EMBA- Columbia Vs Booth - which one for entrepreneurship?

Question

Hello everyone

I have received admits to Columbia and Booth for the EMBA program. Thanks to gmatclub and its members for helping me with my preps!

Personal Briefing:
I’m an entrepreneur from India and I currently head my family businesses (Manufacturing segments)

What I look for in an MBA:
Academics - Learn business strategies & entrepreneurship-centric skills
My Goals - Forward integrate my businesses in India - Create a sustainable clothing brand - Export opportunities to the U.S - Other business opportunities
Networking - Attract investments (PE/VC for my businesses), Learn global best practises

So I did some reading and spoke to a couple of alums

Columbia
Cons

Pros

Booth
Cons

Location -> Smaller network? ->Lesser opportunities?Pros

I'm also aware that Booth is known for its Academic rigour.

I'm finding it challenging to weigh these pros and cons and make a choice! Which school do you think would better suit my profile / profession & goals and why?

Many thanks!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

For all the entrepreneur specific pros you mention I prefer Booth. And the Polsky center is really at the pulse of entrepreneur activities in Chicago and I don't really think CBS has something comparable. It's really an amazing incubator. Also, CBS EMBA is a much younger program filled mainly with NYC career climbers who are a bit less focused on entrepreneurship (even for those with family business goals, usually they do J term)

So is that network going to be as valuable? Whereas my clients headed to Booth are older and really pretty experienced working for startups and starting up themselves at least as a side hustle. And there you will also be surrounded by a lot of director level execs and I just think that network overall is going to be more powerful for what you are trying to do; can make introductions etc.

I think the CBS curriculum is decent but I do like the rigour of Booth and if you have startup goals you do genuinely want to learn as much as you can - it's not like FT where the focus is on OCR. You want to leverage the Chicago approach (holistic thinking) to create frameworks and ways of structuring your thinking to make decisions; data driven approach is important and also, greatly underestimated, you need to learn the most you can about marketing. Every new business owner is a salesperson as their #1 job. I think you will get the finance piece at Booth but not sure you will get the marketing piece at CBS quite as well.

Unless your goals are really NYC specific, I vote Booth.

bb · Answer

Congratulations on your admits.
Executive programs are always slightly different from the full-time programs and have different expectations as well as class profiles.

First of all, thank you so much for doing the research and kudos for great formatting. I’ve learned something new about the Columbia executive MBA. I did not expect it to have such a high finance segment but of course it makes sense since New York is the financial center despite the fact that booth is a Finance school. My guess is that a lot of the applicants and students are from the local community and are locally located either in New York or in Chicago.

Are you planning to live in the US during the school or you will be located somewhere else? I can see working remotely and living in New York or Chicago or flying in for classes or online too. I’m just curious about how you planning to handle the logistics.

Personally, I like Chicago as a city better than New York. I’m sure every single New Yorker would kill me for saying this or at least with hate me, but for some reason it felt cozy and home here for me but I would actually take the other path and I would see Columbia as perhaps a more suitable choice.

My main deciding factors would be your peer network and your classmates. I feel you have more of a fit within the New York industries of fashion and clothing. Moreover, I feel Columbia is much more international and has a stronger brand recognition as well as bigger alumni networks outside of the US, if that is something you’re looking for. Finally, while it sounds like you are looking to start a new venture, it seems to be more like you’re taking your business and growing it vertically rather than starting an unproven idea and looking for financing. Let me know if I miss judged it. 😇

It’s a good position to be in to be choosing between two great programs. Congratulations.

Posted from my mobile device

nigirio8 · Answer

I think both are really great options, but personally I think Columbia - given that you are an EMBA, I imagine you do not have a lot of time (do not have a whole year).

Unless going around everywhere in New York doesn't appeal to you or all that work feels overwhelming, New York all the way. I'm now working in Chicago and love it, but in terms of global relevance it does not compare to the biggest cities, like New York or London. I've spent 3 weeks in NY on a different occasion, I made so much more contacts in that 3 weeks in NY, than my year in Chicago.

Of course, the others have mentioned the specific programs in Booth that might be directly suited to you - if that is the case, the story will be a little different, and the "fit" may change your decision.

kckarthick · Answer

Thank you MBAPrepCoach , bb and nigirio8 for your thoughtful, elaborate responses. I’m going to use this forum as a sounding board, summarizing the responses. Once again, I sincerely thank you for helping me think out loud! ---------------------------------------------------- MBAPrepCoach Booth Pros Entrepreneur specific pros - Polsky centre, an amazing incubator Experienced network, more powerful - Avg age 38 ; Avg work exp - 13 Booth's holistic thinking Columbia Cons Career climbers - Avg age 32; Avg work exp - 9 Family focussed students take J term - Could you please elaborate this further? and your last sentence as well! Your point on marketing is spot on! Whats your opinion on Booth's Marketting curriculum? ---------------------------------------------------- bb different expectations as well as class profiles - could you please elaborate the difference

lot of the applicants and students are from the local community - Spot on. Both the schools have only around 18-20% International students -> what do you think is the impact of this? As for my logistics - Toronto will be my base. I will be making bimonthly visits to my factories back in India

I will be remotely operating my businesses. Columbia Pros peer network and your classmates -> Can you please explain how exactly would this be advantageous over Booth?

NYC - Fashion and clothing / Retail - Many people say this but cant I just visit NYC to leverage that? Why CBS for that! Stronger brand recognition Bigger alumni networks outside the US - Fair point. But I'm concerned that most of them would be in finance? My goals you asked?

So I run a textile spinning Mill and its a commodity-based business. I intend to convert my current business model into a value-based one by developing and launching a sustainable clothing brand! To do so, I will have to set up further processes such as processing & garmenting - This is where I might be looking for PE / VC to invest! I hope you now have a fair idea of my plans

---------------------------------------------------- nigirio8 Going everywhere around NYC could certainly be overwhelming! "I made so much more contacts in those 3 weeks in NY" - I have been thinking about this. I understand living in NYC would definitely make it convenient to coordinate and meet with people - Could this be overrated?? I mean Chicago is just about 1.5 hours away! or perhaps I can frequent NYC? (Thinking out loud) ---------------------------------------------------- Summing up I am inclined towards Booth for its Program fitment Entrepreneurship focus Diverse and experienced class and alum profile But Columbia has NYC advantage Larger alum network outside the U.S. Global Brand image So my queries are, If I choose Booth 1. NYC advantage - Can I overcome the Chicago disadvantage by visiting NYC and making connections? How pragmatic is it, considering logistics of working + studying? 2. Larger alum network outside the U.S. - While CBS has a larger alum network, is it right to say most of them would have a strong finance focus? While I'm looking for PE/VC investments, will CBS alum network have a significant advantage over Booth's? Also, I'm told that most of the Alums / students are focussed on IB, HF etc and in terms of the actual VC/PE network, there may not be a significant difference. 3. Global Brand image - May not carry significant weightage in my case. Kindly opine! I truly appreciate your patient reading!

EMBA- Columbia Vs Booth - which one for entrepreneurship?

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