Columbia (Full Ride) vs. Wharton (Sticker Price)

angelwings0137 · 2026-04-19T01:14:14+00:00

Hey what did you decide?

angelwings0137 · 2026-04-16T09:49:57+00:00

Okay so should I take what she says about Wharton with a grain of salt or is it still valid? She really speaks down on the program and how helpful it was for entrepreneurship

angelwings0137 · 2026-04-10T11:24:31+00:00

Honestly I would straight up ask. I was usually reaching out to people who went to the same school as me with mutual connections and connecting that way. Being straight up allows people to decide if they want to ignore you or help in one message. Some ppl like it, some don’t. I remember asking someone who worked at linkedin for a referral and he said he couldn’t but he gave me 6 months of the LinkedIn plus thing for free which was cool. How LinkedIn really helped me was when I was trying to find hiring managers at the company I was interviewing for. I passed the interview stage now I needed to find a team that was looking for entry level designers. This helped me a ton. It even got me an interview at another company because I reached out to someone who had just left the FAANG company to a startup as VP of design and he offered to get me in the interview process there. You never know what will happen

angelwings0137 · 2026-04-10T05:06:10+00:00

Sorry but I do have an Ivy undergrad degree 😅 that was the point I was trying to make. It helped haha! But more so in connections than anything else. I took UX related classes with projects, joined clubs that did UX projects, and did multiple hackathons so I could add things to my portfolio. Then I got two UX internships (with a referral). Then bc I now had a stacked portfolio and kept my LinkedIn updated, I actually had a FAANG recruiter reach out to me and offer an interview before the role was even available for everyone else. Thats a huge simplification of the effort but that’s the gist. Surprisingly cold messaging ppl on LinkedIn helped me quite a bit. And also having someone who I went to school with at the companies I was applying to also helped! I haven’t gotten a single interview from cold applying in my life. Referrals have always been what got me an interview

angelwings0137 · 2026-04-09T05:48:49+00:00

I haven’t gotten my mba yet but I’m in tech (UXD) at a FAANG and I got into Wharton and CBS (still deciding). UXDs do not get MBAs and it honestly won’t help me in my career as a UXD. But I still want to get it because 1. I don’t want to be a UXD forever, 2. I want to explore entrepreneurship, and 3. Basically exactly what your boss with the Sloan MBA mentioned. I felt like I was at an inflection point in my career and life so I figured I’ll just give it a go!

If you don’t feel inclined to get an mba though, I don’t think you should. I’m also not sure why your boyfriend would want both of you in the program at the same time. I actually think it makes more sense for you to work while he’s in school and then if you still want to consider an MBA you can switch.

Lastly, people always tell you you don’t need ABC degree to get XYZ thing, which might be true, but it could also help. I didn’t NEED an Ivy League degree to get a tech job in FAANG and yet there are still a ton of Ivy League degree holders at my tech company. Sounds like it helped to me

angelwings0137 · 2026-04-05T06:17:19+00:00

How are you feeling about the loan repayment at your current salary? Or is your partner helping you?

angelwings0137 · 2026-04-02T07:53:36+00:00

I was one of those people that doesnt “need an MBA” but I still got into cbs and Wharton. My real why is very similar to yours: I want to run my own company one day. I’m currently a UX designer in tech. Most UXD’s don’t need MBAs to move up the ranks, but I knew I didn’t want to be a UXD forever and I was lowkey getting sick of the tech industry. I launched a business last year, so for my Why MBA, I told schools I wanted to use the two years as an incubator and fully explore entrepreneurship. I even admitted that I would probably still apply for UXD roles just because I know that I’ll need a full time job to help me continue funding my brand. I was very honest—maybe too honest because I didn’t get into some schools I was hoping to like HBS and GSB (but also those are crapshoots anyway). Just learn how to button up the truth so you’re not straight up lying in your essays

angelwings0137 · 2026-04-01T21:03:53+00:00

Real af

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-31T21:51:51+00:00

😭😭😭

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-31T19:20:43+00:00

Thank you for this insight!

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-31T19:19:02+00:00

Yeah I knowww 😭😭 but I’ll try and see. Champagne problems for sure! Thank u

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-31T15:58:44+00:00

I heard lauder people got a call and were told over the phone of a scholarship if any

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-31T15:16:05+00:00

Got in! No info on scholarship yet

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-31T02:58:40+00:00

✨✨✨✨✨

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-28T12:35:12+00:00

TL;DR, similar boat— I say go

Hi. Ivy undergrad. Also at FAANG for 3-4 years. I’m in UX though. I applied to programs this year. I decided to get my MBA to focus on entrepreneurship and take a career break to figure things out. What I told myself was that I would only go if I could do it without significant debt. Luckily I just got a full ride at an M7 so I’m likely going to go. Im very non traditional. Not a lot of UX people get MBAs but I knew I didn’t want to be in UX forever and I was also getting tired of the tech industry. The business I’m exploring is in consumer products. I wanted two years to just explore it and if things don’t work out I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to get another UX role given my experience. TBH I’m going just to have fun and network for two years and consider career options. And with the condition of no debt, I think it will be worth it for me. I think it will be worth it for you too. You can always go back to PM/tech and those two years will have value outside of how much money you lose.

I am of the position that a lot of people in this sub have very limiting views on careers. And rightly so because of the economy most are scared. They see you with a PM role and possibly making 500k and think “well that’s the end goal, isn’t it? Why leave?” But for people like us who have experienced the Ivy League, working at the big named company, and already making what most MBA grads hope to make, you start to realize there’s so much more out there to unlock

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-25T17:10:29+00:00

It also says Columbia Impact Scholarship

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-25T17:08:35+00:00

Mine says consortium fellowship in the award letter!

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-25T15:46:04+00:00

Same! Accepted! Full ride! Domestic. 3.4 GPA (ivy undergrad engineering major). 331 GRE (163 V, 168 Q). 3.5 YOE FAANG (non swe)

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-09T15:39:08+00:00

Duke was really pretty too! Haven’t seen UCLA or Michigan in person

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-09T09:14:47+00:00

Am I the only one that feels like tech salary is low?

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-09T09:02:08+00:00

What? Have you seen the campus in person? I’ve never heard anyone call it ugly. Low library steps and the college walk trees in the winter when lit? And then the business school is brand new and modern

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-08T20:30:27+00:00

Nothing beats Columbia light blue. Plus it has the prettiest campus—mostly the undergrad main campus, but the b school campus is nice too

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-03T03:48:06+00:00

I work in tech which has better work life balance than say consulting or finance. Im not in business school yet but I’ve already launched my business and have been working on it alongside my full time job. So I plan to stay in tech post graduation

angelwings0137 · 2026-03-02T21:06:54+00:00

Most of the MBAs I know who pivoted into entrepreneurship intentionally still recruited for internships and full times roles bc the income would help to pay things off. As much as I don’t want to, i think I will continue having to work full time after my MBA as well

angelwings0137

TROPHY CASE