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curiousbob
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Georgetown McDonough (with $$) vs Cornell Johnson 15 Jan 2016, 14:15
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Hi all! I would very much appreciate your advice on a conundrum I’m having (admittedly it’s a good one to have). I am trying to decide between admission offers to Georgetown McDonough’s MBA program (with about a half tuition scholarship) and Cornell Johnson’s MBA program with no money. I am about three years out of business school undergrad with some consulting experience and my goal after MBA is to get into commercial strategy consulting. I’d like to stay on the east coast, and ideally in the Philadelphia area after graduation. What do you guys think would be a better decision? It seems like Cornell’s program is slightly stronger rankings wise and puts a bigger focus on hands on learning, but Georgetown has a higher percentage of the class getting into consulting. Although a significant portion of those people probably get into federal consulting, which I want to avoid. Also, I imagine that the same firms that recruit at Georgetown also recruit at Cornell, but the prospect of living in DC for two years sounds more appealing than Ithaca. Which offer would you go with? And would your opinion change if Cornell was to offer some money? Thanks so much in advance!
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Georgetown McDonough (with $$) vs Cornell Johnson 17 Jan 2016, 05:03
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Hi all! I would very much appreciate your advice on a conundrum I’m having (admittedly it’s a good one to have). I am trying to decide between admission offers to Georgetown McDonough’s MBA program (with about a half tuition scholarship) and Cornell Johnson’s MBA program with no money. I am about three years out of business school undergrad with some consulting experience and my goal after MBA is to get into commercial strategy consulting. I’d like to stay on the east coast, and ideally in the Philadelphia area after graduation. What do you guys think would be a better decision? It seems like Cornell’s program is slightly stronger rankings wise and puts a bigger focus on hands on learning, but Georgetown has a higher percentage of the class getting into consulting. Although a significant portion of those people probably get into federal consulting, which I want to avoid. Also, I imagine that the same firms that recruit at Georgetown also recruit at Cornell, but the prospect of living in DC for two years sounds more appealing than Ithaca. Which offer would you go with? And would your opinion change if Cornell was to offer some money? Thanks so much in advance!
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Cornell is by far your best bet, particularly with your goals. Neither places into MBB, but Cornell is able to get you in the door at firms like Accenture, PwC, etc. Georgetown McDonough really only places mainly into federal or niche consulting roles.
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Georgetown McDonough (with $$) vs Cornell Johnson 17 Jan 2016, 12:15
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curiousbob
Hi all! I would very much appreciate your advice on a conundrum I’m having (admittedly it’s a good one to have). I am trying to decide between admission offers to Georgetown McDonough’s MBA program (with about a half tuition scholarship) and Cornell Johnson’s MBA program with no money. I am about three years out of business school undergrad with some consulting experience and my goal after MBA is to get into commercial strategy consulting. I’d like to stay on the east coast, and ideally in the Philadelphia area after graduation. What do you guys think would be a better decision? It seems like Cornell’s program is slightly stronger rankings wise and puts a bigger focus on hands on learning, but Georgetown has a higher percentage of the class getting into consulting. Although a significant portion of those people probably get into federal consulting, which I want to avoid. Also, I imagine that the same firms that recruit at Georgetown also recruit at Cornell, but the prospect of living in DC for two years sounds more appealing than Ithaca. Which offer would you go with? And would your opinion change if Cornell was to offer some money? Thanks so much in advance!

