Stern vs. Kenan-Flagler ($$) for consulting

Hi, congratulations on your admit to great schools. I suggest you go with Stern.

Go New York City!
I feel that MBA from a big city is always the better choice
1.You get to expand your professional network beyond your school
2. create opportunities for yourself
3. NYC has an eclectic mix of industries and functions, so great place to learn new things
4. experience the rush of the fast paced business world that you want to be successful

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Don't force yourself into higher debts in this time of long recession. Perhaps, Kenan-Flagler is better option.

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That’s another thought -
Question - Would you recommend no MBA at all instead?

That is the third option in these uncertain times

There are several schools of thought. All of them involve assumptions that can be questioned and I encourage you to do that.

1. Higher rank schools tend to perform better in recruiting, especially during harder times. (Better alum network, more employers come to campus, better reputation, and higher caliber of students and professors all add up). It’s easy to have great placement reports on the job market is booming and as you John pointed out many times people get hired for just being alive. The difference becomes greater during the hard times such as recessions when hiring is a lot more selective. This school of thought would indicate that a higher rank program would be a good investment because it would have a higher probability of converting a job. This is a more bullish approach.

2. Second school of thought, believes that do you want to minimize debt and cash burn as much as possible and perform everything at the lowest cost. This is a more pessimistic approach but you cannot fault people for being safe and playing it safe.

3. Not going to school and hanging onto one’s job does provide income. The downside of this approach is that one can still lose the job and have to recruit again which would put future bschool plans at a risk if they are unemployed for a while. Even if Juan does not lose the job, opportunities for promotion, bonus, growth will be limited by the general economic outlook. Staying on the job makes sense only if you can limit your downside and secure a deferral admission. There’s also a risk that after years of declining application numbers, a recession will cause a flood of applicants looking to winter through the tough years and get ready to rejoin the workforce in 2 years.

I am totally fine with approach one or two. We all have different risk appetites the depend on our background and our past decisions. Thus Joining a business school provides a high degree of certainty for the next several years. However approach three only works if you can get a deferred admission which historically has been tough to secure but I am expecting schools to have to revisit that policy this season.

These are my thoughts and they all have assumptions as I mentioned. Welcome you to poke holes in them and provide a different perspective.

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I'd go for Stern as during troubled times my risk tolerance gets lower so the increased career services at NYU would be a safer bet of my hard earned money. On the other hand, Stern is incredibly expensive, so if I were you, I would try to negotiate to get some $. That would make the deicison slightly easier.