Utterly confused. Have to choose between these 4 schools for MBA. Goal - IB
Have to choose between these 4 schools. Goal - IB. I'm from India.
I'm very confused and would really appreciate any good advice I can get. No scholarship from any of these.
Thanks in advance!!
- Stern - Most renowned among these for IB but also the lowest ranked/least prestigious
- Kellogg - Only M7 among these/Highest ranked/most prestige. In midwest. Furthest from NYC. "consulting/marketing school." Not many students are interested in IB, ~5% of class goes in IB, "most of those interested in IB and putting in the work - get it."
- Yale - B-school on upward trajectory. 90 mins from NYC. ~10% of class goes in IB. "most of those interested and putting in the work - get it"
- Tuck - On East Coast and hence closer to NYC than Kellogg. More represented on Wall Street than Yale. "consulting school." ~13% of class goes in IB. "most of those interested and putting in the work - get it"
Thanks in advance!
Personally, I wouldn't even consider Yale. Recruiting at the associate level is driven by alumni and they just don't have a sizeable or active presence at most banks. The vast majority of YSOM associates I've seen are diversity hires. Also don't think that they are a core school at most banks. I'm sure YSOM is great academically and they have a beautiful campus and top notch facilities, but their career placement just isn't as good as everyone else on your list AND the number of people interested in IBD is much smaller.
The other three you listed are all great options. Generally agree with your comments, although I'd consider Stern roughly in the same tier as Yale and Tuck, and Kellogg a slight step above the other three.
There are pros and cons to each and I don't know that you'll have a materially better or worse chance at placing in a good bank from any of those listed. Among the three, I'd choose wherever you think you'd be happier. IBD recruiting is like 2-3 months and you'll be on campus for 2 years.
A few additional things to consider that you didn't list:
- Do you present better in person or over zoom? If you're more comfortable with face to face interactions, you'll spend a lot more time in person at banks from Stern vs. Kellogg.
- How much handholding do you expect to need throughout the process? Stern will have a much bigger group recruiting, which can make it easier to get help / do mock interviews / prepare with peers.
I don't think what you said about Yale is really true. They place ~25-35 students into IB each year, which is on part with Tuck and more than Kellogg. They also place into most BBs/EBs, including international students and white/asian guys, not just diversity hires.
By sheer volume certainly Stern beats out Yale but I think a lot of that is self selection of the student body.
Looking at Kellogg's placement stats only 16% go into Finance. I don't know if that is good or bad. Good from a perspective you don't have as much competition? IDK.
Not sure how helpful this is, but as a personal anecdote all the Summer Assoc at my bank from Stern were the sweatiest most try hard individuals I had met. Versus the 2 Kellogg guys/gals were very easy to work with and more than capable. I think its a result of it being a lot more cut throat at stern for these spots than at Kellogg. Just my 2 cents.
Everyone interested in IB at those schools gets it because 1) they're all top schools and have no shortage of qualified people 2) overall interest in banking is down 3) as an industry it just requires bodies to churn
Virtually all the banks have a healthy recruiting presence at these schools
So I wouldn't worry too much about recruiting opportunities - what should be guiding your decision if you're serious about IB in this case is the combo of prep resourcing/alumni concentration in the industry (i.e. getting in and STAYING in).
Personally, I'd go either Kellogg or Tuck - but I'm biased towards schools with more laidback or "fun" cultures (full disclosure I'm a Tuck grad). These schools' emphasis on consulting means that the Finance track folks are EXTREMELY tight-knit - there are plenty of slots to go around, valuable intel is always getting shared, you can monopolize the finance career services folks, and practice technicals with people super invested in your success. Not saying it doesn't happen elsewhere, but there tends to be more jockeying for position (based on several of my friends' experiences - though to be fair they aimed for the super elite placements).
Don’t go to stern, you can live in a shoebox in Manhattan for the rest of your life, and people from that school have a big inferiority complex which makes them insufferable
You can go to banking from any of these schools pretty easily so the question to really ask yourself is where you see yourself spending two years. The campus experience is wildly different at all four - NYC vs Chicago suburbs vs New Haven (somehow on the NYTimes list of 52 places to go this year despite being New Haven) vs rural New England woods. Do you want to be in NYC? Do you want to have a big city easily accessible but not actually be in a city? Do you want to mostly ski/hike/drink? Do you want to do whatever a person does in New Haven? That's honestly the most important question here.
Tuck, stern and then kellog. Yale is no good for IB.
Why is Yale no good for IB?
Just has way less alumni in the industry compared to the other three options. You’ll find that just because a school is “Ivy” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best place to go if your goal is a certain industry.
My brother actually turned down Harvard law school and I thought he was insane.
But the type of law he wanted to practice made other programs a better fit for him. Same concept with IB.
Go to Kellogg. Best school, fun city, great opportunities
Choose based on personal fit and where you would be most happy. If you have the right mindset and are willing to put in the work you will land something out of any of these schools.
Tuck
Curious, what did you end up choosing ?
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