The Lauder Magic Carpet Ride

By the time the straight-MBA enrollees start in August, the Lauder folks, whom the school divides into cohorts of five or six, already have an advantage, according to Smith. “The Wharton students didn’t know anyone else in their cohort, and the cool thing about Lauder is I already knew people in every cohort,” he says. “Lauder grads tend to be leaders of clubs at Wharton because they’re active from the first day of school.”

Lauder gets five applicants for each available spot, and admission to Wharton doesn’t guarantee acceptance to Lauder.

AN INTENSE EXPERIENCE WITH A HEFTY PRICE TAG OF $140,000

Of course, with this kind of opportunity comes extreme rigor. Lauder students work “twice as hard,” as the MBA-only enrollees, says Guillen. During one quarter, for example, Littlefield was taking seven courses while many non-Lauder Wharton peers were taking four.

There’s no such thing as splitting your time between Lauder and your position at the consulting firm; most enrollees quit their jobs or take leaves of absence for the entire two years.

Another caution: The program’s unceasing emphasis on diversity could overwhelm some. “If you want to focus on one language and one [geographic] area to the exclusion of other cultures, just get a global studies degree,” says Littlefield. “I think you’d be frustrated in the Lauder program. People here are talking about Africa and the Eurozone.”

The total tuition for the two years adds up to $140,000, with almost all students receiving some financial aid courtesy of the Lauder family, who created the Lauder Institute in 1983 in memory of their father, cofounder of Estee Lauder Inc. “Lauder is more generous than Wharton,” Littlefield says.

HALF OF LAUDER GRADS END UP WORKING OUTSIDE THE U.S.

After graduation, about half end up working outside the United States, according to Guillen. Most start their own businesses or get jobs in corporate development, marketing, consulting, or financial services.

Smith’s post-grad venture turned out to be not an equity firm and not in Argentina or Spain – it’s www.baby.com.br, an online seller of U.S. baby goods for Brazilian consumers. “One of my classmates was a Brazilian and we were talking about how great it is to be dads,” says Smith, who has two young daughters. “He told me that Brazilians would fly to Miami to buy baby products because you can’t get a lot of branded items like car seats or Carter’s clothes in Brazil.”

Although Smith won’t disclose Baby.com.br’s gross, he says it’s in the millions and that he and his business partner, cousin Kimball Thomas, have raised about $25 million in venture capital from the U.S. and Brazil. They plan to make it a billion-dollar company in five years.

“I realized Brazil was a perfect place for commerce,” says Smith, “and I don’t know if I would have if not for Lauder.”

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