Cornell is by far your best bet, particularly with your goals. Neither places into MBB, but Cornell is able to get you in the door at firms like Accenture, PwC, etc. Georgetown McDonough really only places mainly into federal or niche consulting roles.
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Thanks for your response! I'm told that McKinsey and Bain recruit at MSB, and the Big 4 do as well, but can't figure out if it's only for their public sector clients or also for commercial. I'm getting the sense that Cornell provides marginally better recruiting opportunities than MSB but not sure if it's enough to justify the higher program cost/moving to Ithaca for a couple of years.
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Georgetown McDonough (with $$) vs Cornell Johnson 17 Jan 2016, 12:38
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Hi all! I would very much appreciate your advice on a conundrum I’m having (admittedly it’s a good one to have). I am trying to decide between admission offers to Georgetown McDonough’s MBA program (with about a half tuition scholarship) and Cornell Johnson’s MBA program with no money. I am about three years out of business school undergrad with some consulting experience and my goal after MBA is to get into commercial strategy consulting. I’d like to stay on the east coast, and ideally in the Philadelphia area after graduation. What do you guys think would be a better decision? It seems like Cornell’s program is slightly stronger rankings wise and puts a bigger focus on hands on learning, but Georgetown has a higher percentage of the class getting into consulting. Although a significant portion of those people probably get into federal consulting, which I want to avoid. Also, I imagine that the same firms that recruit at Georgetown also recruit at Cornell, but the prospect of living in DC for two years sounds more appealing than Ithaca. Which offer would you go with? And would your opinion change if Cornell was to offer some money? Thanks so much in advance!

Cornell is by far your best bet, particularly with your goals. Neither places into MBB, but Cornell is able to get you in the door at firms like Accenture, PwC, etc. Georgetown McDonough really only places mainly into federal or niche consulting roles.

Thanks for your response! I'm told that McKinsey and Bain recruit at MSB, and the Big 4 do as well, but can't figure out if it's only for their public sector clients or also for commercial. I'm getting the sense that Cornell provides marginally better recruiting opportunities than MSB but not sure if it's enough to justify the higher program cost/moving to Ithaca for a couple of years.
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McK and Bain do not do active OCR for MBAs at McDonough (I briefly looked at and toured McDonough). At most one graduate goes every couple of years, which honestly is close to Cornell. However, Cornell will get MUCH better looks from second and third tier firms. In any event neither is a target for MBB and Ithaca is in the middle of nowhere, but Cornell is better regarded by a wide margin.
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Georgetown McDonough (with $$) vs Cornell Johnson 17 Jan 2016, 16:38
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I see, alright thanks for the insight! Looks like I have to really weigh all sides of this one.
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Georgetown McDonough (with $$) vs Cornell Johnson 17 Jan 2016, 19:17
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I see, alright thanks for the insight! Looks like I have to really weigh all sides of this one.
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MBB take about 4-5 people from Cornell and Gtown every year (cited from current consulting club students from each school). I would suppose Cornell places better into top tier, below MBB, firms, but I think it's negligible.
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Georgetown McDonough (with $$) vs Cornell Johnson 17 Jan 2016, 20:09
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curiousbob
I see, alright thanks for the insight! Looks like I have to really weigh all sides of this one.

MBB take about 4-5 people from Cornell and Gtown every year (cited from current consulting club students from each school). I would suppose Cornell places better into top tier, below MBB, firms, but I think it's negligible.
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Thanks, yeah the sense that I'm getting after talking to more people is that Cornell has a slightly better placement rates than MSB. But don't think it's significant enough to pass up a half tuition scholarship at MSB and to move to middle of nowhere upstate NY for two years.
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Georgetown McDonough (with $$) vs Cornell Johnson 25 Jan 2016, 09:03
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McK and Bain do not do active OCR for MBAs at McDonough (I briefly looked at and toured McDonough). At most one graduate goes every couple of years, which honestly is close to Cornell. However, Cornell will get MUCH better looks from second and third tier firms. In any event neither is a target for MBB and Ithaca is in the middle of nowhere, but Cornell is better regarded by a wide margin.
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Some facts on McDonough recruiting:
From the FT 2015 class at MSB, BCG took 2 and Bain took 1. That's pretty standard for the past ~5 years. About 20-25 students (~10% of the class) interviewed with Bain and BCG for internships (no clue on results). It's true McK has less of a presence, but there were a couple from the 2013 and 2014 classes I think. Big 4 recruiting is pretty strong these days, and I'd say it is 65/35 in favor of commercial. Assume about 20-30 hires for those firms annually.

I have nothing to offer in the way of numbers re: Cornell, so I'll let a current student/recent alum offer perspective.