I am going to do an MBA next year. It turns out that the tech firm I work for has many alumni from the Michigan Ross MBA program - I've been talking to my immediate supervisor on the downlow and he would happily write me a letter of recommendation.

Given my in with the school I am seriously considering it. My main hesitation though is that I do not think that it's as good a school as Harvard / Stanford / Wharton. I want to keep my career options open, potentially going into finance / fintech or even MBB so getting into an M7 school has been my dream and I want to get a realistic idea of how an MBA from Ross would compare. Any thoughts?

They are better schools. Your colleagues will admit that and be delighted for you if they admit you.

Salary-wise, expectations for MBAs at Stanford Harvard and Wharton are quite different from those at Ross. $200+k per year vs. around $157k for Ross grads (3 years out, according to the FT). Of course maybe the HSW MBAs entered at higher salaries but that's still a substantial difference (25-40% higher depending on the school.

Of course the top schools are going to be a lot more competitive than a school that's ranked 20-something in the FT.

Clarify your goals and take the GMAT if you haven't already. If MBB is really a serious goal for you, aim as high as you can.

Thank you both!