The Biggest Myths About Your Favorite Business Schools by: Jeff Schmitt on September 08, 2023 | 5,582 Views September 8, 2023 Copy Link Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp Share on Reddit Kellogg School of Management is the 23rd member of The Consortium, which has nearly doubled its membership in the last 10 years. Kellogg photo Myth: Other schools offer a stronger entrepreneurship culture than Kellogg. Reality: “Kellogg and Northwestern University have more resources than you can probably take advantage of during your time here. Whether you’re interested in just exploring entrepreneurship or you have an idea you are ready to build, you can find support and resources. Academically, there is a menu of entrepreneurship-focused classes from the New Venture series to Launching and Leading Startups to finance classes like Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital. Many of these classes exist to help you test out your venture ideas in the real world with little-to-no risk and more time than you’d have while working a full-time job. Outside of the classroom, Kellogg’s Zell Fellows Program supports students interested in starting their own venture through the New Venture Track. or purchase a small-to-medium-sized business in the Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA) Track. There are also pitch competitions throughout the year and incubators like The Garage, where you have access to additional funding, community, and resources to help build your business. Lastly, the faculty at Kellogg have experience in every aspect of entrepreneurship and are always willing to open their networks to students who ask for support.” Michael Manzano, Northwestern University (Kellogg) Myth: A one-year program means you won’t go deep into certain topics. Reality: “[I was also told you won’t have enough time to pivot my career. I found this not to be true as Oxford Saïd provided me not only with new core skills through its official curriculum, but also with many extracurricular opportunities that allowed me to shape my own path at Oxford. I would like to offer the caveat here that the spectrum of opportunities is so broad, that I am glad I did the 1+1 program so I could take advantage of the opportunities at Saïd Business School for two years.” Diego Rojas Arancibia, University of Oxford (Said) Myth: Rice Business is a school solely focused on finance and energy. Reality: “While these two divisions are strongly represented among the students, there is so much more available to study and learn. The entrepreneurship programs at Rice are top-ranked and they even offer opportunities to partner with Ph.D. students to help commercialize technology right out of the Rice labs. While finance is a key part of the Rice Business experience, I would not say that it is the primary focus by any means.” Taylor Anne Adams, Rice University (Jones) Myth: There’s nothing to do in Rochester. Reality: “Okay, I see where you’re coming from. I don’t profess Rochester to be on par with New York City or Boston or Los Angeles in terms of things to do. However! Wine enthusiasts travel from all over the world to visit the Finger Lakes—last year a group of us Simon students rented a house in the region and made a mini-vacation out of winery visits. There are lots of outdoors activities to do—the Outdoor Adventure Club at Simon is famous for having some of the best-attended events organized around skiing, kayaking, rock climbing, hiking, and even…ice fishing! In terms of entertainment, Rochester has a booming restaurant and brew pub scene, while also offering a robust culture around music, theater, and arts thanks in part to the presence of University of Rochester’s highly ranked Eastman School of Music. Because of this, Rochester has plenty of hustle and bustle without the chaos of a big city.” Alec T. Dietsch, University of Rochester (Simon) Myth: Because Smith offers a one-year MBA program, the course load is somewhat lighter. Reality: “Nothing is further from the truth. From the outset in January, we gained an appreciation of the rigors of the program and the immense amount of effort it would require to keep pace and maintain a high GPA. Couple this with the program’s genuine networking opportunities, recruitment activities, and extracurricular options, you quickly realize that the Full-time MBA at Smith is enough to make anyone an astute multi-tasker, a key factor for success in today’s corporate world. I would highly recommend this program to high achievers considering B-school.” Luther Mathews Otieno, Queen’s University (Smith) Myth: Haas is impact-oriented and hippie (by nature of being at Berkeley). Reality: “It can be, and I found it to be very true in the best of ways. It’s not uncommon to have deep philosophical conversations with my classmates about how we want to see the world change for the better, while also being active participants in the cycle of capitalism. I think it’s been a pretty phenomenal experience to get to be in these academic settings, challenging how things operate, and ideating around the nuances & impact of different business decisions, rather than taking in everything as it is and learning how to regurgitate past strategies.” Monica Shavers, UC Berkeley (Haas) Myth: Davis is in the middle of nowhere. Reality: “In my opinion, it is in the perfect location (two hours to Lake Tahoe, an hour to San Francisco, and 45 minutes to Napa Valley).” Lucas Haskins, UC Davis Myth: Everyone at Anderson is a stereotypical West Coaster: