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Joined: 05 Sep 2012
Status:CBS - Class of 2015
Posts: 147
Location: United States
CBS vs. Stern (full-ride)
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10 May 2013, 23:11
Wasn't planning on posting but was so impressed with the feedback I saw from members on others' posts that I thought I'd have nothing to lose. Just wanted to get some feedback as there are a lot of bright people on this site.
I'm evaluating a full ride to Stern (120k) vs. Cbs with no $. I have deposits in at both schools and am 90% leaning towards Stern at this point but wanted to see if any gc members had any input either way. I attempted to get some $ from CBS with no luck.
Background: small business ownership, Stern undergrad
Long-term interests: Entrepreneurship
Short-term possibilities: (unless something entrepreneurial pans out): Consulting/Ibanking out of school --> PE after if possible
I've researched the schools, spoken to students, and attended both admit weekends.
Without the scholarship to Stern I'd be inclined to go CBS for several reasons
1. Branding - CBS is more prestigious and I went to Stern undergrad.
2. I got the feeling that the entrepreneurship and PE community are stronger at CBS - although I know both are up-in-the-air postMBA goals
3. Consulting presence for m/b/b should I decide to pursue consulting is stronger than Stern.
4. Some of the courses look more interesting (Master classes, PE major, Value Investing courses) & non grade disclosure
With the full ride I'm leaning towards Stern.
1. Given that I'm interested in entrepreneurship, I think the flexibility of 120k+ less (200k+ pretax) in loans may have tremendous value.
2. I still have access to NY networking for entrepreneurship, PE, etc.
3. Banking recruiting is comparable to Columbia. NYU still places at m/b/b for consulting (though obviously not as much as CBS). And I'd perhaps be competing with "less competitive' candidates than at CBS
4. I connected more with the NYU student body at events and enjoyed my time with them much more although I did get the feeling that the Columbia students were brighter in general
5. The nyu campus/location/facility are far superior to Columbias
I've read the "go to the best school you can argument and that 100k over the long run is small esp for banking/consulting path" but was not sure if there was a material difference between the schools. As far as usnews goes, its only currently 2 spots in ranking separation. But I agree more with the tiered rankings I saw somewhere on this site. T1 (HBS, Stanford, Wharton) T2 (MIT,Booth,Kellogg,CBS,Berkely(?), T3 (Tuck, NYU, etc) - not sure but something like that where CBS was T2 and NYU T3. Anyhow, I've also heard the 2 years out no one will care where you got your MBA (to a degree) and that CBS and Stern students alike get similar banking and consulting jobs.
Happy to hear conflicting and/or supporting thoughts/experiences.
Thanks