MBA Life: An Insider's Perspective on Harvard Business School
Guest post by Kyle Hausmann, a Content Developer for Knewton'sGMAT prep course.
Many of Knewtons GMAT students are aiming for the top MBA programs in the world. Comparing those programs can be difficult HBS andStanford GSB both look pretty darn good on a resume, after all. In the end, deciding between those two business behemoths largely comes down to personality. The learning experience will not be the same the case method dominates at Harvard, for example but there's no question youll get a first class education at either one.
So, how do you decide which business school is better for you?
Here begins Knewtons series, MBA Life: Insiders Perspectives on Business School. With the recent addition to our team ofNathan Lasche, a 2010 MBA from Harvard, we thought it the perfect time to take an inside look at these top institutions.
First, well hear from Nate about his experience at Harvard Business School. And stay tuned for Ben Jackson, a friend of Knewton, currently at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Well mostly steer clear of the education itself and delve more into the experience, what its like to live there, who youll meet, how youll feel at these schools.
I spoke with Nate last week about his experience as part of Harvards class of 2010. Nathan did his undergrad at Stanford, so he also had some insight into differences between HBS and Stanfords GSB.
Here are some of the highlights of our conversation:
On networking at b-school: According to Nate,It was awesome. HBS is incredibly international. You end up with friends from all over the world, from Russia, from India, from Africa. Theyre known for that Your alumni network is likely to range more widely across the globe. Stanford claims a very similar percentage of international students per class, but, Nate explains, Its a volume thing. With three times the number of students, your network will probably be dispersed a little more broadly. Stanford has a reputation of being a bit more regional, not in terms of where students are coming from, but post-graduation people of course head there from all over, but they may be more likely to be interested in staying inSilicon Valley afterward.
On class size: Classes at HBS are about 900. At Stanford, classes are about [370]. [At Harvard] youre constantly meeting new people, even up to your last semester. At Stanford, you might be a little more likely to max out. One of the consequences of the larger class size is that youre always able to find your niche. Theres definitely going to be a full spectrum of students at both schools; theres just more of a sense of magnitude at Harvard Of course, at a smaller institution, you might get to know those three or four hundred classmates a little better. But Harvard tries to mitigate that with sections Each class is broken up into sections of about 90 students, who go to the same classes their first year and share many activities.
As for the facilities: Theyre perfect, all state-of-the-art. (I can attest that myself as an undergrad at Harvard, I used to walk over the river to study in the b-schools library, with its row upon row of fine couches and arm chairs and huge windows letting in natural light. When I attended a couple of speeches over there, the lecture halls were stunning, with tight wood paneling and great desk chairs in tiered array. Its all built to impress.) Nate adds that for those snowy New England winters, there are even fully furnished tunnels connecting all the buildings. Nevertheless, You have to be alright with a little bit of snow [in Boston].
Speaking of Boston Boston and the Bay Area are both really cool places. At HBS youre in Cambridge, which is a cool, urban, college town. But Cambridge is also IN Boston, so you have that city life, whereas Stanford is a little further away from San Francisco. So, thats something to consider, too, whether youre looking for a more or less urban experience.
Thanks, Nathan, for giving us a quick peek into life at HBS. My biggest take-away from the interview was Nates enthusiasm for my first question he immediately started talking about how great all the people he met were.
Tune in next week for my interview with Ben Jackson on Stanford GSB.