Cornell University - The Johnson School

Happy to help with any questions regarding the Johnson School or Cornell in general. I'll actually be spending the '08-'09 school year in the Program in Real Estate, then joining all the '09 applicants at the Johnson School. Since I've been through the process I should be able to offer some helpful insight. And several of us GMATClubbers are heading to Ithaca, so feel free to ask questions.

Hi

Cornell is one of the schools I plan to apply to. I am looking at a career in consulting, and would like to know if their MBA program has a focus on consulting, and the kind of consulting recruitments they ve had in the past, in case your aware about it.

bhatiagp,

My knowledge of consulting is limited, as it's not what I plan to pursue, but I have talked with students coming the Johnson School for that reason and I know Cornell has a strong program.

One of the unique features at the Johnson School is the Immersion Learning. During the second semester of the first year, students are given the option to pursue real world immersions in their area of interest. I mention that because the most recent addition to the Immersion Learning curriculum is the consulting focus. You can read about it here:

http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/academic ... focus.html

Not to overload you with weblinks, but on page five of the 2007 Employment Report you will see that the second largest group of students accepted offers in the consulting industry. Same goes for consulting internships, which can be found a page or two further down:

http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/recruite ... rt2007.pdf

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanks... Wasnt aware about the immersion learning perspective .. Used the technique while studying for my PMP,and it is quite effective..

Hi

I am considering the Accelerated program and would like to know your views on the same. The questions I have in mind are things like how useful it would be to someone who is a career switcher. Please let me know.

Thanks.

Hey spidey,

I was very close to enrolling in the accelerated program instead of the traditional two-year, so I can provide feedback based on what I learned. Talking with one of the admissions officers during my application process, I was told the basic numbers they look for in an accelerated applicant is 700+ GMAT score and 9 years+ work experience. I was short on the work experience, but they were going to make an exception until some other complications got in the way, so the rules are not completely rigid. But, I was told that was what they looked at as their standard.

The reason they expect the high GMAT score is because previously attaining an advanced degree is a prerequisite of the accelerated program. Higher education leads to higher expectations, academically.

I moved here to Ithaca early and I have been working at Cornell this summer, and my conversations with staff and students have basically shown me that the reason the AMBA program would want so much prior work experience is because the students in the program are foregoing the internship. The more work experience a student has before starting the program, the less important it is that they are missing the internship. If you are a career switcher, you are missing that chance to work with a company in the industry you want to move in to. At the same time, the AMBA program has its own career fairs and meetings with recruiters, separate from the two-year students.

If you do opt for the AMBA, my main suggestion would be to be prepared to explain why you are doing so. I had some very helpful conversations with the admissions officers when I was looking toward the AMBA program, and that always came up.

Let me know if you have any other questions, and good luck with the decision process.

Cornell admit here, going to be first year this fall. Cornell has a very good consulting focus for the immersions. There are also consultants in residence, one of whom worked at McKinsey for like 20 years and the other one is the first female partner at Deloitte, they're on campus to help you with anything consulting related.

Cornell places very well into top consulting firms like McKinsey and Bain, sending significant numbers to those firms for a small school. Somehow Cornell seems to be slightly weaker at placing into BCG tho, dunno why but from what I've heard it has improved. For other firms like accenture/deloitte/prtm/etc, Cornell is very strong as well.

Compared to the programs outside M7, Cornell does well in consulting.

I would like to add that if you're a career switcher, it will always benefit you to do the 2 year program. Can you make a career switch with AMBA? Sure you can, it's possible and it has been done before. However, the AMBA program is designed primarily for folks who are continuing in their original field, and want to pursue a management position as opposed to a technical one (ie, engineer at tech firm -> Cornell AMBA -> manager at tech firm). I believe all accelerated programs in the US are designed for that purpose or similar.

The 2 year MBA will give you much more options and better preparation when making a career switch. Just something to think about.

Dear PaulK,

In Cornell's webpage ideal candidate is described as:

"a master's or doctoral degree in a technical, scientific, or other quantitative field,
strong quantitative skills,
relevant work experience, and
demonstrated leadership skills."

Currently I do work as a consultant for a multinational consulting firm. I would like to continue my career path in the same company after MBA. I have a master degree but the job I currently have is not scientific one.
In order to use my time and resources wisely, I am trying to focus on 4-5 programs. Do you think that I have a chance for Cornell Acc. MBA program?

thank you.

Hey zenda,

From the limited information you listed, it sounds like you are a good candidate for the AMBA program. When I talked with the admissions officers about the advanced degree requirement of the AMBA program, they said they require it because they want to see that AMBA students will be able to handle the demands of completing two years worth of classes in one year.

