Booth vs CBS vs Sloan

Hi all,

I am happy to announce that I got accepted into multiple M7 schools (completely beyond expectations), including Sloan, Booth and Columbia. I come from a 'non-traditional' background (non-US citizen), have a decent undergrad GPA from an average school and a decent gmat score (740). Upon applying to business school, and for the past two years, my plan was to move into investment banking post-MBA. Even though I still think that banking is a great career path, several factors make me think twice whether it is a path I want to pursue after my MBA.

I sincerely enjoy dealmaking and executing transactions. It is exciting, fast-paced and gives me a lot of energy. Admittedly, the steep pay-curve is a factor that I consider as well. From this perspective, banking would make a lot of sense. However, the main reasons that make me think twice are having absolutely no control over your schedule, lots of bankers seem miserable, exit opions are limited and looking at my friends - it even has a serious impact on their health (for some of them). It seems like a lot of (prospective) MBA students have no idea what they are getting themselves into, and I believe I belong(ed) to this group as well.

That's why I gave management consulting a second thought. I love travelling, regardless if it's for work or not. There have been months that I was living out of a suitcase because of work-related travel and certainly did not mind. The broad(ER) range of exit opportunities appeal to me, and even though you are still working a lot of hours, I enjoy the predictability of not having to work every weekend. Furthermore, management consultants do not get laid off as quickly as banking (big deal if you're on a Visa!).

I am not asking you for advice on what career path to take. I believe that I will enjoy both, though my preference is management consulting at the moment. However, it seems much harder to break into MBB than into IBD (post-MBA). Therefore, I have the following questions:

1. Is it possible (and common) to recruit for both banking AND consulting in your first year? I want to make sure that banking is my back-up option if I am not getting a summer-internship offer from MBB (or Deloitte perhaps).

2. What school would you recommend in this case? I am leaning towards Columbia at this point. I really connected with the students, love to use the flexible curriculum (internship throughout the year) and location. It is generally known that you will need to go to a lot of coffee chats and do a lot of networking to break into banking. Being based in NYC would save me a lot of time in this respect.

What school do you recommend?