MIT Sloan vs. Columbia Business School
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29 Dec 2015, 19:47
So I was lucky enough to get accepted into both Sloan and CBS for next year full time. I will be choosing between those two.
A little about me, I'm on the younger side of applicants at 25 and will have 3 years of W/E at Matriculation. I work in Treasury at a BB. I'll be moving into Investment Banking post grad school. I'm currently leaning Columbia but I'll post more information below.
Columbia:
Pros -
Placement: Every bank (BB, EB, and everything in between) is on campus and coming to you. A lot of people do banking (80-100) but around 50% of those go to either a top BB (GS, JPM, MS) or an EB. And almost 85% are at a BB or EB.
People: Loved the people who I have met and talked too. Lots of similarly cool people who have done a lot of great things. Very smart bunch. I can see myself fitting in here very easily.
Classes: the breadth of electives are much bigger then Sloan's and being taught by high performing adjuncts is really a plus for me. I have always felt like I learn learn more from actual practitioners.
No Grade Disclosure: This is great. It breeds a less intense work environment then Sloan. You can focus on recruiting and networking and taking whatever classes you want. This is a huge plus for me.
Alumni: HUGE number of finance alumni willing to help you out.
Cons -
Cost: NYC is costly and the living conditions suck for someone on a students budget.
Familiarity: I live in NYC right now and while I plan to come back, I was hoping to leave for a bit for business school..
Facilities: they are awful, enough said.
Lack of being able to "stick out": There are so many white males coming from Finance at CBS that are going back to Finance that it makes it harder to stick out. At Sloan I would be much more unique.
Sloan:
Pros -
Facilities: The facilities are awesome. Loved it there.
City: Getting out of NYC would be cool and I like Boston/Cambridge.
Cost: Much better QOL as a student there then at Columbia.
Curriculum: Very well regarded Finance curriculum.
People: Honestly, the admitted and current students I've met are probably the most impressive I've met across all of the M7 in terms of accomplishments. And I almost feel intimidated that I don't necessarily fit in with those people.
Jobs: There are only about 20 people a year doing IB from Sloan, so being a finance guy already I expect I would have my pick of the interviews for those firms that come on campus. And basically everyone gets a BB as it is. Which leads me cons.
Cons -
Recruiting: A lot of firms aren't on campus, which means you are doing a lot of legwork. No EBs are on campus and, personally, I intend to focus on EBs over BBs during recruiting due to the regulatory landscape.
Alumni: There just aren't that many banking alumni.
People (I know I put this under pros too, but it's a different point): I haven't liked/felt like I fit in with some of the people I've met so far. I had a current student ask me "why do you talk the way you do" when I visited for my interview. Keep in mind me a native speaker with no speech impediments and never have been told I "talk weird". I also found many of the current students to be really intense.
Grade Disclosure: As far as I can tell, combined with the tough curriculum, this leads to a lot of intensity in the classmates. It's also something that, apparently, banks pay attention too. And I don't want to be stressing about the curve during recruiting.
All in all, the people aspect and "fitting in" have me heavily leaning towards Columbia. Combined with all the firm's on campus at Columbia vs Sloan and I think it makes if a relatively straight forward decision. But I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say.
Thanks in advance.