r/MBA

Been job hunting for over 6 months since I got laid off from MBB after 2 years with the firm as an associate. Thought my Ivy League background + US citizenship + MBB experience would land me a somewhat decent role quickly even after getting laid off.

Rejected or ghosted from every role I’ve applied for, from marketing roles to S&O to product to FP&A, and no longer have a pipeline atm. Pretty much gave up any hope for applying to an MBA program and am just focused on securing anything as I’m getting quite desperate and running out of savings/unemployment benefits.

Please do not underestimate how bad this job market is. Lower your standards and do not be picky, especially if you are an international. It’s fucking awful.

I’m a first year student at Goyzueta and kind of freaking out right now. Last year I chose Gousweta over UNC KF because KF dropped to 28 while Goyzweta climbed to 17. I thought I was getting T20 prestige, and maybe even T15 someday.

Now I’m having massive buyer’s remorse. How could they do this to me? I’m permanently branded with this school and the brand is ruined. How am I supposed to learn to leverage synergistic value creation through disruptive stakeholder alignment from a barely T25 program? And the recruiters… I can only imagine them seeing “Goyzuita” on my resume, folding it up neatly, and using it as a coaster for their single-origin pour-over cortado.

This is already destroying my personal life. For the last year I’ve been telling women I go to a T20 MBA program. How do I explain it’s T25 now? “Actually it’s ranked lower but the campus is really pretty”? This is about to make my quest to lose my virginity materially more difficult.

How do I tell my parents? They’ve been bragging to all their friends at the country club that I go to a T20 program and now it’s T25. I can already picture my father (Wharton ‘92) slowly shaking his head in disappointment while quietly discarding all the Goisweeta gear I gave him. He might actually write me out of the will.

Just got an email from UNC KF extending their deadline and waiving the application fee. This has to be a sign from God. My escape window is open.

Anyone else feeling the pain after the new rankings? Transfer success stories? Coping mechanisms? Prayers? I’m open to literally anything at this point.

In the world of dating, people often say that if you have a great personality, take care of yourself, and are charming, you'll find love and have a fulfilling romantic life. However, if you examine the dynamics more closely, you’ll notice that many of the fundamental requirements for dating are subtly implied. Women, for example, don’t just want a charming, nice, and wealthy man, they want someone who’s attractive and tall, in addition to being charming, nice, and wealthy.

Now, you might wonder how this relates to job searching. Well, companies, when they say they’re looking for a driven, collaborative, and hardworking candidate, don’t mean just any candidate. They’re looking for someone with the most prestigious name racked on their resume like someone from Google or McKinsey, with an undergrad degree from Brown. Simply being at a top MBA program doesn’t guarantee success. It might get you a friendly pat on the back, but not much more.

You might think this is obvious, but many people here believe that earning an MBA from a prestigious school will automatically open doors to a successful business career. I was one of those people too. I just think a little reality check could help those who believe that getting an MBA will solve all their problems. Just like in dating, an MBA can often be seen as just a great haircut—assuming you already have hair and a good-looking face.

I see a lot of posters on here making posts about how it’s been very tough due to ai and such.

Is this true?

My wife got into a non-HSW M7 and is currently trying to finalize her admission offers by evaluating the post-MBA goals. She is a finance "girly" who is really into IB, but a part of her is worried about the long working hours, given that she has worked a traditional 9-5 for the past seven years. We are also at an age where we would want to think about starting a family after her MBA. Alternatively, she could also try to recruit for consulting.

For folks who are in IB or consulting, can you please tell me what you love and hate about each of them?

How bad are the hours, depending on where you work (location, company, level), and do they get better with time once you settle down?

I know that with consulting, the hours are a bit better, but then you have to travel, so it kind of becomes similar from a family standpoint

I feel like a lot of my classmates and friends at other m7 schools struggled to lock in a

PM role at big tech. Curious to see if this is true for others.

Duke Fuqua - Full tuition CBS - 130k scholarship Tuck - 70k Michigan Ross - 80k Booth - $0

ST Goal - MBB LT - Entrepreneurship

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Hey guys, CBS admit here. I'm a fourth year restructuring associate at a BigLaw firm, based out in Paris. Do you think that I have a good shot at Rx IB (think, PJT RSSG, Evercore, HL or similar) post MBA? I clearly lack financial modelling skills (although am actively working on these + technicals), but would have thought that my legal knowledge of restructuring would be relevant/useful/interesting for these firms.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Profile: 35M, Asian, PhD background. Got into Darden ($40k scholarship), Yale SOM (0), and Cornell Johnson (0). Also have UNC Kenan-Flagler and Kelley, both full ride.

