I'm trying to figure out the schools I want to apply to and in my research have across several sources saying Chicago is a "finance school" , Northwestern a "marketing school" and so forth. What do people tend to consider to be the "strong suits" of Columbia and Stanford? The information I've read makes them seem more like "general programs", although Columbia listed seveal areas of concentration to choose from.
Also, how are you admissions chances impacted by applying to a school whose "bread and butter" does not match your background? I work at an HR consulting firm (specifically benefits consulting) and want to go back to school to broaden my background and branch out into other aspects of HR/marketing. Does applying to a school who still has several courses of interest to me but whose "strong suit" is finance for example, hurt or help my chances at all?
Thanks so much.
GMAT Forum
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- MBAApply
The reputations of the schools' respective specialties oftentimes gets overplayed, oversimplified and overstated.
The top schools -- whether it's Columbia, Chicago, Kellogg or Stanford -- are "top schools" not because they are strong in a particular area, but because they are strong in virtually EVERY area. The difference is that they are known to be exceptional in certain disciplines, but not at the expense of everything else. For example, you can still get a great education in finance AND still have access to the top wall street banks coming out of Kellogg, even if the school is best known for its marketing (amongst laymen). And Stanford is strong in everything - that's why it's one of the most renowned schools in the world -- even though folks will oversimplify it and say it's best known for 'entrepreneurship' just because its in the Silicon Valley (it is, but again doesn't mean that if you want to do marketing, you're going to be at a disadvantage or anything).
Within the top schools with comparable overall reputations (and all the schools you mentioned have more or less comparable reputations), choose the schools that you think you'll best fit into overall in terms of student culture, size (big vs. small school), location (big city = Chicago, Columbia; suburb = Stanford, Kellogg), and so forth. This is where the schools will differ the most -- not in terms of academics or career placement (the stats between comparable schools reflect student interest moreso than differences in the drawing power of the school-- i.e. Kellogg may have a higher % go into marketing because there's a greater % that want to go into marketing, and not because it's any easier to get a marketing job at Kellogg than at say Stanford or Columbia).
Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com
The top schools -- whether it's Columbia, Chicago, Kellogg or Stanford -- are "top schools" not because they are strong in a particular area, but because they are strong in virtually EVERY area. The difference is that they are known to be exceptional in certain disciplines, but not at the expense of everything else. For example, you can still get a great education in finance AND still have access to the top wall street banks coming out of Kellogg, even if the school is best known for its marketing (amongst laymen). And Stanford is strong in everything - that's why it's one of the most renowned schools in the world -- even though folks will oversimplify it and say it's best known for 'entrepreneurship' just because its in the Silicon Valley (it is, but again doesn't mean that if you want to do marketing, you're going to be at a disadvantage or anything).
Within the top schools with comparable overall reputations (and all the schools you mentioned have more or less comparable reputations), choose the schools that you think you'll best fit into overall in terms of student culture, size (big vs. small school), location (big city = Chicago, Columbia; suburb = Stanford, Kellogg), and so forth. This is where the schools will differ the most -- not in terms of academics or career placement (the stats between comparable schools reflect student interest moreso than differences in the drawing power of the school-- i.e. Kellogg may have a higher % go into marketing because there's a greater % that want to go into marketing, and not because it's any easier to get a marketing job at Kellogg than at say Stanford or Columbia).
Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com
2 posts Page 1 of 1