Columbia J-Term vs MIT Sloan for Consulting in NYC

Question

My goal is to return to management consulting post-MBA and stay in NYC. I just got accepted to CBS J-Term. For the sake of this argument, please assume I get admitted to Sloan as well, all else equal.

1) Which school would you pick if you were in my position?

2) Also, is there another school you would pick over CBS considering my goals (MC in NYC), besides HBS?

Thanks.

losttraveler · Answer

Comes down to you man... any M7 + Tuck will get you an interview with the right credentials with m/b/b. Most people at CBS aren't aiming consulting based on the placement so while % may be a bit lower than MIT... you're also competing with fewer people interested in consulting. Whatever is best fit... is where I would head. I know you got admit to j-term... difference will come down to a year also. J-Term would get you out in 2013 versus anywhere else you're looking at 2014 now for normal enrollment barring a 1 year program like insead. If you're willing to relocate to france or singapore (they have seats at wharton also I think?)... why not consider INSEAD if you plan to come from, and return to consulting? 1-year and top recruitment

raptr · Answer

Thanks. Interesting perspective. The reason I did not consider INSEAD is that I already got my 1yr European program experience (M.Sc. Finance @ London School of Economics) and want to diversify. Also, INSEAD doesn't seem to place too many people in the US in general (~8%, including sponsored students) and I'd really like to continue over-paying for NYC's under-sized rental apartments

. Two facts I found interesting: #1 According to Vault, the only school that places more students in consulting in NYC than CBS is HBS. #2 Despite its overall reputation of a tech/VC school, MIT places very well in consulting. However, it seems to place less people (but maybe a higher %?) than CBS in consulting in NYC and nationally.

losttraveler · Answer

Sloan and Tuck are both small feeder schools for M/B/B. For NYC, CBS probably edges but in Boston we already know the answer. The difficult thing with MIT placing in NYC for M/B/B is because of the sheer number of people they recruit from CBS and HBS in terms of absolute headcount. If they take a huge chunk from HBS based on overall prestige then layer down to CBS based on regional availability... not much left for others. Same goes for CBS heading into Boston I would imagine.

MDF · Answer

Have you looked at the employment reports from those two schools?

These documents are what guided me to schools I'm applying to (as you know, my post MBA goals are consulting/entrepreneurship). They might provide you with some facts to base your decision on. Personally, I don't think you could go wrong with either school. Both offer superb consulting opportunities, many of which are in NYC.

MIT: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/pdf/fullreport10_11.pdf

CBS: https://www.columbia.edu/cu/business/car ... Report.pdf

CBS put 26% of it's 2010 grads in consulting with MIT at 28%. Top consulting employers were similar at both schools (M/B/B), and both had more than 90% of its grads employed within 3 months of graduation.

So just as an outsider, it looks like the only big difference between your two choices are 1) location and 2) length of program.

hello212 · Answer

Again, I'd like to see those numbers broken down by region. Sure, Columbia's 26% is lower than Sloan's 28%, but how much of that 28% is actually in New York? I'd imagine that a higher % of CBS ends up in M/B/B  NYO  consulting than MIT.

raptr · Answer

I can't find a CBS break-down but according to the link above ~11% of all Sloan students come to the NY metro area. Even if they all happened to be consulting folks, which is obviously doubtful, my guess would be that CBS placed a higher % and absolute number of students in NYC this past year. I haven't seen too many employment reports from past years, so I don't know if this is representative.

raptr · Answer

OK, here are some quick statistics I pulled out of employment reports. Note consulting relates to industry, not function. There IS overlap between the two % categories. Apparently, schools are placing a decreasing % of students in NYC over the past four years. I wonder why

CBS 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 % in MC 21.1 22.2 25.0 20.1 % in NYC ? ? ? ? MIT 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 % in MC 37.2 30.4 33.2 28.2 % in NYC 23.2 19.6 16.6 10.9 Kellogg 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 % in MC 31.0 33.0 38.0 31.0 % in NYC 15.0 15.0 9.0 12.0 Wharton 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 % in MC 27.4 26.6 26.6 29.1 % in NYC 34.9 32.1 29.6 ?

MDF · Answer

Very interesting. There must be a rise in another city (or cities) to offset the decrease in NYC placements.

Columbia J-Term vs MIT Sloan for Consulting in NYC

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