I will be staring an MBA program this fall, but I am torn over where I should go. Thus far, I have been admitted to NYU Stern with a full ride and Columbia Business School with no sign of financial aid at this time.
I want to work in private equity or investment management post-MBA and have experience in the finance industry as a CPA with a large hedge fund. I chose to apply to these schools because I have been in Texas most of my life and felt that going to school in New York would be the best option for me to network and further my career in the finance industry.
My top choice was always CBS because of its prestige, close ties to financial firms, and value investing program. However, I understand that Stern has recently made significant strides in raising its MBA ranking and profile as well. I think that both would offer the same level of academic rigor, networking opportunities, and experiential learning, so I am really just trying to decide how much the ivy league brand reputation is worth...enough to turn down $100K from NYU?
I just sent you a PM
This is potentially a difficult question for you to answer, but how tough is it to get a full ride? I'd love to do an MBA if I could get significant financial aid, but I have no idea how tough/easy that is to accomplish.
It's hard to pass up a full ride, but from what I've heard, CBS places really well. In the end, you might just have to bite the bullet and pay for CBS (given your future goals).
I'd go with NYU on that one. Given your background it will very difficult to break into a prestigious PE shop from either school, so you might as well save the money and go to Stern if you'll end up in banking or a "random" PE firm....if that makes sense.
dont accept at cbs so i get in off waitlist :>
hum. kind of a conundrum? CBS is top tier buti know nyu places very well into similar roles as well so the 110k question is pretty weighty... but feenans makes sense
with your background you're not looking at breaking in to PE directly anyways, so I might be inclined to take the money and go to NYU. You'll still have a great chance to get a job in AM or IBD (potentially leading to PE) after graduation. The difference between CBS and NYU in this situation might be getting a job at a slightly "better" bank or something, which probably isn't going to make or break you.
I'd definitely go to CBS over a full ride at NYU. You never know where life will take you, and the CBS brand is more powerful than Stern's.
Outside of NYC, Stern is not very well known. It is my personal opinion that you should ALWAYS go to the best school that you can get into, regardless of scholarships (if you were haggling over MIT/Booth/CBS this would be different, but were talking NYU here). CBS has better career options, better brand equity, and a better network.
Disclaimer: I've been admitted to CBS and didn't apply to NYU.
I would say absolutely NYU. CBS is marginally better but NYU w/ full ride is very impressive as well. Congrats!
im not sure if id say that NYU doesnt have any brand equity outside of NYC -- sure most of the people stick to finance in the city but i wouldnt say its a weak brand-- furthermore in finance where else are u gonna go ;p
Make sure your decision is based on whats best for you and not just because of the scholarship. I know 2 people that turned down full rides to HBS to attend columbia and dont regret it at all, theyre both MDs now.
bullshit detector just blew the fuck up
Not to mention, you might as well get your first job in NYC anyway. If you want to move, do it after you've put in a few years post-MBA.
I, personally, would go to NYU, but that's mainly because I hate debt...
People in the finance sector know NYU. Any PE firm you go to is undoubtedly going to recognize both NYU and Columbia. Yes, Columbia is a fantastic school (parent got MBA from there), but $100k is a lot of money. Ultimately I guess I would pick the one that you most want to go to, money set aside. Coming out of either one you should be able to pay off the debt.
I would say go NYU, but CBS hasn't announced the bulk of their aid yet. CBS is very sensitive about their yield, so if I were you I would consider trying to play one off the other--talk to admissions and let them know how badly you want to go, but a full ride is so tough to turn down, you were hoping they could offer something in response.
Gee, me wonders what illiniprogrammer is going to say; he is the type that licks the inside of the peanut butter jar clean before using it as a milk glass...
Haha, that was very entertaining MBA Banker. Personally, I would never set foot on the NYU campus no matter how much they paid me after living there a couple summers.
-Southern Conservative
NYU. CBS is better but not $100K better
Go to CBS. Better brand. I'd rather bite the bullet than take the risk of going to a lesser known school...
Wow thats a tough one. I'd say talk with some people actually at the schools and get a feel.
Before you do anything, tell the CBS admissions office about the full ride and see what they can do.
I'd go to NYU over CBS for 100k. No way you are gonna be in that much better of a position after CBS than NYU. I'm surprised by the brand whoring on here. Its not like a 10k scholarship, we are talking a full ride. Also, its not like NYU us some second rate school.
