This week’s episode of WireTaps kicks off with a discussion of the 2023 US News & World Report rankings for US-based MBA programs. For those of you who missed the results, Chicago / Booth shares the top spot with UPenn / Wharton, with Stanford and Kellogg tied for third, and Harvard and MIT Sloan tied for fifth. While advocating for more of a tiered ranking, Alex makes the case that rankings like US News do themselves harm when they place Harvard and Stanford outside the top two. After that discussion, Graham highlighted Real Humans Alumni pieces from a CMU / Tepper grad working at Bank of America, a Duke / Fuqua graduate working at BCG, and USC / Marshall graduate employed by Disney Resorts; each pivoting their careers. Graham also mentioned a new line of business; we have merchandise for sale! All for a bit of fun. Graham also discussed a podcast he hosted with NYU / Stern’s Lisa Rios.
As to the WireTaps portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and a DecisionWire entry:
First up, Graham introduces a candidate who was a history major and then served in the marines. They have a passion for finance, and now want to transition out of the military into investment banking. Boosting the quant portion of the GRE and taking MBA Math appear to be a logical step to improve the requisite quant profile for that type of pivot. This week’s second candidate appears to have had a strong career, so far, in the health care domain, and Alex and Graham suggest they need to double down on that, in terms of their post MBA goals. They are targeting a 750 GMAT, and with a score like that, should aim high with regards to school selection. Finally, from DecisionWire, Alex chooses a candidate (and long-time friend of the show!) who had decided to matriculate at Northwestern / Kellogg, but now has an offer from the waitlist from Yale SOM. In the end it sounds like Kellogg might be the right decision…
History major, Marine, seeking pivot to investment banking
Health care candidate, targeting 750 on the GMAT
Kellogg versus Yale, is it a no-brainer?
Happy listening!
Be sure to post to MBA ApplyWire, MBA DecisionWire or MBA RankingsWire if you’d like Graham and Alex to offer admissions advice.
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This episode was hosted by Graham Richmond and Alex Brown, and produced by Dennis Crowley. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us!
