Admitted to CBS & Stern...Interview @ Yale and Cornell?

Question

I've been admitted to CBS and NYU and have received invites to interview at Yale and Cornell.

Given that my goal is investment management, should I bother interviewing? I think the only thing that would make me consider either is a full scholarship. Also, Is it possible to leverage one against the other for $$?

Reasons for interviewing:
possible $$ (ie Park Fellows @ Johnson)
ego boost...(not really a reason)

Reasons for not interviewing:
give someone else the spot
save vacation days
save travel costs

Your thoughts are appreciated...especially since I'm sure there are people who would be thrilled to have such a dilemma...

FYI, my GMAT/GPA stats are relatively low for these schools so I'm not expecting any merit scholarships...

riverripper · Answer

You might get some drastically different opinions on this one but here is my take. If you wouldn't take Yale/Cornell over CBS or Stern without a full scholarship withdraw. If a full ride would sway you then stick it out and see.

However, personally given your career goals Yale and Cornell can't compete with CBS or NYU. So even a fullride probably isnt worth it in that career path...if you wanted GM or marketing where the pay isnt as inflated as IB or IM then it might have more of an impact on the decision. If IM was my career goal then being in NYC at either of those finance powerhouses would be worth the cost, so I wouldnt bother holding out. I know for me closure in the process was big, after getting an early admit in R1 I didnt bother with R2 applications since I didnt want to drag this out for 6 or 8 months.

But its all up to you and what you feel comfortable with. You paid your fees to apply so you have ever right to wait for a decision. Even if you reject the admit dont feel like you are taking someone elses position. If you are admitted but turn them down thats either accounted for by their accepting more people than will enroll or they will simply take someone of the WL.

3underscore · Answer

Really depends on how easy you think that, from your career you have, that you could switch into PM. The more difficult it is, the more it would point to taking either NYU or Columbia (I don't know the stats for either, I only have a gut feel that one may be better than the other or this).

Inv Management is a tricky world to get into. I know people who did the whole fidelity show, and fidelity take six people. Total. In a good year. So the commitment is to give yourself the best chance possible, or if you have the right background, as much opportunity as you feel you would need.

kidderek · Answer

Being physically in NYC, will be easier on you in the long run. The travel back and forth for face time/schmoozing will take its toll when your doing biweekly (sometimes even weekly) road trips. I met one Johnson IB aspirant who traveled back and forth to NYC weekly. He looked ghastly. I'd stick with Stern/CBS and withdraw from the other two. Unless of course, financing is an issue with you.

btw, during my trips to Stern and Johnson, (whether it was better preparation by the admissions team or not) I couldn't help but notice how much more successful the Stern students were at not only landing internships, but securing full time offers than Johnson students, even the Park Fellows.

I don't have the link off hand, but check out the Park Fellows blogs, you'll see plenty of fellows who didn't secure full time offers.

Greenontwo · Answer

kidderek: in the interest of full disclosure, if i remember correctly you didn't get in to cornell, right? not trying to call you out and if i'm wrong then sorry

futurePM · Answer

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. This may just be a reaction to the "sticker shock" of b-school. (phase 7 of the pursuit for all you regular gmatclubbers).

My career right now is institutional sales, so inv. management is not that far off.

I agree with everyone that location is critical for IM since the companies tend to be smaller and may not actively recruit MBA's.

In any event, does anyone know how to request an interview in NYC w/ Johnson? The email I got requested an on-campus interview.

djhouse81 · Answer

Columbia, hands down! (I'm not biased or anything) 8-)

kidderek · Answer

YES!!!! dinged w/o interview by Cornell (which I'm still quite shocked about). It's not sour grapes, I swear!!! hahaha

Take it for what it's worth. If you've kept up with my posts, you'll know I've been quite candid about the two schools that I've visited (Cornell & Stern). Cornell is first class all the way, the facilities are first rate, people are friendly and one of classes I sat in on was taught by Robert Frank (co author of an econ text with none other than Ben Bernake). He was an amazing professor. But, I left the school unimpressed. You really get the feeling that the school is full of people who don't want to be there.

When I visited Stern, the students just blew me away. I was so impressed by their camaraderie, accomplishments, and their polished presentation; I was almost intimidated!!! But they couldn't have been more friendlier. They answered all my questions as a long time buddy would. Seriously, I fell in love Stern with my visit. I've had some follow up chats with other Sternies here (gmatclub) and people I've met through them. They've been nothing but helpful with the application et al.

Again, it may have been the result of better planning on the part of the admissions team. But it wasn't even close.

As for Cornell, I wasn't dying to go there. In fact, I thought, heck I'll go if they give me some money (how crazy was I to even think that?). Alas, nothing was offered. Fine by me. I actually used the ding as a barometer to see how I measure up with other applicants. It was a bit of a wake up call for me.

Never visited CBS nor Yale.

sudden · Answer

I am in a similar position in terms of career and future goals. I currently work in sell side research and want to make the jump to a PM (or Associate PM, anyway) job. My research suggests that it is hard to make that jump even with finance experience, but that one can put themselves in the best position to do so by attending a top finance school.

In your case, I would definitely go to CBS. Aside from the fact that CBS has home field advantage in NYC, the electives offered by the school are significantly better than what you can find anywhere else (including Wharton). That is just my opinion, but I think that you can basically put yourself well on the path of doing anything you want that is finance related by going to CBS. The recruiting at the school is quite good as well. I don't see the point in going to the other schools you listed irrespective of the money they offer. The point of B-school (besides the education) is to bridge the gap between what you currently do and what you want to do. In some cases, you may be able to get into IM without B school, but it could take a long time and it may never happen.

Do you really want to face the possibility of attending Yale or Cornell and regretting the choice because you cannot get the job you want? I don't think that is worth any amount of money you are going to receive from either program. The money you may get from the other schools could quickly become irrelevant if you land the right job, which is more likely to happen at CBS. (No offence to anyone going to Yale or Cornell -- those are great programs, just that if you want finance, I think you are better going to a finance school.)

Out of curiousity, what is your plan to make yourself as marketable as possible for an IM job? My research indicates that there are very few plum IM jobs available and that most of the jobs in the industry are "kind of crappy." There are so few good jobs available because the scale of the business is ridiculous. You can run a $3B hedge fund with like 5 guys. I just interviewed with Wharton and Chicago (no word yet from CBS - lame?), so hopefully I will get into one of those and be on my way. I would be interested to hear what your thoughts are on making the jump to a really top IM position, though. I'm currently punishing myself with the last CFA exam (apparently I hate myself), so hopefully that will help if I do get into one of the schools.

businessdocn08 · Answer

haha, i cosign with djhouse...

Admitted to CBS & Stern...Interview @ Yale and Cornell?

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