snw2010 wrote:
I think you can't go wrong with either. a simple linkedin search for IB associates in the SF bay area search shows plenty of results from both. there were more results for columbia when I did the search, but there may overlap with columbia undergrads. whereas when searching booth its only referencing the grad school. too lazy to go through all the data
Searching for just MS/GS IB associates in the SF bay area I saw both schools represented too.
it seems to me at least geographically, it would be slightly easier to network in the bay area from chicago as opposed to NY. Columbia would have a much bigger advantage for NY groups.
personally, I'd choose based on culture/fit given how close opportunities are coming out of both, unless you're dead set on maximizing for your career goals
full disclosure - I worked in NYC IB, currently doing tech/finance stuff in bay area now, and will prob be attending booth next year
You really can't go wrong. At this point, you just pick the school that you feel more comfortable with!
I also echo the point about J-Term inflating the CBS denominator. While there are exceptions, the vast majority of J-Termers are either sponsored, family business, or entrepreneurs. Also, of those who *do* recruit, it is mostly for consulting because of the way banks hire, J-Termers aren't really even considered.
Also, finance is technically "down" at CBS (35% of the class entering finance versus a historical of ~50%). However, it's not because of lack of recruiter interest, but because of lack of student interest - there's been a huge shift to consulting and investment management. Last year, pretty much everyone who wanted to do IBD got a job at a good firm. Unfortunately, probably only half of those who wanted to do consulting or IM did. So from a supply and demand perspective, CBS might be a good choice.
From a Bay Area perspective, it does seem like Booth and CBS are pretty similar. If you had a Haas accept, I'd wager it'd be better to be there for recruiting purposes, but given it's NYC versus Chicago, it doesn't really seem to matter.