NYU isn't a second rate school, its a 3rd rate school...just kidding. Totally go NYU. Unless CBS gives you $50K...
Difference in career prospects and alumni network between CBS and Stern is not very significant. If you are able to break into PE, $100 K is insignificant. Is $100 K significant to you right now? Depends on your current net worth. Go with your heart. You can't really go wrong either way, so regret factor will be lower. Personally, I would go with NYU, but that is because my net worth is really low, so the $100 K would mean a lot to me. May not mean much to you.
I have no doubt you know a couple of MDs, I even have no doubt that they went to Columbia, however I don't understand why those were the points you chose to revisit when I clearly bolded the part of your posting I find hard to believe.
and clearly you didn't read where I responded by saying "They felt Columbia was better for them and that where they went"
CBS hands down.
Take the cash. You never know where your career is going to take you and that's simply way too much money to turn down for such a marginal difference in schools. Besides, you'll be able to put "full ride to NYU" on your resume which will signal to employers that you turned down a more competitive school.
Columbia. I strongly believe that when it comes to business schools, you should always go to the best school you get into. Name brand and networking are HUGE when it comes to an MBA, and you don't want to have any regrets. Besides, $100K may seem like a lot of money now, but in the long-term it's insignificant.
More importantly though, you expressed interest in investment management, which Columbia is awesome at. Their value investing program is second to none, and all the top hedge funds and IM firms recruit there (along with HBS, wharton, booth). If you wanted to do something generic like consulting or banking, going to NYU could make sense. But in your case, given that IM is a tough field to break into, you really need an elite MBA.
my roommate in college had a similar dillema - ivy league med school admission versus ~35-ranked program with a full ride.
very tough call, but he ultimately took everyone's advice and went with the full-ride, with the knowledge that his career prospects would be only very marginally different between these two particular programs, and it's just too much money to ignore.
unless as mentioned above you think there's some particular program at columbia that you need, and that stern can't offer, i can't imagine possibly passing up a full-ride, shaky economy or not
Do a comparison of placement and see what makes sense. e.g. McKinsey hires from both Chicago and Duke, but lot more from Duke. So instead of being counting on being Top 5 of your class interested in consulting from Duke who'd get the McKinsey offer, its safer to be one of the 30 from Chicago.
For Dublin's example, actually a better ranked med school generally places better in residency (although you are also competing with better students), which allows for better fellowship, etc. Rankings do matter in most cases in life.
that may be true in general, but given the particular schools involved and my friend's particular circumstances, it actually turned out that his residency placement would be almost entirely unaffected, hence my comparing his situation to the OP's
Holy sh*t.... aren't you people in finance?
Everyone agrees CBS > NYU. But what is the magnitude of that advantage? $100k NPV? If the OP already has good work experience/network and a clearly defined post-MBA goal... I see few scenarios in which you would sacrifice that kind of cash for a marginal upgrade.
Yeah, but prestige whoring trumps money for many on this site, haha.
For buyside, the difference between columbia and NYU is significant. As I said in my post above, if the OP just wanted sellside banking or consulting, he will probably do fine with NYU. But for investment management, you get so many more opportunities at columbia, through value investing program, campus recruiting, better name brand, network, etc. This one is a no-brainer, in my opinion.
Quantify.
I guess you could use this as a starting point if you really wanted to do an NPV calc.
http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/compensation.asp
I guess you could use this as a starting point if you really wanted to do an NPV calc.
http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/compensation.asp[/quote]
Why is HBS's and GSB's pay so so low?
columbia, no contest. school is better, networking opportunities are better, you get to add the words "ivy league" to everything you ever do in the future, and i wouldn't underestimate the power of your network and connections outside of just the business school either. graduates of columbia college, etc will be willing to help you out down the road as well
Columbia is way better for buyside jobs than NYU but it is no golden ticket. Look at columbia’s placement stats – maybe 15% of its students landed jobs in PE, HF or investment management. Far more Columbia grads landed jobs on the sellside or in other financial services positions (commercial banking). Looks like the ratio of sellside (including IB, ER and commercial banking) to buyside is 2:1.
The chances are pretty strong that the OP turns down $100K to go to CBS, fails to land a buyside job, and ends up in a sellside job that he could have gotten from NYU. Only he is a $100K poorer.