super chill, laid back, and always outside. Reality: “While there are many students who share these traits, Anderson students are not all the same. Anderson is full of diverse individuals from all over the world who come from extremely unique backgrounds and bring diverse views, perspectives, and life experiences. This allows for a richer learning experience with healthy dialogue and disagreement both inside and outside the classroom. While I had been exposed to diverse perspectives before business school, spending the past two years with my classmates has introduced me to entirely new ways of thinking and has led me to become a more well-rounded, empathetic leader.” Amara Barakat, UCLA (Anderson) Myth: The Trojan Network is just a marketing ploy. Reality: “Honestly, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Based on my own experience, I can vouch and say that the Trojan Network is real. When I was recruiting for my consulting internship last year, I cannot tell you how many Marshall alums helped me along the way, coaching me on how to do a case interview and network my way into firms. Even once I got to my internship, the number of Trojans who would stop by or ping me to check in on how I was doing or ask if they could help was incredible. There really is a pay-forward culture that is embedded in the alumni community.” Olivia Glick, USC (Marshall) Myth: Owen is a small program, there are less opportunities. Reality: “I think it is actually the opposite and Owen’s “personal scale” approach provides a more focused and individualized style to business school and career-searching. In my experience, having a smaller alumni network also seems to create more willingness to connect with current students, and it is more unique to meet or work with Owen grads.” Kacie Ryan, Vanderbilt University (Owen) Myth: Darden is ALL reading cases. Reality: “100 case party? Drag Show? Darden Cup? Darden is academically rigorous, but we also know how to have a great time. Just ask my fellow MSDS/MBA dual degrees – we went as Data Miners to the Halloween party and barely saw each other amidst the 400 people in attendance.” Ryan Spencer Cox, University of Virginia (Darden) Myth: Only the M7 elite business schools get their students the best jobs. Reality: “This simply isn’t true: Foster has high academic standards, and I didn’t find the small size class to be a limitation at all: in fact, Foster has a great regional network, and UW as a whole is a tremendous academic powerhouse. I put my trust in it and it did not disappoint. My dream was to work for Microsoft, and that’s where I’ll be going. It was my Foster network that helped me achieve this goal.” Cynthia Vargas Hernández, University of Washington (Foster) Myth: Wharton has a reputation for being highly competitive. Reality: “This notion disappears once you are enrolled and have full insight into the community. As an MBA candidate I have felt strongly encouraged and supported with all my endeavors. Yes, the academic rigor is high, recruiting is competitive, and student life is highly active. However, faculty, alumni and students have upheld the “Wharton Way” which leverages the school’s unique strengths to fulfill the great responsibility that comes with leading business education into the future. This means bridging academic divides through innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit, fostering diverse and inclusive environments, and elevating impact by balancing data driven solutions with interpersonal management.” Zoddy Imoisili, Wharton School Myth: Wharton is a dry finance school. Reality: “While finance plays a major part in our student body and curriculum, Wharton’s approach is incredibly holistic in business, considering human psychological, organizational effectiveness, storytelling, and data analysis to drive a complete picture of all the factors that affect the success of a leader or a company.” Nafisa Rawji, Wharton School Myth: The Wisconsin School of Business is cold and dreary. Reality: “Some parts of the winter can indeed be freezing. However, a windproof winter jacket and snow boots can keep you warm. This winter wonderland is full of indoor and outdoor adventures. Trampoline parks, laser tags, cheese curd tasting, ice skating rinks, polar plunges, hockey games, volleyball games, and sledding can keep you busy in the winter.” Connie Li, Wisconsin School of Business Myth: Yale SOM is just a social impact school. Reality: “Sure, Yale SOM does have incredible resources for people going into “non-traditional” MBA paths. They are a community full of students, faculty, administration, and staff who want to leave an impact on the world. After all, they maintain a mission statement of “educating leaders for business and society.” I think that we are responsible for doing as much as we can to better society. But all of this doesn’t mean that SOM only prepares students for working at nonprofits or in social impact roles. Actually, our community is incredible at everything! I have classmates who are going to be working in every role you can think about, and professors, who specialize in so many cool topics. SOM goes above and beyond to help students achieve their career goals, whatever those might be.” Caitlin Piccirillo-Stosser, Yale School of Management DON’T MISS: 100 BEST & BRIGHTEST MBAS: CLASS OF 2023 MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2023 THE BEST CITIES FOR MBAS MBA ADMISSIONS: UNCONVENTIONAL IDEAS THAT GET ACCEPTANCE LETTERS Previous PagePage 3 of 3 1 2 3