mostasha wrote:
Dear GMAT Community,
I received an offer of admissions from Cornell Johnson 2 year FT program in Ithaca and also from the part-time MBA program at Berkeley Haas. I'm totally lost regarding which one would suit me best. I'm hoping you can provide some insight that would assist me with deciding between the two programs.
Here's a bit of background about me:
Age: 34
Education: Electrical Engineering grad from University of Toronto, Professional Engineer and PMP certified, GMAT: 720
Work: .5 year at a start-up, 4 years of telecommunications engineering, 4 years of project management in telecom - currently senior Project Manager
Location: currently live in SF bay area for the past 1.5 years
Family ties: none - single and location agnostic
Financial sponsorship from work for part-time Haas: very minimal
Career aspirations after MBA:
1) Investment Banking: people tell me while it's certainly possible to do IB at my age, it won't be a level playing field. Even if I'm successful at breaking in , chances of promotion or the work environment might not suit me best. However, I've heard and read many mixed reviews
2) Consulting: my research tells me that I'm too old for MBB recruiting but tier 2 firms are possible
3) Tech Product Management: very possible and in-line with my background
I'm still undecided between the 3 options. Hence, I have such a hard time deciding between Johnson FT program and Haas PT program. My hope was to explore each career option further in school before committing to a path. However, if my research regarding IB and consulting at MBB is right regarding my age problem, then tech recruiting would be my only option and I believe Berkeley would suit me best. But if there's hope for IB and MBB, then I'm still stuck between the two schools.
Could you please share your thoughts given the above? Any feedback is highly appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Kourosh
Hi
mostashaFirst congrats on being admitted to those two awesome schools !
That speaks about yourself.
Now, who ever told you that you are too old for anything in your life, like ever, not just for this purpose, can go f*** himself !
Seriously.
Nothing should be standing between you and your goals in life.
Period.
I do like Berkeley a lot, but was a little bit skeptical about this part-time evening option, until I looked in rankings.
As per US News Berkeley Haas Part-time MBA Program is the best in the nation !
Good for you.
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-sc ... e-rankingsI can see that evening option is 2.5-3 years long and cost is $137,000, also you can benefit from same pool of world-class UC Berkeley tenured and professional faculty (same for all MBA options, full-time, executive and part-time).
Also you will get boost from their Career Advising and On-campus Recruiting (again same for all MBA options, full-time, executive and part-time ) as per their comparison table of all MBA options.
https://haas.berkeley.edu/the-berkeley-mba/So, you can work full time and study part time at Berkeley and get same degree.
Now, Cornell is Ivy league and you can benefit from their Cornell Tech New York City campus (one school, two campus approach) and possibly get dual degree.
Then, there is that Johnson Immersion Offerings with Investment Banking Immersion (IBI) and Consulting Program (plus one immersion option) that is most appealing to you.
Companies that are Recruiting for Investment Banking Immersion (IBI) option are :
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Citi
Deutsche Bank
Goldman Sachs
JP Morgan
to name a few.
Poets & Quant's ranked Johnson’s investment banking immersion (IBI) as 3. in investment banking placement.Moreover, 85% of their students convert their internships into full-time offers.
Now, with Consulting option, you will participate in BR Consulting, a student-run organization that provides consulting services
to real clients.
https://www.cornellbrc.com/Consulting Firms that are Recruiting at Johnson are :
McKinsey & Company
Bain & Company
The Boston Consulting Group
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Deloitte
Accenture
Booz & Company
L.E.K. Consulting
Oliver Wyman
I really don't see a reason why you would not go there at one of those companies, or above mentioned Investment banks.
Johnson Figures :
Full-time job offers by 3 months after graduation 93%
Mean base salary accepted $125,578
Mean bonus accepted $31,604
Detail of jobs accepted by function % studentsConsulting 26%[b]Finance - Investment Banking 16%[/b]
Finance - Managerial Finance 5%
Finance - Research 3%
Finance - Other 14%
General Management and RLDP 17%
Product Management 4%
Law 5%
Marketing and Brand Management 8%
Other Job Functions 2%
There you go, 42% of students go to Consulting and Investment Banking alone !
By far the best option for you is to take Consulting Program option and then dive into Investment Banking Immersion (IBI) !Since, consulting students are also required to take one Immersion.
Based on what you described, that sounds to me like dream come true for you.
Johnson Career Management Center is highly regarded as one of the best in the world and even before you arrive on campus, they will be in touch with you about your job search and constitute to work with you through your studies.
https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/Career-ManagementWith everything stated above, I vote for Cornell, Consulting Program option with Investment Banking Immersion is by far the best option for you, keeping in mind where your passion lies, and what you really want to do.
Don't let anybody tell you what you can or not do in life, if you do what you like and enjoy, what you are meant to do, you will shine and that will be recognizable and rewarded.
In 21. century where there is demand for life long learning to tell somebody that he is "too old for something" is rather ridiculous !
It may be less usual, what you want to accomplish now, but that with your previous background makes you special and shows your motivation !
Good luck with your decision, my advice is to go with your heart and go to Cornell !