Question about what drives a B-school’s reputation

What’s up, peoples. I hope all of you had a nice weekend and got through the first day of the work week alright. Random question…is it just me or does time pass really quickly when you’re doing something that you like? I know that most people dread Mondays, but I actually look forward to them because I dig my job. Seriously, right now, I can’t think of anything that I’d want to change about the gig and this is first time I’ve ever been able to say that…actually, I would change the winters in Chicago because it gets pretty daggone cold here, but that’s about it. It’s funny how of an effect a good situation can have on a person’s overall disposition.

[Paragraph removed due to some good constructive feedback from a reader]

OK, without further delay, here’s the “real” story for this entry…today’s email is from a Stanford Mechanical Engineering graduate who is looking to apply to business school in the near future. He had a really good question about what a particular business school’s industry/topic reputation is based on. Also, he was wondering whether Stanford GSB might be a good fit for him. I tried my best to cover the bases on both questions for him…we’ll see how well I was able to do on that.

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VR wrote:

“Hi Marquis,
I am VR. I attended the School of Engineering at Stanford for my masters in Mechanical Engineering. I am thinking of applying to business school soon. I had a question about selecting schools that I should be looking at.

1. When someone says “School X is good for finance/entrepreneurship/Operations etc”, on what do they base their conclusion on? Is it based on the
a. faculty research,
b. jobs people find after graduation,
c. projects that students get to work on during MBA,
d. clubs in the school,
e. industries situated in the vicinity of the school, or any other factor?

I am quite lost on this factor. Could you throw some light on this?

I am interested in studying strategy, innovation and technology management, and enter the consulting field. I would love to get back to The Farm for my MBA, and was wondering if the GSB is a good fit for what I want to learn.

thanks
VR”
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My response:

VR,

I hope this message finds you doing well. It’s good to hear from a fellow Stanford alum and find that you’re looking to go back for your MBA. As a former techie, I’m always a fan of seeing other people with technical backgrounds interested in pursuing graduate business education. You’re doing yourself a great service by thinking through issues relatd to applying to business school now because you’re several months ahead of the curve. The last thing you’d want is to be scrambling to find this info at the last minute while trying to complete your applications, right?

OK, let’s get to your big question:

“1. When someone says “School X is good for finance/entrepreneurship/Operations etc”, on what do they base their conclusion on? Is it based on the
a. faculty research,
b. jobs people find after graduation,
c. projects that students get to work on during MBA,
d. clubs in the school,
e. industries situated in the vicinity of the school, or any other factor?”

My quick answer to your question is “All of the above and a little more”. Everything that you listed above would be considered a part of the reputation for a particular subject/industry for a given school. A couple of other big factors that you didn’t include are nature of courses offered, special programs available at the school, career track records of alums. This is probably best demonstrated with an example, so I’ll use Stanford GSB since I know that one best. As you know, the GSB is known as being strong in entrepreneurship and one could link that reputation to all of the items listed above. First off, the curriculum and faculty research on entrepreneurship and innovation are second to none. One of the most popular courses is S356, which is basically a two-quarter courses where students team up to take an idea from the earliest stages through the development of a business plan. Many GSB graduates eventually launch companies at some point in their careers, with some notable examples being Phil Knight (Nike), Richard Fairbank (Capital One), and Charles Schwab. The Center for Entrepreneurship offers tons of resources and connections for students interested in starting companies of their own in the future. Finally, its location in Silicon Valley literally down the street from Sand Hill Road adds even more to its reputation as a haven for entrepreneurs. See what I mean? I hope this example made sense.

As for your areas of interest, the GSB would be a GREAT fit for what you’re seeking. I can attest to the high quality of the strategy courses available at the GSB because, given my interest in Consulting, that was one of my own areas of focus during my two years. Technology management is another area of strength in the GSB curriculum and the school’s proximity to Silicon Valley could provide access to several tech companies for additional learning. Plus, I don’t know if there’s any better program in the world when it comes to innovation and I’m not just saying that because I’m an alum. Take a look into the programs with the Design, Engineering, Medical, and Environmental Science schools and you’ll see what I mean…there should be info on those on the GSB website. And, Stanford always does well in placing graduates into the Consulting industry, both at larger firms and smaller boutiques. In fact, the Career Management Center and Consulting Club provide many resources to help students prepare for the consulting interview process (I know I wouldn’t have done as well as I did without those resources).

I hope my answers above were helpful as you think through you business school application process. Take care and I hope you’re successful in your attempt to return to the Farm to earn your MBA. You’d absolutely love it at the GSB 🙂

Marquis