baboon, 138
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 11:52am

duffmt6 - not sure which part of my post you're responding to. To be clear, I think Wharton's a great school - I have friends there who love it who came from PE, MBB, etc., and colleagues here who attended and enjoyed themselves. From an education and reputation standpoint, I'd be thrilled to go there and I really hope I get in.

HOWEVER - I think it's fairly undeniable that Wharton gets the "Princeton" treatment. That is to say, people talk about silly shit like how there's Harvard and Yale, then Princeton, then everyone else. Is it true? No. Is it possible that there's some influence in public perception of Princeton, the #1 school in USN that still comes in third when the public discusses the Ivy trio? Yeah, probably.

My point is just that - if I'm lucky enough to get into Wharton - I just want to do my due diligence to know that I'm not going to get sandbagged because some tool recruiter at Awesome VC, Inc is all over HBS and Stanford grads and can't stand those "3rd best HBS reject" Wharton kids.

I'm sure this comes off as exceptionally douchey, but for the people on this board who share a similar background I'm sure you get what I'm saying... my opinion of Wharton is really high, but that's not what matters when I'm spending $200K, losing out on $300K+ of income and my next promotion where I am.

NewGuy's picture

duffmt6 wrote: bleedblue82

(Orangutan, 290
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 3:54pm
duffmt6:
bleedblue82:

Great school, but it worries me that there's a lot of poison around about W being H/S' safety school. I have a top 3 undergrad, I don't really need the HBS/Stanford "glow", but I don't want to be seen as having an inferiority complex for the rest of my life - I've dealt with not being at Harvard before and I managed just fine!

Is this for real?

I understand his sentiment. I myself will only be applying to HBS when I make my B school apps. Even a Stanford admit would not make me happy.

As for W, that is definitely a HBS/GSB reject school. Though still a great school of course, but when you're at the top of everything else (e.g. top ugrad to top BB job to top buyside fund etc), W definitely seems like a step down.

Boothorbust's picture

You will never get into HBS

O
(Gorilla, 554
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 5:17pm

You will never get into HBS using sentance structure like "I myself . . ."

NewGuy's picture

Boothorbust wrote: You will

(Orangutan, 290
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 5:30pm
Boothorbust:

You will never get into HBS using sentance structure like "I myself . . ."

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/78427-when-use-i-myself.html

Come again? Stylin' on you from the top of my pedestal son. Come at me bro.

DagwoodDeluxe's picture

I understand bleedblue's

PE
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 10:56pm

I understand bleedblue's perspective.

I'm an associate at a large PE fund, and the associates here definitely consider Wharton to be their back-up school. Not that they wouldn't go there if it is the only place they were admitted, but they definitely consider there to be a substantial gap between H/S and Wharton.

The reason is that all the top PE shops primarily recruit at H and S (although some certainly do at W as well). Also, nearly all the partners went to H or S. So the perception is that if you want to get a VP job at a large fund, you need to get into H or S.

I came to PE from MBB, where this attitude was definitely not present. I worked at MBB in Chicago, so lots of people would go to Kellogg or Booth. Some people even chose Kellogg or Booth over Harvard because of location and better experience (Kellogg is easily the most fun program, even if Harvard wins on other metrics, including prestige, alumni network, recruiting, etc.). Anyway, I was shocked when I started at my current fund and realized that most associates felt that it was H/S or bust.

However, I reject the notion that W is a "back-up school", even if some people at my fund (and other large funds) consider it as such. I think such an attitude reveals arrogance and obsession with prestige, two character traits I hope I don't develop. I plan to apply to H/S, but will also be applying to Wharton, Kellogg, and Booth. Would be happy to go to any of those schools. The experience, recruiting, and alumni at any of those schools are fantastic, and being admitted to any of them is a major accomplishment.

All that said, I would estimate that a large % of Wharton students were rejected by HBS. I'm sure there is significant overlap between the two schools' applicant pools. I'm sure some students choose Wharton over HBS each year (perhaps for the Lauder program, or for scholarship money, or location), but my guess is *most* Wharton students would go to HBS if they were admitted. Just a hunch. But that doesn't make Wharton a sub-par program in any way.

Marrying the third-hottest supermodel in the world should certainly not be considered a failure, even if the first and second hottest turned you down.

Boothorbust's picture

Hmm, good call New Guy on "I

O
(Gorilla, 554
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 6:11pm

Hmm, good call New Guy on "I myself" - I always thought this was wrong. Whatever it still annoys me.

On H/S/W - I think Dagwood's supermodel analogy is awesome. Either way, I often hear H/S/W spoken in the same breath these days, especially by young people. I don't think there is any illusion that someone who went to Wharton can't do the work that someone who went to Harvard or Stanford can. If anything there may be slightly different networks at each school, with Harvard having the network edge.

HFFBALLfan123's picture

Can there be a seperate

PE
(King Kong, 1,324
 
Points)
  on 2/22/12 at 6:14pm

Can there be a seperate website for B-school convos and prestige?

Relinquis's picture

I'm generalising, but there

PE
(King Kong, 1,066
 
Points)
  on 2/24/12 at 9:13am

I'm generalising, but there tend to be more Wharton guys at the senior levels in REPE than Harvard & Stanford. Maybe its because of the programme/school or the fact that RE is heavily skewed to finance as opposed to general business.

Another factor is that a lot of the senior guys at the top REPE funds or RE hedge funds attended Wharton for Undergrad... in this niche Wharton is definitely not second fiddle to HBS/Stanford.

I'd still go to HBS over Wharton though, simply for the overall branding... I haven't met anyone from Stanford at a senior level in REPE, would take Wharton over GSB if my REPE career was my only focus.

NewGuy's picture

Relinquis wrote: I'm

(Orangutan, 290
 
Points)
  on 2/24/12 at 10:05am
Relinquis:

I'm generalising, but there tend to be more Wharton guys at the senior levels in REPE than Harvard & Stanford. Maybe its because of the programme/school or the fact that RE is heavily skewed to finance as opposed to general business.

Another factor is that a lot of the senior guys at the top REPE funds or RE hedge funds attended Wharton for Undergrad... in this niche Wharton is definitely not second fiddle to HBS/Stanford.

I'd still go to HBS over Wharton though, simply for the overall branding... I haven't met anyone from Stanford at a senior level in REPE, would take Wharton over GSB if my REPE career was my only focus.

Wharton ugrad > Wharton MBA so not a relevant comparison (prestige wise)

As for RE, yes Wharton MBA has a very good specialist RE programme so it makes sense for its alumni to be plentiful in the REPE business.