Hey all. Very fortunate to have received offers from Wharton and CBS. I have been living in NY and have worked in tech for the past 4 years. I'm looking to transition to investment banking ideally in a TMT group. I know both of these schools recruit well for this. Wharton has provided no aid and CBS has provided $100K over the two years.
What are your thoughts? I'm a sucker for a good brand and naturally incline towards Wharton. I could see myself entering PE (granted, I know it's difficult post-MBA) later in life and feel the Wharton brand would help more. If my options are truly equal, should I accept CBS? I do not have much savings and the scholarship would be nice.
Also, has anyone been successful in negotiating with Wharton? They are notorious for refusing to reconsider. Any tips for navigating that conversation would be a big help. Thanks.
Here's a good article about the different schools that I found helpful: https://www.clearadmit.com/2017/10/top-mba-programs-finance-investment-…
If you are sure you want to do IBD, they're equal.
That aside, Wharton is a clear cut above in almost every other aspect.
Ask them to reconsider. $100k is a sweet deal - major congrats - but Wharton is the better experience and platform.
Congrats on the offers.
Some things to consider:
That $100K is closer to $80K if you assume that your cost of living in Philly is going to be $1K/month less ($1K x 20 months) compared to living in NYC during b-school. Still a lot of money though.
At $80-100K in loans, it works out to roughly $800-1,000 per month in student loan payments. Someone can do the PMT payments but a rough rule of thumb is $100K = $1K/month if you don't want to calculate it (basically divide the loan amount by 100 to get the approx monthly student loan payment).
With the above, given that you're pretty sure about banking/PE, the money won't be as much a factor since you're going to be paid much higher in cash the first 2-5 years compared to other post-MBA professions, and likely pay off those loans far more easily. $80-100K isn't a drop in the bucket but the differential isn't as huge a deal if you're going into finance. If you were say going into consulting, corporate, etc then I'd take the money and go to Columbia.
Either way, it's a good problem to have, and you can't go wrong either way. Congrats!
Thank you! Great to get a sense of the financial differences.
So you're looking at a total cost of attendance of 180k vs. 80k. (not counting your internship). I don't take six figure debt lightly, but I personally think Wharton is worth $100K more than CBS if you really want to go there and brand is your raison d'etre.
But since you just want IB, your chances are objectively equal and you should STRONGLY consider the CBS offer. I also wouldn't base this decision on your PE chances given how low probability an outcome that is, which inclines me even more towards CBS.
Such an interesting conundrum!! To your point, in my experience, Wharton doesn't tend to match. BUT...it doesn't hurt to ask of course and let's see what happens. Tell them the school and the amount.
Sounds like you're already a decent wage-earner and post-MBA, your income potential will only rise. So in my opinion, don't let the cost sway you. You were lucky to get a scholarship. If you had equal scholarships to both OR scholarships from neither, which would you choose? That's my recommendation on how to choose...(in addition to visiting both and just seeing which school you connect with more...this is the next two years of your life we're talking about, plus 60+ years of class reunions...)
If it helps...granted, my interest rates were much lower when I graduated from b-school, but I maintain a small balance 14 years later and pay it off at $300 a month just to keep my credit score high.
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