15% is on par with other top schools and certainly higher than NYU. Look at it this way. If the OP goes to columbia, he will at least have the chance to interview with top hedge funds and IM firms since many of them recruit on-campus. At NYU, he won't even get that opportunity because those firms don't visit stern. That's a HUGE difference, and if the OP really wants to get into IM, it would be foolish to turn down columbia.
Your basically saying its worth 100k for the opportunity to interview for a HF/IM job. That is just ludicrous.
NYU !!! If your GPA is over a 3.7 - you are golden. CBS- 3.5. .Its not a huge difference.
Use your NYU offer to leverage more FA from CBS. You will probably get a substantial amount from CBS.
Good luck.
Without a doubt I would go to NYU.
CBS is barely considered better, if at all. Of all the top schools, CBS is the one that games the admissions system to artificially inflate stats (admissions yield, etc) to score higher in the rankings.
Given the same student graduating from those two programs, your placement will come down to one thing: YOU. Think about the future value of $120k of loans....compounding over 20 years if you had invested it.
CBS and Stern are tied in US News rankings - and those are the rankings that count. Stern is in a much better part of the city - the Village vs. Washington Heights is no contest. Both schools are excellent for finance.
Go to Stern. All those people who say $100k is nothing.....think about it. You will have to earn roughly $200k pre-tax to pay down all that debt. Excluding interest. They are wrong.
I work at a BB in NYC and there are a TON of Stern and CBS kids where I work.
Dude I seriously wish I had an extra $1600 in my pocket each month. That's my actual out of pocket payment. It sucks. Bad. And if I ever lose my job, I could be in big trouble. You can't escape student loans; no bankruptcy. And paying them down quickly is much tougher in this current economic climate.
These two business schools have an almost unnatural advantage in being located in arguably the greatest city in the world. Both New York University's Stern School of Business and Columbia Business School are all about the New York experience and the awesome resources these schools routinely leverage from what is the capital of the world. Columbia enters two MBA classes a year, in January for students who don't need or want a summer internship and in September for a more conventional full-time MBA schedule. The diversity of exceptional students in both schools is mind-boggling. For more information you may check this link http://www.thedegreeexperts.com/
Cool link. Thanks
Either school is great, but if you are choosing between a full ride at Stern, or being left with a debt, it should only be for Harvard. I would choose NYU Stern, even if it weren't for the scholarship. I have talked to Columbia transfers who thought that Stern had better placement than Columbia (Stern had 99% in 2013). They also preferred the location and facilites at Stern. Columbia has a great name, but isn't a notorious for it's business school, like Wharton or Stern. I have personally had a few friends who were dissapointed with Columbia. It could be a coincidence, or maybe they had false expectations because it was "Columbia". I get the impression that Stern's faculty is less ideological, and more of a no nonense, get down to business style. Good luck
OP: What did you end up choosing?
Ah yes, the classic comment on the three year old post. OP has already graduated from whatever school he ended up picking. Plus, you have to love the Columbia to Stern MBA "transfers".
@"BGP2587" what on earth are we going to do on this forum when you are all wrapped up in your business school projects and not able to come and visit us poor folk on WSO? Could we convince you "transfer" after your first year?
@BGP2587: Always good to see your posts here on WSO!
Yeah, but she's cute. Cut her some slack.
NYU Stern (full ride) vs Columbia (partial) (Originally Posted: 04/10/2014)
I'm incredibly torn between which full time MBA program to attend. My goal is IBD post-grad and ultimately PE. I received a full scholarship to Stern, and it's sponsored by a nobel laureate faculty member they expect you to build a relationship with (I'm skeptical that happens in practice, though). Meanwhile, Columbia has always been my preference given the reputation and marginally better rankings. I've also heard anecdotes that recruiting is better at CBS. I was just awarded a $40k fellowship but it only applies to first year. Thoughts?
Columbia on average will set you up better for recruiting and later on in life - but you know this already
I'd take the full-ride if Columbia would cost $60k out of pocket. For IBD recruiting at the MBA level, there's no difference between the two schools.
I like Columbia better but graduating into an IB role w/ little to no debt sounds pretty damn enticing.
I'm assuming this is the Named faculty scholarship? Is it with Engle or Spence?
You should seek out a few people who have previously gotten the scholarship and speak with them about their experience. It sounds like the chance of a lifetime, can't believe you would pass it up for Columbia.
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