Harvard or Wharton?

[Hi,]

Education: Devry, Class of 2007
Major: Science

Current Job: Sandwich Artist at Subway (don't laugh)

I dream of going to Harvard. I will do just about anything to get in.

Any advice?

[Guest]

"I will do just about anything to get in."

- Are you planning to open Subway stall there?

[Advice:]

Hi Devry Grad,

I am currently a Senior Sandwich Artist Level II , and I encourage you to not waste time applying to business school and to just keep working hard at your current job. Big bonuses await for those who can hack it for a few years. If you want more career guidance from me, feel free to stop by the SoHo location on Houston St, which is where I work at all day customizing sandwich solutions for our clients.

Regards,
- Mick

[JK]

In all seriousness. Probably some real work experience for the next 3 or 4 years will help. Also have a goal in mind. What do you want to get out of bschool and how can you leverage the work experience you will have before going. The next two things that are impt - GMAT and extracurriculars.

Work hard so you get some good letters of rec.
Sign up for MGMAT
Get a MBA consultant to help accomplish your goals

WORD

[guest]

I had a colleague of mine quit his job as an analyst in a prominent financial company and open subways. He's up to around 9 or 10 subway franchises, pulling in a profit of 30-40k / year, per store. Not to mention in 15 years he'll have all the bank loans paid off and will own $5m plus in assets. Probably easier than getting into Harvard.

[disagree]

I had a colleague of mine quit his job as an analyst in a prominent financial company and open subways. He's up to around 9 or 10 subway franchises, pulling in a profit of 30-40k / year, per store. Not to mention in 15 years he'll have all the bank loans paid off and will own $5m plus in assets. Probably easier than getting into Harvard.

Tell me you are joking... Does this person have ANY idea how tough it is to manage a small shop?

Think about it. Each store probably has 10-12 employees. That's 90-120 employees. How many HBS grads manage that many people? Sure there are CEOs with their MBAs from HBS, but most HBS grads are in middle management.

Now, typical a employee at Subway hasn't gone to HBS or even to college (i.e. they aren't the most reliable people). I am not saying people without formal education are irresponsible. I am merely speaking from indirect experience of having helped start a small retail store. Managing them is not easy. Also, think about all the paper work that goes into each store. Multiply that by 10. Sure you have managers and supervisors, but you have to manage them, meaning you have 10 people reporting to you. Then there are all these costs-- insurance, health benefits, some dude suing you because he found an insect in your sandwich, etc. So many variables you have to worry about-- prepping, cleaning, making sure you have enough fresh inventory, making sure your ovens work properly, deal with corporate when they come down hard on your for decreased sales, etc.

I have friend who "inherited" 10 McDonald's stores. Trust me. It's NOT easy to run a small business-- especially 10 of them at the same time. It's very capital intensive and very stressful. You have to be a good manager and an extremely business savvy person.

I have A LOT more respect for small-biz entrepreneurs than I do for some hot shot that went to HBS just to sit behind a desk for 40 years before retiring
Whoever responded and said that it's easier to run a sub shop would definitely NOT get a job in consulting or banking (i.e. would fail case interview or fail to build a simple model because he can't think through all the intricacies of running a business).

[hi]

I stand corrected.

Fortunately for me I've been more attentive to details during interviews with banks and consulting firms.

[Devry Grad]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share an update with you guys regarding my career as a Sandwich Artist at Subway:

We no longer serve Hearty Italian bread...