Kathmandu2013 wrote:
QiuYidio wrote:
Kathmandu2013 wrote:
Hi guys / gals, i'm very honored to have been accepted to both those programs and my question to you is, which one I should go to? I know for a fact I don't want to go into finance, but that's about it. Do both schools carry the same weight nationally? globally? My fear is people don't know MIT Sloan like they know MIT, and that they think of MIT as a quant based school producing a bunch of braniacs vs. leaders. My concern with CBS is that it's an MBA 'mill' and since I don't know what I want to do and since I don't want to go into finance that i'm going to be left behind and miss out on the relationship building that other schools provide, fair? Not to mention their facilities are pathetic.
So i'm torn, which program really provides the best experience? which one has the best alumni base (CBS, right?)? and which program really creates future leaders and innovative coursework.
any thoughts? Thanks
Well, what *do* you want to go into? At least in broad strokes? I could give you better feedback on whether or not CBS at least is a good fit.
And what do you mean by MBA "mill"? Also, I didn't do finance at CBS and I've honestly had an amazing experience from a leadership and community perspective. I do agree our facilities are awful, but watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_vIFU_SWjU.
Thanks for the reply. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure what I want to do, and there in lies the problem. I know what I don't want to do from my past experiences, but can't pinpoint the exact job I'm looking for after my MBA. It boils down to two things that I'm passionate about - technology and foreign affairs - I know, very different. Technology and entrepreneurship would lead me to believe MIT is the right choice, however I can't help but get the feeling that CBS's alumni base and recruiting network is so large and diverse, that even if I want to say work for Uber (as an example), CBS provides a better opportunity than MIT (+NYC location). With that being said, there is concern, that perhaps is unfounded, that if i'm not doing Mgmt Consulting or Finance, I might be left in the dark a bit if I go to CBS and that massive alumni base, well, how can they help me with Uber if 50% are in finance / Mgmt consulting (not saying that's the truth, just trying to flesh out the answer). Therefore, if I know I don't want to do Mgmt Consulting or Finance, then what is the true value of CBS over MIT?
Finally, what I meant by MBA 'mill' is throughout all my visits to 5 schools, CBS was unequivocally last on the list of sense of program continuity / community. I'm sure this isn't a fair assumption, but I honestly had next to zero interaction with the students whereas every other program made showcasing the students a highlight of the recruiting (possibly attributed to the off-campus interviews, which I believe is attributed to Uris / space constraints).
Please, don't get me wrong. CBS was and is my top choice, I love almost everything about it. I wanted CBS over Booth and now I'm simply weighing the MIT offer (with $) and the slight wrinkle it has put into my plans. I have friends at the program that I trust and they've all but abated my fears, i'm simply posting here because I appreciate the perspective of the community.
Thanks for sharing the YouTube link, very funny. I also loved the women in business 'i'm a b*tch' video, hilarious and honestly was probably the closest thing I've had to understanding the culture at CBS - which seems pretty great and not hyper-competitive as people make it out to be.
So I'll try to tackle your issues point by point.
For your diversity of interests.... here's how I would assess Columbia's strengths and weaknesses from a career preparation standpoint. This is based on where my friends landed, the classes I have taken, and the extracurriculars I have been involved in. I had a pretty diverse set of interests myself coming in, so I did get to dabble quite a bit. Hopefully you can get some similar comps for MIT and decide what's best.
Core CompetenciesBanking
Consulting
Value Investing
Int'l Business
Healthcare
Heavily Investing InTechnology
Entrepreneurship
Social Enterprise
Locationally Great AtRetail / Luxury Goods
Media
Real Estate
Student DirectedPrivate Equity
Venture Capital
"Needs (Serious) Improvement"Marketing
In regards to your two stated interests, CBS is great at International Relations. We actually have an extremely tight connection with the School of International Affairs and a lot of students take cross listed classes - I know at least a handful who will graduate with both a MBA and a MIA. I have a little less knowledge of this field, but you should reach out to admissions to see if they'd put you in touch with someone who has followed this route.
If you are 100% sure on technology, I would probably take MIT. Their history and brand just run deeper in that industry so I might imagine you'd have a slightly easier time. To be fair, CBS is making a concerted effort to be a major player in the tech and entrepreneurship industry as well. The administration is investing a ton of money in this space, from bringing in amazing faculty (Jared Grusd, General Counsel at Spotify teaches Internet Wars, Steve Blank of Lean Launchpad fame, Arne Rees, COO of RSE Ventures teaches Cable Value Chain, David Pogue of Yahoo Tech, etc.) speakers (Jack Dorsey of Twitter, Drew Houston of Dropbox, Peter Thiel of Paypal, Jennifer Hyman of Rent the Runway, etc.), and also innovative classes - I took one that paired business school and engineering students to actually build an app and business plan over the course of a semester - there are FOUR variations of this class being offered now (Technology Entrepreneurship, Lean Launchpad (taught by Steve himself!), Launching New Ventures, and Intro to Venturing). CBS also has its own Startup Coworking Space in SoHo (
https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/entreprene ... tartup-lab) and I had a few friends there over the summer.
The other cool thing is that being in NYC, you have easy access to a lot of internships, both in semester and summer time. Looking at spring-time internships there are literally a hundred on right now. From a summer / fulltime recruiting standpoint, I think we got all the right opportunities. I only dipped my toes into tech (I did VC recruiting mostly), but still got interviews at Amazon (Product Manager and Financial), LinkedIn (Global Product Group), Google (Tech Strategy). Other friends worked at Apple, Box, Blizzard, Pandora, and... Uber (so you can have contacts there! Matt Dorsey and Sebastian Wakim are there for sure). Tech in generally has shot up from like 0% of CBS exits to like 12% in just 5 years, which is pretty surprising.
In regards to the network, I would say give
https://www.linkedin.com/alumni a spin. Set the school to CBS, type in a company name, and see who comes up. It'll give you a sense for what alumni are out there. I think it'll definitely help alleviate your fears... while certainly many people enter finance and consulting, for the vast majority it's a stepping stone job to something else. I think that's probably true at most schools.
In terms of community, I think it's pretty great. It was funny for me, because I ended up debating over Tuck and CBS - at first glance, two schools literally at the opposite ends of the community spectrum. But I think once you dive deeper and get away from the broad strokes that are repeated on forums, CBS has an extremely vibrant community. I mean it's hard not to when you all take classes together in such a cramp place as Uris
Also, a lot of social activities happen off campus, which can leave Uris feeling a little light in the evenings and that partially explains it. But that's because everyone is at Rugby Happy Hour on Wednesdays or After-Party on Thursdays, etc. As a former NYCer, I basically told my NYC friends that I'd see them again in two years and that's pretty much held up.
This is a small subset, but check out
https://twitter.com/hashtag/whycbs to see what my classmates are up to.
That's what I've got the moment, if there's anything specific you'd like me to expand on, feel free to ask.