Career goal is pharma/healthcare LDP — not consulting, not banking, although both path earns a lot. Given my age and family situation, taking on six figures of debt for a career path seems impractical.

UNC has strong healthcare/pharma placement and solid LDP recruiting. The RTP location doesn't hurt either. But I'd be lying if I said the prestige gap doesn't nag at me a little.

For those targeting pharma LDPs specifically — does the T15 brand premium actually matter enough to justify $150k+ in opportunity cost? Or is fit, network in pharma, and graduating debt-free the smarter play here?

Would love to hear from anyone who's been in a similar spot or recruited for pharma LDPs from different program tiers.

Curious if there's still folks like me not returning to their internships or who haven't secured full-time jobs yet but are graduating in 2026. What's recruiting looking like for you guys?

What's the overall situation for the class of 2026 at your program (M7 / T15 / Rest)?

I've worked for 3 years and currently earn less than $100k with limited savings. l'm trying to pivot into PE or corporate strategy for big tech. I want a strong prestigious network during my MBA experience that will open the most career doors.

l've wanted Wharton for many years and it was originally my top choice, but the financing for my next 2 years is difficult to grasp.

Please comment your experience and opinons!! 🙏🙏

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I know there are some cases of individuals leaving before their program ends. Would love to hear from them.

Would also love to hear from those who graduated, what position they were in, and decided to go elsewhere.

and of course from the ones who stayed in the same company as of today.

Has anyone here ever made a deposit at an M7, then decided not to attend because a professional opportunity came up, and then reapplied the following year?

I’m trying to understand how M7 programs that do not allow deferrals tend to view this. I know the deposit is non-refundable, which is fine, but I’m more concerned about whether backing out after depositing materially hurts your chances of being readmitted the next cycle.

Would schools typically view this negatively and as a sign of poor commitment, or if the reason is a compelling professional opportunity and the rationale is clearly explained, is readmission still realistic? Especially if the deposit was paid, hopefully they still see that as genuine interest.

Would especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through this.

Recently made a post about being disappointed that i was waitlisted at Wharton.

I just got an email from the adcom telling me that they do not anticipate being able to bring me off of the waitlist and instead think I am a strong candidate for their executive MBA. They offered a phone call to discuss.

Is this standard? Is this based on my salary / age / yoe?

2.5 years of work experience making less than $100k salary and little savings

Adcom told me this, not sure if it's true...?

I got accepted into all my programs, but the scholarship and aid vary significantly.

Duke = Full Tuition

Yale = $150k

Haas = $50k (but this is likely to go up much higher soon)

Wharton = $0 aid

I've worked for 3 years and currently earn less than $100k with limited savings. I'm trying to pivot into PE or corporate strategy for big tech. I want a strong prestigious network during my MBA experience, but don't want to be stuck on the west coast post-grad.

I've wanted Wharton for many years and it was originally my top choice, but the financing for my next 2 years is difficult to grasp.

Please share your opinions!

For the sake of anonymity, I will be vague on which of these I'm waitlisted in and have been accepted. Of my acceptances, I received small amounts of scholarship from them so that won't be a factor. Would appreciate people's thoughts and advice.

My situation:

• Tech consulting background at B4
• Interested in using MBA to pivot into finance.
• My big caveat is I don't want to go through the IB hellhole. I'd much rather use my MBA to jump into AM/HF/IM/ER, or similar roles.
• I understand the only MBAs perhaps capable of doing that is CBS (through their VIP program) and Booth. While CBS VIP is fiercely competitive, it offers a pretty clear career pipeline. Booth has a legendary finance reputation but their career offerings into buyside finance is a bit vague. Would love more information on this.
• If jumping into buyside roles is an impossibility for me, I'm also interested in doing finance ops for a tech startup or for a PE portfolio company. Maybe Booth would be good for this?
• Booth's "pick your courses" curriculum is highly appealing to me, as I have little to no patience for soft skills courses.

Ultimately, which MBA gives me the most optionality in the finance field? Between Booth and CBS, who edges the other out?

I care primarily about career. Chicago and NYC make no difference to me. In terms of student body, I enjoyed Tuck's and Booth's the most. CBS felt like talking to coworkers.