Stern vs Sloan vs Yale for finance

Question

Got accepted in all three schools without scholarship. I want to go into finance post MBA and pretty much just deciding between Sloan and Stern. Stern seems to have great reputation in finance, but Sloan is ranked much higher as business school. Any opinions?

MYCambridge · Answer

IM/Buyside = Sloan
IBD = Stern
Everything else = Sloan

jana19 · Answer

Is it possible to get buyside job at Sloan for a career switcher?

wpye86 · Answer

Why not Yale?
If i were you: Stern>Yale>MIT.
But NYU's overall ranking is the lowest in all 3 schools

GoodGuyGreg · Answer

Speaking as a current banker, all three are going to give you a shot at the fiance world.

NYU has the closest connection as it is based in NYC. That said, local firms will expect constant interviewing whilst there is more breathing room for SOM + Sloan candidates.

Also NYU has a reputation for cutthroat and more focused job searching. Expect to spend less time getting friendly with your classmates and more trying to get an edge in your group interview style. You are gaining a city with Stern, but losing the community you find particularly at SOM and to a lesser extent at Sloan.

Looking to Boston, Sloan is a heck of a school. It is going to be quanty and that school reputation will always be in the back of someone's mind when you mention MIT. You have opportunities to network with engineers and perhaps play around in the startup space.

We know better, but outside of finance the name Yale carries heavier weight than NYU or MIT, despite SOM being the ugly duckling of its parent university.

Down to brasstacks -
Sloan: If you are looking to finance, everyone in banking/money management knows MIT is hot ****, especially on the quant trading side. Good network, but tech/engineering heavy.
Stern: Lots of finance exposure, less community, not as fun (unless you are dying to move to NYC). 
SOM: Carries the ivy league reputation, strong community, fewer finance placements (because of lack of interest by students) but less competition for the openings.

If trying to break into finance, my choice would be Sloan. Stern gives you lots of options but you fight for them, whilst MIT/Yale will help you open doors for the rest of your career.

Best of luck with the decision, you've got a great problem on your hands.

mamboman56 · Answer

While there is a lot to comment on re career opportunities, you'd absolutely have a fantastic shot in finance at ALL three schools. Having just completed my first year at Stern, I certainly did not find it to be cutthroat, nor had I ever heard such a reputation even exists. In fact, I would say that the students who were successful in securing their top choice industry for the internship were invariably the most collaborative students of the class (which, of course, was the majority).

That said, I'm only posting this comment because I felt the need to address one particular point above.

Where did you possibly here that Stern is "not as fun"??!!? Wwwwwhatt?

I can honestly say that I've had some of the best times of my life while here attending b-school in NYC. I've made several great friends and enjoyed b-school life from all the possible angles. I really think you get the best of both worlds... although its a city school, you have a very local feel in the neighborhood (Greenwich Village) surrounding NYU, akin to the feel of a small town school. Walk in any local establishment, and you're bound to run into fellow students. Of course, you have the incredible wealth of activities, restaurants/bars, and events that NYC has to offer. Just this past weekend was the 39th annual 9th Ave. International Food Festival and the Great Googa Mooga Festival at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I should mention that most of my classmates were not able to attend such awesome events as they're all currently off perusing Argentina, Hungary, China, Egypt, Miami, (and more) in the weeks ahead of the summer internship. (I'm stuck at home studying for the CFA). Don't worry, I had my 10 day trip to South America in March.

Anywho, I just felt I needed to clear up that point. Best of luck to everyone on here... I know you'll all get a TON out of b-school as I have.

OldFritz · Answer

MIT over Yale in this case.

jessicabenson · Answer

Go for Yale if you can

shadow · Answer

a lot of people who want to do banking "self select" into Stern. it's right in the middle of things, has a lot of alumni working on the street, and generally has a good reputation for finance jobs.

the flip side to that is that you will have to get your hustle on even more in terms of school networking events and your own networking outside of school (hitting up alumni for coffee chats, visiting the bank to have informationals, etc.).

this holds true for all of the schools, but i imagine the amount of time you would be "expected" to be in NYC during recruiting season diminishes somewhat the farther you are from NYC. for example, many of my friends from Yale who went into banking would be on the first Metro North train every Friday in order to meet with bankers for chats. If you were at Stern, every Friday would not cut it; you would have to be pounding the street almost every day getting to know people well. i imagine going to school in Boston would also mean going down every Friday.

in the end, getting a finance (IBD) job comes down to how badly you want it. any of the 3 schools will prepare you roughly the same, but the rest will fall on your own shoulders (how much interview prep you do, how many informationals you've been on, how many senior bankers you've met, etc.).

Stern vs Sloan vs Yale for finance

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