CBS: too competitive / not collaborative?

This is basically what I've heard from the CBS grads I know.

Depending on your personal experience of getting to know the schools (people you met, and when you spoke to them), you might get different perspectives. I think at each school you would see both competitive and collaborative crowds and it ultimately comes to whom you decide to hang out and befriend with. I would focus on other more "tangible" factors such as faculty, curriculum, location, recruiting, etc.

If CBS is high on your list of target programs, I would really reach out to a variety of students from CBS to get some more insight here. Also, consider making a visit and sitting in on some classes and hanging out in areas around campus and in Uris where students typically congregate. This will give you a better view on your concerns. This is semi-valid given NYC but has not been the experience of my friends and colleagues from CBS but the likelihood of this happening at a NYC based school is probably higher I would say.

I graduated from CBS recently, and people were laid back and collegial in any setting (social, classroom, extracurricular,etc.).

I never saw competitiveness or social isolation. Some groups, such as the value investing students, are working really hard and don't go out the parties as often as other people, but people are really close with others in clusters, people you meet in clubs,etc. I heard that in the first semester, during recruiting, some people were focused on getting internships and were less social, but not competitive. I worked in buyside finance in NYC before school, and I felt like I was in the top 10-20% of the class in terms of intensity and ambition. I had to learn to relax a bit and be more social in order to 'fit in'. But the intense people (value investing,etc. ) are incredibly nice people.

I made tons of friends from the broader class as well as jterm, and overall I was surprised by how social everyone one. Tons of people are involved on campus in clubs, projects, parties, etc. and there is definitely a coherent community. I heard that in the past, like a decade ago, it was more competitive because they did not have non grade disclosure at that time. I don't know where that idea would come from these days.