Sloan vs Columbia Business School
So I was lucky enough to get accepted into both Sloan and CBS for next year full time. I will be choosing between those two.
A little about me, I'm on the younger side of applicants at 25 and will have 3 years of W/E at Matriculation. I work in Treasury at a BB. I'll be moving into Investment Banking post grad school. I'm currently leaning Columbia but I'll post more information below.
Columbia:
Pros -
Placement: Every bank (BB, EB, and everything in between) is on campus and coming to you. A lot of people do banking (80-100) but around 50% of those go to either a top BB (GS, JPM, MS) or an EB. And almost 85% are at a BB or EB.
People: Loved the people who I have met and talked too. Lots of similarly cool people who have done a lot of great things. Very smart bunch. I can see myself fitting in here very easily.
Classes: the breadth of electives are much bigger then Sloan's and being taught by high performing adjuncts is really a plus for me. I have always felt like I learn learn more from actual practitioners.
No Grade Disclosure: This is great. It breeds a less intense work environment then Sloan. You can focus on recruiting and networking and taking whatever classes you want. This is a huge plus for me.
Alumni: HUGE number of finance alumni willing to help you out.
Cons -
Cost: NYC is costly and the living conditions suck for someone on a students budget.
Familiarity: I live in NYC right now and while I plan to come back, I was hoping to leave for a bit for business school..
Facilities: they are awful, enough said.
Sloan:
Pros -
Facilities: The facilities are awesome. Loved it there.
City: Getting out of NYC would be cool and I like Boston/Cambridge.
Cost: Much better QOL as a student there then at Columbia.
Curriculum: Very well regarded Finance curriculum.
Jobs: There are only about 20 people a year doing IB from Sloan, so being a finance guy already I expect I would have my pick of the interviews for those firms that come on campus. And basically everyone gets a BB as it is. Which leads me to my cons.
Cons -
Recruiting: A lot of firms aren't on campus, which means you are doing a lot of legwork. No EBs are on campus and, personally, I intend to focus on EBs over BBs during recruiting due to the regulatory landscape.
Alumni: There just aren't that many banking alumni.
People: I haven't liked the people I've met so far. I had a current student ask me "why do you talk the way you do" when I visited for my interview. Keep in mind me a native speaker with no speech impediments and never have been told I "talk weird". I also found most of the current students to be really intense about grades.
Grade Disclosure: As far as I can tell, combined with the tough curriculum, this leads to a lot of intensity in the classmates. It's also something that, apparently, banks pay attention too. And I don't want to be stressing about the curve during recruiting.
All in all, the people aspect and "fitting in" have me heavily leaning towards Columbia. Combined with all the firm's on campus at Columbia vs Sloan and I think it makes if a relatively straight forward decision. But I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say.
Thanks in advance.
^ Basically confirmed my opinion on both schools. Have met current students and alum from both schools and feel like you hit the hammer on the head.
Seems like you already know the answer to your question. I'll confirm what you're thinking: Accept CBS and never look back. You will have made the right choice.
I think you can cross-enroll HBS classes at MIT Sloan. I think if you plan to network with MBA, that's quite a value to consider.
you'll be able to get a top IB job from either school so I'd choose on fit. you may also want to try and see if either school will be willing to give you scholarship $ as a tiebreaker. can't go wrong either way here.
It's definitely easy to discount fit, but I'm unsure how much it really changes a person's experience. Some people really harp on fit but others don't, so hard to know how much it really matters.
I would prefer Columbia Business School
In all seriousness - you seem more passionate about Columbia.
I second (the real?) LiamNeeson's comment: you just seem to prefer Columbia and are hoping for some validation.
You shouldn't. You should know which school is for you. Lose the insecurities.
Otherwise, you'll get into the endless debate over minutiae that is commonplace in M7 ex-H/S debates: - the stats clearly show that Columbia is better for IB - yeah but that's partly self-selection. IB isn't popular at MIT but those interested get the jobs - well maybe but they have to do more networking since they're not in NYC - no, it's the opposite, Columbia kids constantly have to haul down to kiss as s to bankers - No way, look, Columbia places more at GS, which is the pinnacle of IB - Half of them are military spots and MIT places better in all Tech teams and that's what's hot - Columbia's Ivy League and is the hometown favorite in NYC - Columbia's the M7 ugly step-sister and it's a dime a dozen in NYC, people are actually impressed by MIT instead - Columbia's the ultimate value investing school - As if that's representative of the experience of 97% CBS students who aren't in the program - We have more Portfolio Managers teaching courses and seminars - Our professors wrote the book on portfolio management
And it goes on, and on, and on...
Nail on the head there - SB. I am not the real Liam Neeson, but what I do have, are a very particular set of skills. Skills I've acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for the people like you during recruiting.
Thanks guys - yes I was looking to see if there were any strong dissenters just in case. But I did definitely feel more of a fit at CBS.
Currently at Sloan for MFin. I am not familiar with Columbia's professors, but I can speak on MIT. Literally over half of the founders of modern finance developed their ideas here. Why not learn from the likes of John Cox, Robert Merton and Andrew Lo? Just had an options and futures course with John Cox. Will have a class with Merton and Lo next semester. Was told by a non-MIT affiliated individual that founded a significant financial services company that John Cox knows more about option valuation than any other person on the planet.
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