The Application Process

I am planning to go to my local school for their MBA program. It is not a top school by any means. Just a public local state university.

While I'm in the 'zone' here working hard trying to reach the 700+ score, I got to thinking why not try for the 'top' schools anyways if I do end up getting a good score.

Reading through the threads, it sounds like it is possible to go to one of these 'good' schools even if you dont have the best undergrad GPA. As long as you have good work experience, essay, GMAT scores, and recommendations.

So here are my questions:

1. Why does someone choose to go to one of the more expensive schools(Haas, Wharton, etc etc)? Is it because you will get better job connections upon graduation, which in turns means bigger salary? Do most people almost always secure a high paying job upon getting an MBA from these schools? Or is the quality of education really much different when compared to a 'regular' school?
I am already full time employed, so I dont really 'need' a job, but I guess if these schools can secure me a much higher paid job, then it's defaintly something to consider.

2. I plan to take the GMAT in June(the deadline for my local school is July). Since it will be too late to apply for most of these schools by then, do classes transfer over like regular undergrad courses? I.E, can I do 1 semester of MBA at my local school, and then if I do get accepted to a better school the following year, can I just transfer over?


I think this will give me some more realistic expectations of what I am aiming for.

thanks.

Hey thought I would add my 2cents.
From my personal opinion I belive one of the advantages of going to a top school is the networking and alumini. The other advantage is the impact of the brand name and the doors it opens. Again all this plays out depending upon what your future plans are and where you want to do post MBA. For any given school there are a set of companies that recruit the only disadvantage being most state schools have recruiters from that area. I have also heard of students from top schools getting paid more when compared to lesser ranked schools. For example I think a graduate from MIT Sloan is paid about 120,000 on average per year (basic pay) compared to someone from BYU who gets paid 80-85k (basic pay). I do not think you learn less or the quality of education is any less but there is some discrepancy to say the least. One of the reasons I belive that happens is say a top 10 school is very critical about incoming students when compared to a school in the 20-30 range(higher GMAT, higher GPA requirments etc). This inturn reflects on the caliber of students graduating and hence maybe reflect on the pay. This is just my personal opinion feel free to correct me if you think I am mistaken.