Deciding between Wharton and Columbia for MBA
I am currently deciding between Columbia and Wharton for the MBA program and leaning towards going Columbia but don’t want to make a mistake. Rankings/prestige-wise, Wharton obviously edges CBS out.
A key factor here is that I committed to Columbia per the Early Decision program. Several people (including 2 Columbia students) told me to eat the $6,000 deposit and go to Wharton. I have heard that there aren’t penalties beyond losing the $6,000 – thoughts? That said, I don’t want to be unethical (although I view it as marginally so; if it were a true honor system they would go by your word only and not a hefty sum of money, thus I feel inclined to think there is ‘moral compensation’ and some Columbia applicant on the waitlist would be thrilled to have my spot)
Why I think going to Columbia makes sense: Post-MBA, my goal is to go MBB consulting and, secondarily, perhaps an industry-specific hedge fund. From a previous post, I note that people say doing the Value Investing Program at Columbia is better than Wharton for hedge funds http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/wharton-vs-…. (Note: I fully recognize that if I wanted to go into Private Equity, Wharton wins out but this isn’t the case.)
So my basic question is: Is there any real difference in terms of exit opportunities post MBA (Columbia vs. Wharton) outside of private equity? I note that 62 people from Columbia went to McKinsey last year so I just don’t get the sense that MBB cares too much about school selection within the M7 tier.
Thanks so much!
go to wharton
For MBB there is no real difference. Slight difference for banking but extremely slight, CBS is probably the second most represented school at most of the top banks after Wharton (Booth is in the convo too). For PE/HF, remember that you have to have the correct background regardless of where you you go to school. There are a lot of people without good backgrounds that go into the value investing program at CBS expecting HF or go to wharton expecting PE that strike out every year. But if you have the right background CBS > Wharton for HF if you are in the program and Wharton > CBS for PE.
I don't really have a pulse on industry specific jobs. I will say I do think the prestige of Wharton is a good jump over CBS. But outside of the weird echo chambers on forums, and actually in the field of finance, it's a top 3 or 4 name. In terms of the ED contract, I know two people that reneged and the admissions office was basically "ok, thanks for letting us know" and those people ate the 6k and went to other schools.
I would choose Wharton.
That said, I only hear good things about the Value Investing program, and some small 6-person hedge funds might say "I have a slot in 30 min, can you make it to my office for an interview?" (as opposed to saying "can you make it this afternoon?" which is still doable from Philadelphia). I believe the ability to strike while it's hot is the key advantage from Columbia's location, and not to be ignored. Recruiting off-campus for small hedge funds is actually the single greatest reason to choose Columbia over the other 8 schools.
To be clear, I'd still choose Wharton.
it's tough to stay ethical these days. it looks like for MBB purposes, they're comparable... MBB recruiting doesn't get any better than their M7 recruiting anyway
I'd say for the things that YOU specifically want to do, there's no real difference so make your decision based on where you'd feel most comfortable.
However if you're already thinking about eating 6 grand even after having gone to the trouble of ED, then go to Wharton so you don't live wondering "What if?". That's the beauty of having no "bad" decision in this case-neither of your paths will be deemed foolish.
Thanks so much for all your input - it's very helpful.
I suggest that you should attend the welcome week at both schools and see which community you prefer better. Both schools are great in terms of recruiting. Wharton may have a slight edge in terms of brand.
Wharton x Columbia MBA - Hedge Fund Goal (Originally Posted: 04/23/2016)
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