Columbia J-term or Insead J term??

Question

Hello,

I am fortunate enough to got accepted in both programs now I have to decide which one to choose....

My profile: Working for a top-tier management consulting firm in Europe...
Fully sponsored by the company ( so big potential to come back to same company unless extremely appeling another offer)
Age: 26 so lenght of the program not an issue..
Not particularly want to stay in US
Focusing on financial services practice area..

My thoughts: If the company paying for it why not longer program considering my age

and New York of course...
Insead has a internship have a chance to try something different and seems like more fun .. ( Starting in Singapoure)

If you have any view on this topic please share with me....

Thanks....

and New York of course... Insead has a internship have a chance to try something different and seems like more fun .. ( Starting in Singapoure) If you have any view on this topic please share with me.... Thanks....

str1der · Answer

Given the data above, Columbia Business School anyday. You will have the time of your life in NYC, the fin services thing can work better for you with Columbia's name, plus if theres one place you can truly network for a job, it would be nyc, and you have 1.5 years pf networking ahead

phdes · Answer

Consulting : insead
Europe : insead
Fun : insead

str1der · Answer

My reasons against the above: 1. INSEAD's consulting numbers are a bit misleading as many of those 'placed' are returning to their employer, similar to the case here. Columbia places a very high number in consulting, and is immensely strong in Fin Serv - which was the aim 2. INSEADs program is spread between Singapore and France, and hence Europe=Insead probably isnt as good as it sounds. Plus you can always do an exchange in Europe via cColumbia if you so desire. And although you can do the same at INSEAD, the 6 months less at INSEAD dont give you enough time to do everything 3. Fun - its what you make of it

NYC is probably the funnest city there is in the world, and the US aint bad itself. Cheers!

keepitupppp · Answer

hi, akinakbiyik. I am wondering what's your gmat and gpa in order to get offers from columbia and INSEAD. I have second low gpa, average gmat score and 1 year working experience before graduation of college.

akinakbiyik · Answer

3.6 , 720, 2.5 years working experience in consulting...

keepitupppp · Answer

well..... then do you think i have competitive enough to get an offer.
gpa 2.8 (i know it is not satisfactory so i am goin to work extra hard on it)
gmat 650
working experience 1 year in between year 2 and final year of college

akinakbiyik · Answer

Well, you can not change your GPA so you can close that gap somewhere else... Both CBS and Insead are very competitive schools so If I were you I try to get a solid GMAT score (above 700) and not rush in terms of timing.. Average work experience in INSEAD 4-5 years for example even I am going early with 2.5 years.. So you should have at least 2-3 years full time we... MBA is a huge investment so its not worth to rush on it...

keepitupppp · Answer

i understand i should not rush to have a mba. but i have some reason to have one in recent years. so, any college recommendations from you that require lower gpa and gmat? would penn stat u be a good choice? or boston u?

akinakbiyik · Answer

I am not sure.. But you can look at MBA ranking stats so you can figure it out avg. gmat and gpas for MBA programs... Of course you may have reasons but my personal view as candidate and professional view as a management consultant getting a MBA from top business schools can change your life and future easily but just having a degree from an ordinary university, you have to try 10 times harder to get chances that other guys have...

keepitupppp · Answer

got what you mean. thanks a lot. btw, if not a mba, if just an ordinary, msc finance or financial mathematics or financial engineering or stuff like that, which tier or which group of uni should i target at?

kingenzo · Answer

Though this is a bit off topic, but I would say UIUC MSF is a good program in the States and suits you well. There aren't much MSF (or eqv) out in the US market, Princeton and MIT are leaders, Haas has a good MFE, UIUC should come not too far away. UK and European Finance Masters are very stringent on UG requirement (i.e. below 2:1 (GPA 3.2) usually means no chance). Hope this helps

keepitupppp · Answer

thanks for your advice. but i am wondering if u know any case like me who can climb to 2:1 and get an offer afterwards.
also, should i apply those uni after my release of my first semester gpa this year( which may be a bit higher than 3) or just apply now and see if i can have conditional offer?

kingenzo · Answer

If you really can reach 2.1 you defintely have a shot. UK and Europe schools should love US students as they are significantly underrepresented (I got like 1-2 US classmates from my MSc Finance class, out of over 100). Try Warwick/Imperial/Cass/HEC Paris/Bocconi MSc Finance, but really not sure the career prospect outside London (London is quite dead at the moment too), if career not an issue then I would say all of them are great schools. UCL Msc Management also worth a look into.

keepitupppp · Answer

just worrying if 
case 1: 
i apply right now with 2:2 and got ding-ed right away
case 2:
i apply after i got my good gpa of this sem after the release of result in Jan and then apply. i receive conditional offer

am i over-worried or...... idk

kingenzo · Answer

both oucomes really possible. I say for some picky schools (e.g. Warwick/Imperial/HEC) more chances for case 1. For less selective schools (Cass particularly), Case 2 more likely. But its almost costless to apply (maybe a few hundred bucks for app fees), so i would say go ahead for all schools.

keepitupppp · Answer

my target unis are of 100-150pounds per application.... so.... u know

MBAbot · Answer

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Columbia J-term or Insead J term??

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