There’s a great sense of intellectual vitality there. When I speak with other people here, I don’t necessarily have to explain what an advertising network is, for example. That’s a huge plus for people working in specialized industries.
Now, if you wanted to work in Chicago, but you went to Harvard Business School, you might have trouble breaking into the local start-up scene.
I ran into a friend from Harvard the other day. He’s from Chicago and wanted to work in Chicago, but because he went to HBS, he had difficulty finding job offers in Chicago.
He told me, “If I had known what I know now, I would have just gone to Booth, because I knew I wanted to work in Chicago, and the Booth network there is just stronger.”
Even a Harvard Business School alumnus wasn’t able to get around the regional hiring biases.
Basically, if you want to work in Silicon Valley, Boston, LA, Austin, or any other major start-up hub, you should go to business school in that location. If you do that, your school’s alumni network will help your job search significantly.