Booth (20k per year) vs Cornell (full-ride)

Question

Hello guys,

Your advice is very much appreciated. I am still struggling to define my exact post-mba industry. For arguments sake, let us say that I hope to break into MBB and BB IB. The decision is difficult because of these factors

Booth Pros & Cons:

Pros:
-Chicago: I really like the city. i'm from the Northeast so I want a new experience
-Intellectual Atmosphere
-Strength of Recruiting
-Strength of Brand

Cons:
-I have heard that it is uber competitive (have not yet had the chance to visit)
-Too academic and theoretical? (this is a criticism that i keep hearing)
-Will leave with +100k in debt

Cornell  
Pros
-Nice visit with current students
-Will leave me virtually debt-free after graduation
-Lower cost of living

Cons:

-Location is not really my favorite
-Attended an economics course and I was not very stimulated by the professor or students
-Heavy gender imbalance (I don't know why, but I've always liked places with a good balance).

Essentially for a young guy (almost 25) with many interests, what would you recommend? In the grand scheme of things, is the Booth brand worth 100K+ over Cornell, and for current students and alumni, is Booth as competitive as they say? (I plan to visit for admitted students weekend).

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

100k is a lot of money to pass up and with Cornell you will have decent access to the NYC IBD networking opportunities so the career disadvantage will not be as limited especially with a strong Cornell wide alumni base in the city. Now you are 25 so your social life will certainly suffer in Ithaca versus Chicago but you can make up for that post grad with the extra 100k you have in your pockets. Tough choice but I would probably slightly lean Cornell here

nicholasbentham · Answer

You are completely correct. I don't know what i was waiting for.

PugLyfe · Answer

I understand $$ is a big consideration. It most certainly is for me. However, one way to evaluate is to simply compare both schools with all else equal. Booth will open more doors for you and in the long run, the money will be moot. I feel that you're underselling the location too. You will have a much easier time networking and recruiting in the Chicago area. It's night and day really. If it were my decision to make, I would go with Booth.

nicholasbentham · Answer

I get what you are saying. If it was a 50k difference, I would take Booth. But 100k is hard to pass up.

bb · Answer

I agree... I have a close friend who has gone to Booth. 2 actually. I don't think Booth was absolutely mind-shattering experience for them. They did have issues at school as all humans do - dumb classes, dumb classmates, etc. It was much less so than in lower ranked schools but still present. It is not like there is a curtain between Top 10 and Top 20 like between Economy and First class and a mean flight attendant is posted there to keep folks from going potty in the First lavatory.... it is more like you get to sit closer to the exit on the Southwest flight and you will be the first one off the plane but that goes only as far as the baggage claim. So you get some advantages here and there with better employers, better classmates, etc but it is not clear cut - I tried to capture it here: value-of-a-top-10-mba-213365.html

ankurgupta03 · Answer

I have nothing to offer (fortunately I am not in such a sweet dilemma), but could not resist myself from praising bb here

Totally loved this analogy. Never ever would have though about it in the same way.

jessepinkman · Answer

As a current 1st year at Booth I can tell you that Booth definitely does not have an uber competitive atmosphere. I have found the opposite to be true and have found my classmates to be nothing but supportive and collaborative. Keep in mind that Booth has grade non disclosure so nobody is competing against each other for grades. In terms of the academics, one of the great aspects of Booth in my opinion is the extremely flexible curriculum. While there are certainly requirements (https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/fu ... curriculum), there are a lot of options and you can create the academic experience you'd like. If you want to take a lot of hardcore academic/theoretical classes, you can and Booth has some of the best professors in the country. If you prefer a more practical type of experience (like I do), there are tons of opportunities to take classes with practitioners such as Scott Meadow, Mark Tebbe, Ira Weiss, Craig Wortmann, etc.

I can't speak for Cornell, but I can echo that all of your positives ring true for Booth. Chicago is an amazing city and the Booth brand and experience have been great. First Day will give you a much better sense of what Booth is really like and will help you decide whether it's the right place for you or not. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

alphabeta1234 · Answer

UChicago Booth is the best B-school in the country.