Your current job industry should not play much of a role other than what you would typically expect admissions officers to care about: demonstrated achievement, leadership, community involvement, etc.

As aceman said, since you are looking to stay in the same industry, you should be a good candidate for the AMBA program. I really liked the AMBA track when I was looking at it, and the caliber of the students in the class is very high.

Let me know if I can clarify anything else.

Hi

Cornell has not released its essay questions as yet. With past experience, from past experience do essay questions generaly remain same.

PaulK ,
Thank you for your invaluable comments.

I still have questionmarks about the program. Please have a look at the statement below. Since you know the school more than anyone does in this forum, could you please describe student profile of the accelerated program. Does the body only consist of scientists, engineers? For instance, is there someone coming from banking? insurance? I am also an engineer but I did not work on a production planning department of a factory. Does the adcom look for core engineering capabilities?

Accelerated program of Cornell is one the best one year programs. I do not want to waste this opportunity but I do not want to lose time as well. I believe someone coming from consulting business will not have adequate competitive advantages over a scientist who wants to dive into business life with this program.

Could you please comment on the student body of AMBA?

Thank you,
zenda


"The TMO program is designed essentially for scientists and engineers who have an advanced technical or scientific degree, want to remain in their current field or closely related field, and who feel that they need more business skills to succeed and take on more of a managerial role. ...
..
We get a lot of engineers and a lot of scientists who want to move outside of the lab and just don't have the business skills. But we really look for candidates who want to remain in their field or a closely related field, because there is no internship in the 12-month option. You start in May and finish the following May...."
http://www.mbaadmission.com/cornell/

zenda,

Although the quote is relatively specific, that's not what I learned of the program during my application process. I was actually accepted in to the accelerated program for summer '09, but ultimately decided to go with the traditional 2 year route instead. My background is a BA undergrad and my work experience was most definitely not in science or engineering, but I was still considered a good candidate for the program.

Because you want to make sure you are using your time wisely, I would suggest putting a call in to the Johnson admissions office - the people there are incredibly friendly, and you would definitely get a straightforward answer.

Conversations with the admissions officers and others in the admissions office are one particular avenue I used as much as possible during my application process, because it allows them to put a personality with an application and allows you to get your questions answered directly.

Certainly let me know if you have any other questions.

PaulK,

thank you again for your message. It is realy a very good idea. I am going to send them an E-mail and ask to elaborate about their ideal candidate for an AMBA program. But your experience has really encouraged me apply to the program.

maybe we can also discuss about "what makes Cornell unique". For example:

*it is a small class compared to other top tier programs (around 300)
*analytical abilities (esp. for AMBA program) are highly expected/valued, Quant score is very crucial
*...
*...

any other important key points?

Hello Zenda,

To think about whether or not you should apply to the AMBA or 2 Year MBA, simply ask youself the following questions:

1) Do I have an advanced degree in a technical field?
2) Do I want to stay in the same industry?

If the answer is yes to both, then you'd be a good AMBA candidate. Otherwise, join Cornell's 2 year program.

Hope this helps.

zenda,

Because Ithaca is an unusual spot for a MBA program to be located (most being in big cities), there is a lot of talk about the strength of the bond created among the students who come to Cornell to pursue their MBA. I have heard similar things from students at Darden and Tuck, because among the top programs, those are the three located in less populous areas.

Other than that, most of what you will want to tell the admissions officers you like about the school will be personal to your own interests. Anything that I would be able to list as a generality would be less meaningful than the things you can come up with that you find personally appealing about the school.

whyd Cornell accept you for the Acc. MBA when you dont have an adv technical degree?

bmw,

I'll avoid getting too into specifics, since it's not relevant to other applicants looking at the school. It was basically because I would be pursuing another advanced degree at the same time I would be pursuing the AMBA.

Hi,

I plan to apply for Cornell University, this year, i will have 4 years of work ex by next June. I work as a Software Engg,I have a GMAT score of 690.

I am also involved into Investing into Stock Markets, and i have a great Interest for Investing,i do blogging,even where i have written some articles on Investing and Financial Markets, although they are at a beginner's level.

Do u think i can go ahead and apply for Cornell for MBA? Do i stand a chance?

Thanks,
Ram

Hey Ram,

Nothing that you noted seems to work against you in terms of your chances if you apply. I was talking with one of the admissions officers this week, who said it looks like the average GMAT wound up a bit above 700. The work experience will obviously have to described more completely through your application and interview, and they'll want to know what sets you apart from all the other software engineers.

All that will come through the essays and the interview. You have a good amount of work experience, at four years, but what have you been doing to lead, stand out, etc.

Good luck with your application. Let me know if you have any other questions.