campus community vs. commuter schools?

I would like to add Berkeley-Haas in as a tight knit community (similar to Tuck) due its small size and very friendly student body. It's biggest benefit is that San Francisco is so close by, and Berkeley itself also has some great restaurants and activities to do.

Berkeley is awesome, but the OP didn't have it in his list

I would say Kellogg is more along the lines of Ross, Duke, and Darden. Almost all the students live in Evanston which is about 30 minutes outside the city and is a nice small city. I just arrived today and already bumped into a couple other Kellogg students.

I don't actually think you can put either Columbia or NYU into the commuter school category based on that metric. True, neither is Tuck and there's no hallway partying going on in the MBA dorms (okay, maybe at the Palladium), but at Columbia I've categorically been told that maybe 15 students on average in each cluster are "too cool for school" and hang out with their own NYC friends. The rest mostly party together, their version of TNDC is spectacularly well attended and if you decide to stay in New York, the network you build is much stronger than at other schools because so many of the folks you went to school with live within 2 miles of you even after graduation. You certainly need to look at it that way. I know the Value Investing Program folks don't get to hang out much with the regular MBA folks, so it's certainly a bit different if that's what you are going to Columbia for.

NYU's student community is even more tightly knit than Columbia's. Current students have told me their *entire* social life revolves around fellow students, and they're happy with that situation. They get to know friends of friends etc. and by the time they graduate, again most of their friends are all in New York City so they get to stay in close touch with everyone - unlike other schools that have a more nationally dispersed placement record. Naturally, if you're going to Columbia/NYU with the intention of going back to Seattle or Phoenix or somewhere like that after graduation, then you won't have as strong a connection with the school or your fellow grads - but that applies to Tuck, Darden and all those other schools classified as strong campus communities.

And finally irrespective of where you go to school, you're really going to be hanging out with the same 15-20 people in those MBA years - the rest will all be casual acquaintances. Does the campus community really matter? I've certainly seen the light for what it is, and I think this whole "commuter school" rap that some schools seem to get is very overrated.

I also disagree with the chicago in the list. In fact, I disagree that any school is a commuter school frankly. Its impossible not to make friends and forge friendships.

Quote for truth here. I think the extent you can say commuter vs community is whether students live in the area of the school or travel to it. So some schools are definitely commuter schools but even at those students are going to be socially interact with each other. No matter where you go you will make great friends...the biggest advantage I see in a community vs commuter school is for significant others. At a commuter school they probably wont interact to the degree they will at a community school...I got the sense this is true from talking with students at various schools.

I would say ever since I arrived and began to meet classmates I run into someone on the street everytime outside. Go out to dinner and you will see someone else at the place you are eating. This may not be true of a "commuter" school but it doesnt mean people wont spend tons of time together on and off campus. You are basically forced to constantly interact with classmates...and you will want to no matter where you end.

I think Chicago is a commuter school in the sense that the majority do not live within walking distance. There are plenty of students like Rhyme who are fully involved socially. But there are others who are more reclusive. Now, you will find both types of people at any school. But everyone living near the university makes it much easier to be social. This is especially prevalent in the winter months.

I know GSB is working hard to fight the 'commuter' image. But I think it can be an advantage too. I know someone who picked GSB over Kellogg bc they wanted a different feel from undergrad (implying that Kellogg was more tailored to social activities). And I believe that is one of the reasons why some people are attracted to U-Chicago

Different strokes for different folks.