Cornell is a regional brand compared to UChicago.

integral · Answer

These two schools are in different tiers, hence I would ignore the scholarship. Both being consistently ranked in top 5, and Cornell comes 14-16, which is not Top 10, may be Top 15.

Go to Booth.

revul · Answer

Booth is a safer option, and the network is massively more powerful.

If money is an issue pick Cornell, otherwise, Booth 100%.

nicholasbentham · Answer

Even assuming that I don't want to go into finance and that I want to stay in the northeast?

revul · Answer

If you don't want to go into finance I would be even more questioning of going to Cornell. It's IB recruiting is above its rung on the ladder, the rest is 2 tiers below Booth. I used to think geography mattered a ton but it really doesn't. Sure, it's easier to meet with people face-to-face in the office you're looking to get into, but its easier for your peers to as well and therefore a wash.

Kellogg797 · Answer

I would go to Cornell if you really wanted to work in NY post MBA. Otherwise I would go to Booth.

dtse86 · Answer

I'll chime in here to try and balance out the convo, but the comments have certainly been intriguing

Both are excellent schools and your really can't make a bad decision here. I think the fact that you have this kind of opportunity available to you, you will do extremely well regardless of which school you attend. In my opinion, your choice should depend on the type of MBA experience you are looking for and which school's degree will leave you better off in the long run. Booth certainly offers some excellent academics, but I do believe that Cornell has excellent academic opportunities as well. I'm not sure which economics class you sat in (Core?) but I have to say outside of the core, I've certainly had some stimulating conversations with professors about the effects of certain corporate financial policies and the effects of certain laws on corporate governance. Now I'm not sure what area of interest you are looking to focus on during your MBA, but Cornell certainly has world class faculty in several areas and I think that is definitely one thing that has been consistently underplayed to the public. Ultimately, the amount that you learn during your MBA will depend on your willingness to challenge yourself and the amount of effort you put towards it. This is true regardless of which institution you attend. Regarding career opportunities, I think that the fact that you are obviously a very well-established and well regarded business school applicant makes it apparent that you will also be a very competitive applicant in the relatively small MBA internship world. Your resume and background have yielded you some impressive results thus far, I think that you won't really have to worry about having top career opportunities once you begin recruiting for whichever industry or field you choose. The same companies recruit from both schools and having a full scholarship (I'm assuming a Park) only helps you stand out even more. In general, Park's do very well during recruiting because employers know that only the top business school prospects are granted Park Fellowships. Regarding business school life, Cornell is obviously in a more rural location than Booth and so the differences in night life and bar selection are fairly obvious. However, I will say that I've found business school has left me little time to go to the bars. Between the classwork, the recruiting activities, the extra-curriculars, and leadership roles I've taken on, I've had only a few occasions that I could really go out and "enjoy myself"

But because of the small class (where I really do know everyone), and the similar hectic schedules, it makes the occasions where we do go out, really fun and memorable. Usually, we end up taking over the entire bar and it definitely leaves for some very fun stories that I'll remember for years to come. For instance, for St. Patty's day we took over a bar downtown with the Law School and ILR school and had classmates work as the bartenders. Definitely a fun time that reinforces the overall camaraderie of the class and something that I know will make us a stronger alumni network. I think that the location helps build a stronger tie to the school and it's something that's definitely apparent when you talk to alumni. This leads me to my last point, which alumni network would you rather be a part of? I know that UChicago and Booth certainly have an impressive alumni network, but so does Johnson and Cornell. Personally, I've been able to get a hold of every alum that I've reached out to in the Johnson network and the Cornell network. Both groups love the school deeply and don't really care which school you're associated with, just that you're a Cornellian. It's something that has impressed me throughout my experience, but obviously I'm biased here

I'd suggest you talk to alums from both schools (or even ones that are alums of both), to see which community fits your character the most. Anyways, good luck with the decision! :-D

Booth (20k per year) vs Cornell (full-ride)

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