Cornell v/s LBS MBA
Hi Guys, I am fortunate enough to be accepted to Cornell in round 1. I had applied to number of schools in Round 2 : waitlisted in Yale, Ross and interviewed at LBS. LBS interview was faily decent. I even got a positive email from my interviewer. But as I have found out, the admisson process works in myterious ways.
All the wait has taken its toll though such that I feel mentally drained. I cannot focus on anything. On one hand I am not commiting to Cornell due to which I have seen housing vacacies fly. I have not even paid money for the background checks. Even for some reason, I do manage to get off the waitlist, I`m not sure if these programs will offer me any aid. I have $80K in Scholarship from Cornell. Thus to make life a little easy for me, I am not expecting anything from Ross/ Yale.
LBS decison is in 12 days~. I have lost all patience. Should I pay background check fees to revera for Cornell and actively hunt for housing? I also need to apply for I20 and take time off from work to visit my home country. Lots of things need to be done in the remaining four months.
I am international from south asia ( non- Indian) based in APAC region. I would be happy to transition to MC/ IB/PE. I work in the finance field. I am kind of indifferent to post MBA career paths at this stage. Can you help me understand if LBS is worth waiting for?
(1) Though LBS salary is considerably lower, I am not sure about the disposable income and other costs? if you have some data could please share?
(2) Which is more prestigous? LBS or Cornell in terms of reputation
(3) Which is a better program in terms of overall MBA experience? Top US programs are known to be more dynamic.
Should I be looking at other factors in US v/s UK dilema? Security? Long term stability ( Visa, healthcare, culture)
If you have time, let`s correct privately in which I will be able to share more data about me privately.
Kind regards,
Seeeker
I have helped quiet a bit of my friends with their MBA process and will be applying this year myself. So take my advise as you will -
If I was in your shoes - I would say it does come down to 3 factors 1) Location 2) Visa 3) Job Market
It goes without saying that you should always attend the school where you want to work. So if you want to work in US - target mainly US schools. LBS can also get you a job in the US - but it will be significantly harder to try as an outsider.
How is the Visa situation for you? U.K and the U.S.A have both shit visa regulations - so which one is easier/the job you want, are companies known to sponsor in that industry, etc...
Job Market - How is the current job market? I.e. - current consulting job market in the U.S. is HOT - where as not many offers coming out of U.K. There was a post talking about how easy it is to break into IB in the U.S. now as compared to before - because there is not much of demand as there used to be. How does this look for U.K market? You need to network with LBS alumni on this behalf. Cornell is a top 3 IB MBA school (CBS, NYU being the other 2). LBS is also the main MC/IB school for London market. So compare schools with a better fall back plan. If you aim for IB at Cornell and for some reason you don't land a gig, can you achieve your plan B with Cornell? Can you do the same with LBS?
Salary - European market is known for lower salaries and better for benefits. While expenses might be slightly low - but not a huge difference.
I won't speak on Yale/Ross - because you are on waitlist and it might be a while before you even get off the waitlist and hear back. For me it would be between Cornell vs LBS. I would wait the 12 days and see how that goes. Answer the above questions and think - but from face value, if LBS came back with no scholarship - I am taking Cornell with 80k.
UK visa rules are much more straightforward and merit-based than U.S visas. I have come across many people in UK IB and Big 4 who worked in the U.S after studying and couldn't secure an HB-1 and ended up being transferred to London.
Hello Intern in IB - M&A; Are you able to share the nationalities of these people?
Ture, agreed. Schorlaship will be the deciding factor. I let go Darden in Round1 for the same reason. no point in taking debt for the similair outcomes.
My plan B would be work in Japan ( APAC region - I can speak decent Japanese). May be LBS would give me an edge? Cornell is a T10-T15 Ivy league. So, not big difference here.
@King Kong: LBS gives major advantage with exchange activities. I could posibly do an exchange with Wharton/ CBS, Thus get the Ivy-ish experience/ brand ( kind- of), which is very important factor for me. But I do not know wherether a semester exchange will allow me to entertain the thought of career in the US market. Do you have a few sugestions on this front?
