Cornell University - The Johnson School

Paul,

When do class visits start? I plan on visiting on the 24rd of September. I noticed the website still says class visits are "unavailable".

RF

RF,
Good question, and honestly, I am not sure. Since your visit is relatively soon, I would recommend calling the office. I am sure they would be willing to schedule you in to visit a class since you already have your visitation day planned out.

I found during my application process that calling the office directly solved pretty much any confusion I had from the website.

I've read someone that R2 is best for applicants in finance industry (general statement). Any truth to that in terms of Johnson admissions?

Also, if I'm not scoring in the high 600 for GMAT, it is better to just postpone submitting my app and try for high 600-700 range before applying? Anything else that will make me stand out for admission?

Hey droopy,

I don't know about R2 being best for a specific industry, so I can't make any statements as to that. But I do know that I've had multiple conversations with adcoms and they always emphasize that earlier is better. I applied R3 last year, and the yield was so unexpectedly high that they pretty much issued a blanket waitlist for all R3 applicants.

A 600 GMAT will be hard to overcome, but not impossible. As always, it's a matter of making other parts of your application stand out among a very competitive pool. If you are less sure that you stand out beyond numbers, than try and get up toward 700. Median score for matriculating students was 700, so that's the standard. You can be below, but you want to bring something unique at that point.

Any other questions feel free to ask. Good luck!

Hi Paulk,

After reading chain of threads, I have come to realize that really speaking there's no specific formula for the AMBA, granted few basic requirements
which all schools ask- like Avg GMAT- 700 +, Good Acads, Good Leadership skills, etc.

I would like to know your opinion on my background and chances of getting into AMBA program

1. UGPA- 3.60-Bachelors in Mechanical Eng. Work Exp before Grad school-2 yrs
2. GGPA-3.71, Master in Industrial Eng, Work Exp after MS-2.5 yrs till day, 3.5 yrs on entering May 2009 + 9months internship
3. Lot of progressive Awards for leadership activities at companies and school. Will not get into details.
4. Still working on giving GMAT.

Plan to switch career tracks- Consulting, Invest. Banking, Entrepreneurship, VC.

Thanks.
750Goal

Hey 750,

Sounds like you have the right background to apply to the AMBA program. Talking with my friends here who have gone through the program, it appears to be a great mix of people, a smaller group, and a good experience.

I could see the people in admissions questioning a 1-year program and your goal of career changing. Ultimately, I think that has to be a personal decision. If you think you can forgo an internship and be a successful career changer, make sure you know how to aim to accomplish that.

Good luck!

Hi PaulK,

Thanks for the detail reply. Appreciate it.

Hi Buddy,

Must be a great feeling once u graduate. To brief about me, i am a chartered accountant from India (equivalent to CPA in US). Of late i have been doing a lot of research on US Bschools. i m more inclined towards PE post MBA. my hunch is Cornell is strongly focussed towards finance and equity research. Just want to know whether my assessment is coorect. May i know what percentage of your batch got into PE post MBA and whther it was through internship there or some other way and what is the typical profile of a person who gets into PE. Thanks

Here is the stats for class of 2010, if of interest:

https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/academic/mba/facts.html

Here is some facts on the class of '08:

https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/academic/mba/career.html

The full employment report is here:

https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/recruite ... rt2007.pdf

But it has not been updated for the current year.

There is no explicit category in the report for PE, so I am honestly not too sure how big a piece it represents. But qualitatively, I know through conversations here that there is success in the area.

I know the Career Management Center would be able to offer better insight in to exact placement numbers and insight, and admissions can always put you in contact with a couple current students pursuing PE as a career.

From what I hear, there's always a handful that get into PE post MBA and even a few who were in PE before they came to school. I believe to get into PE will depends largely on your own background, if you have top bulge bracket banking experience or previous PE experience, that will help a lot. If not, your chances are slim to none, and that's across any top school including harvard.

At Cornell there are many resouces that can help you, including a student run venture fund (Bid Red Ventures) that was just mentioned in the Wall St. Journal recently, as well as the Entreprenership and Private Equity Immersion (EPE) which is a series of classes, workhops, and practicums that prepares you for an intenship and career in the field. There are also student clubs that deal with PE as well as alums in the field which you can access throught the career center.

In the end though, it will come down to your own diligence and legwork. As you may know by now, PE firms do not have a set recruiting process, and its more personal networking then anything else.

Hope this helps.

Paul K,

I am applying to the Johnson school on Monday. I was wondering if you had a few minutes to review my essays.

Thanks.....

I've received several requests to look over application essays, unfortunately, with the first round of mid-terms this week in addition to projects, I won't have time to do it for you guys.

Good luck with the applications, let me know when you'll be here to interview!

Hi,

I'm planning a visit to Cornell this June. Does the school prefer students to visit the admissions office? I know that some schools don't track visits, but some do and weigh them in your application. Would appreciate any insights, thanks.

Regards,
Aboo

Aboo,

It looks like you're posing this same question to all of us, but I will give you the best idea for Johnson specifically.

I would stop by the admissions office for a few reasons. First, they're a great group of people and can give you some good insights to getting through the application process. Second, it always helps to have a chance to talk to people in admissions, because it means they're going to remember meeting you when they go to review your application. Third, Cornell is particularly conscious of people who take the time to come to Ithaca and get to know the school first-hand.

Let me know if you have any more questions and good luck!

PaulK, thanks for your reply.

Cornell's strengths are in investment finance, managment, and marketing, am i right? Are they strong in any other program?

Hello Johnson Ambasadors!

Looks like this thread is pretty old, so not sure if anybody is active here.
I am applying to R2 of Johnson and have researched the school well talking to current and alumni students and attending admission chat sessions. If invited for interview, I would ofcourse visit the school and take interview on campus. However, does it hurt if you don't visit the school prior to submitting the application? (so do they expect you to visit school before even applying?)
I will portray my fit and research with the school through my essays.

Thanks.