applying to MBA program - does med school reputation matter?

[skiing]

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I will be starting med school next year and hope to add an MBA between my 2nd and 3rd years. In a culture where school reputation still holds considerable influence, it only seems logical that which medical school you go to would play a role in MBA admission.

I was just wondering for those of you who know people who applied for MBAs, whether this is actually the case?

Is there hope for someone at a non-top 20 medical school to matriculate at a top MBA program?

 

[sinombre]

I will be starting med school next year and hope to add an MBA between my 2nd and 3rd years. In a culture where school reputation still holds considerable influence, it only seems logical that which medical school you go to would play a role in MBA admission.

I was just wondering for those of you who know people who applied for MBAs, whether this is actually the case?

Is there hope for someone at a non-top 20 medical school to matriculate at a top MBA program?

MBA programs at top schools aren't that competitive. Harvard has a 13% admission rate. Better than any US medical school (excluding maybe a few small state schools).

http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/admission-requirements/Pages/class-profile.aspx

 

[witzelsucht]

Depends what you mean by competitive. B-school isn't like med school where scores and grades are the most important factors. The way places like HBS ensure that their graduates land high-paying jobs at goldman, mckinsey, etc. is by accepting people who were already earning good money at those kinds of places prior to matriculating.

This is speculation, but I do not think reputation of medical school will matter in b-school admissions. Likely they will see you are a med student, and think "oh ****, this guy is smart, but what will he add to our program? is he gonna bring the sick nasty connections to our class, or the knowledge of stock markets that a wall street vet will?"

Top B-schools serve the same purpose as an ivy league frat. Its all about the connections and associating yourself with the future big-swinging-dicks of whatever industry you are in. So, in conclusion, if you want to go to a top program, you'll need to somehow prove that you are the future of heathcare.

If you are looking at schools less than top 20-30, they probably will be thrilled to have any med student just because it'll look good on their admisisons brochures.

 

[MediumDef]

Also not every place lets you complete B school in 1yr, at my school you could go to the affiliated business school and get a degree in one year. You were also welcome to apply/go to Harvard or Wharton, and once every other year or so someone did, but it was a full two year commitment (technically 20months I think but you get the drift).
Other places if you know from the get go you want an MBA you can get both degrees in 4 years.

 

[darkjedi]

No, if you had the stats to get into decent medical school, you should potentially have the stats to get into a top-tier MBA program. Medical student status also bumps your application up a few points as MBA programs typically like MD-candidates. Provided you can prove an interest in the field of business, you would likely make a compelling applicant at most MBA schools.

 

[SaipanRocks]

I would bet your status as a medical student will get you special attention because it is so far out of the norm for b-school, regardless of top 20 or not. There was 1 physician in my class and he definitely stuck out. The question you need to be ready to answer, is how you plan to leverage both degrees, and not sound trite. It would help tremendously if you have some research under your belt that speaks to it. There are alot of great topics out there waiting to be cherry picked. For example, quality is a huge issue in medicine now, which has been extraordinarily slow to get on that band wagon. Global health and social entrepreneurship is excellent too.

But most important is answering what you plan to do with it. I haven't met many people with MD & MBA that REALLY have a plan other what tacking on another 3 letters to their credentials--a great waste.

 

[ivfmd]

Ask yourself this.

Why do you want to go to MBA school?

A: To learn useful information and wise business tactics?
B: To get a piece of parchment with your name on it?

If the answer is (B only) or (both A and B), then OK, MBA school would maybe make sense.
If the answer is A only, then there are many better ways of achieving that.

Good luck.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Ask yourself this.

Why do you want to go to MBA school?

A: To learn useful information and wise business tactics?
B: To get a piece of parchment with your name on it?

If the answer is (B only) or (both A and B), then OK, MBA school would maybe make sense.
If the answer is A only, then there are many better ways of achieving that.

Good luck.

Or C. Networking

That's supposedly huge.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Or C. Networking

That's supposedly huge.

Networking is huge. You basically pay 50,000 grand for connections. The actual knowledge you learn in B-school is borderline common sense. But you get to put your foot in the door by talking with and mingling with businesses in the area.

 

[pandoraone]

Ask yourself this.

Why do you want to go to MBA school?

A: To learn useful information and wise business tactics?
B: To get a piece of parchment with your name on it?

If the answer is (B only) or (both A and B), then OK, MBA school would maybe make sense.
If the answer is A only, then there are many better ways of achieving that.

Good luck.

And how does this answer the OP's question?

OP - it may make a difference for the top schools but for general B-schools not so much.

 

[Law2Doc]

No, if you had the stats to get into decent medical school, you should potentially have the stats to get into a top-tier MBA program...

as mentioned above, to get into a top MBA program, you really need a year or two of relevant work experience. Having good enough stats to get into med school is thus meaningless -- the person with slightly lower stats than you but two years experience as an analyst on Wall Street has the edge. An MBA isn't meant to open the doors to a new career. The degree is meant to enhance already existing skills. So the person who already has a job in finance, marketing, consulting or management might want the MBA to take the next step in their career, get promoted, but the guy who just wants to learn some basic business or how to run a practice isn't really the target applicant for business school. This is why at the best business schools the majority of matriculants are going to school on their companies dime -- it's an enhancement of existing skills. Company is willing to pay for. It's also how the top programs can boast such high job placement statistics -- most of the enrollees already had jobs to go back to. So no, I wouldn't put much stock in med school pedigree or grades unless you also have the relevant work experience.

However, some programs have dual degree linkages so if you are already at a school or applying, perhaps that might work as a back door. In that respect, going to a med school where there is also a good business school might help.

 

[Law2Doc]

Networking is huge. You basically pay 50,000 grand for connections. The actual knowledge you learn in B-school is borderline common sense. But you get to put your foot in the door by talking with and mingling with businesses in the area.

the " knowledge you learn" depends on what skills you came in with. This isn't a program meant to teach you the basics, it's meant to enhance existing skills so you can go back to your previous business related job (or something similar) and take the next step up the ladder. This is why the better B schools require a couple of years of relevant work experience. Places that don't probably are just selling you a line to put on your CV.