I always suggest to maximize your options, 12 days is not a lot of time and if you can wait for LBS you should. Cornell is a good program and will allow you to recruit for IB or MC, but not PE. LBS opens up PE and other alternative investment roles that are near impossible at Cornell.
In terms of reputation, LBS blows away Johnson, but Cornell has a very strong reputation. Most in the business would put LBS ahead of Cornell's parent (in addition to Johnson), but the Cornell cache does carry more weight among the non-business types (man on the street).
LBS is also in London and Cornell is in Ithaca, so the experience would be vastly different. If you're a city person, LBS is the easy option; if you want to try a US college town vibe, that's Cornell.
I think this comes down to location (London vs NYC) and post-MBA career options. LBS can get you all the career options that Cornell can but much much more. However, if you place working in the US over the additional career options that LBS offers, Johnson is the clear option.
Whatever you do, I suggest you try your best to maximize your options.
Best of luck!
Agreed LBS has great acess to PE.
" LBS blows away Johnson, but Cornell has a very strong reputation." You have summarized my dilemma in a sentence.
Locationwise- there is no other way to put it. Ithacca Sucks !! But I have decided to overlook it for now.
Do you have hard numbers? For example , for example IB disposable 1st year salary/ exepenses in US v/s London ? Thank you. I think I need to build a model to understand the ROI.
I'm sure you can dig up the hard numbers if you look around.
One final point, LBS is considered a tier or two above Johnson. Alumni network, student quality, academics, job options, brand, recruiting process, location, etc...etc...are all considered well above Johnson. What you're really playing for with Johnson is entry to the US IB market and the parent university's brand. I'd argue that with business schools, the parent's brand should play a diminished role compared to the MBA program itself.
If you really want to be in the US IB market, you could go to LBS, land in London IB then try to internally move to the US.
Best of luck with your decision! Feel free to DM me anytime.
Your opinion is perfectly acceptable, but I highly, highly disagree with your remark that LBS can get you anywhere Cornell can. I’ve been in the workforce for a while and recently got an M7 MBA. LBS has essentially no presence in the US, while you’ll find Cornell alumni all over the place. I know the focus isn’t on getting a job in the US, but plans change and having the potential to work in the US is valuable.
How worried are you about the visa situation?
I am not sure if Cornell is a STEM MBA - if so it is worth doing, but be aware you will be restricted to recruiting for large corporate jobs - IB, large management consulting. And even in this case once the 3 years for STEM OPT are up, you have a 50/50 chance at the H1B lottery. so there is a good chance of getting kicked out of the country after 3 years.
for the UK, people may say the visa regime is strict, but it is not a lottery like the H1B - while it may still be tough to get sponsorship, I have never heard of any international students having problems with getting randomly kicked out of the country despite having sponsorship in the UK. If you want to avoid this risk, LBS is the move.
otherwise agree that LBS is more prestigious, but Cornell is preferred for offering access to the US job market.
frankly, if i I were you I would go LBS. go have a great life in london, there is a huge south asian business community there, you won't have visa issues, and just accept being somewhat less rich than you would be in the US
Edit: just coming back bc to say that I realized you are in at Cornell but not LBS. Despite this, if you don't get into LBS I wouldn't let this stop you from going to Cornell. You can definitely pay off the 120k in loans with 3 years of STEM OPT, and there is still a good chance of getting H1B, it is just way more of a hassle than the UK
My Back up plan is to return to Japan. I can speak OK Japanese. So Visa is not Do or Die kind of concern.
Yeah thank you. I will update here on LBS decison. Let`s take a call on this then.
Also LBS gives an opportunity to do an exchange with Wharton. I wonder how the exchange with Wharton pans out?
LBS is way better than Cornell. Salary is lower because European salaries are lower than US. Unless you dream of living in the US and have visa issues, LBS is much better. You also get to live in London which is nice. And LBS will open PE opportunities more, it’s actually quite famous for finance in particular.
One caveat for Europe is that MBAs are not as common so so it’s a bit less of a stepping stone than in the US if you want to work in London as employers will also look at your previous exp more (usually only people with non prestigious background would do an MBA in Europe as MSc are more common).
I would tend to think LBS is also more famous in Asia.
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