Kellogg vs Columbia - 2 year full time MBA

Question

Hi,

I was recently admitted to the Kellogg 2Y program and the Columbia Business School Aug entry. No scholarship from either.

Background: I am an Asian American male who has worked in Corporate Banking/Commercial Banking for the last 7 years, half of that in Asia and half in the US. Post-MBA goal is to work in the US (probably New York) in Investment Banking or Private Equity. Long term goal is to start my own firm in Asia (China or Singapore).

Honestly I feel like I can't go wrong with either, but would love to get some pointers from the GmatClub community as I am very conflicted between these two choices. Factors I'm taking into consideration:
-Recruiting into Investment Banking (BB) / PE: Both schools are good at placing into Finance, although given the location, CBS has an edge overall. 
-Student Experience: I've heard amazing things about the Kellogg student experience from both alumni and current students. Not much said about CBS. 
-Strength of alumni network, especially in Asia where I plan to work long term: Not too sure about this one. 
-Brand recognition: This may be anecdotal but it seems like not many people in Asia know the Kellogg/Northwestern name, but have some familiarity with the Columbia name.

Thanks all!

MBAPursuit123 · Answer

Looking at polls, seems like Columbia is ahead! Any reasoning out there for why Kellogg instead?

Nikhil · Answer

Tagging a few people for their inputs

ENGRTOMBA2018 (Kellogg alumni)
jessepinkman
billionaire
bb

Please also check the following topics

https://gmatclub.com/forum/booth-vs-kel ... fl=similar
https://gmatclub.com/forum/emba-global- ... 77244.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/search-resul ... logg%20cbs

ENGRTOMBA2018 · Answer

Frankly, just by looking at your post-MBA goal is to break into IB in NYC in particular, id recommend CBS. But the biggest issues are as following:

1. There will be a much larger cohort that’ll be similarly inclined towards IB. It wont be the case at Kellogg. At Kellogg, IB and PE cohort is smaller and hence more per capita opportunities in both, Midwest and east coast. You’ve to decide whether you want to be a smaller fish in a larger pond or a bigger fish In a small-ish pond

2. With your background, unfortunately PE is going to be extremely difficult at either school. You need to decide for one which type of PE fund will you be targeting. Again, the same issue as mentioned in #1

3. As an intl student (Im assuming you’ll need H1B), you need to have a solid plan B at least. If its Corp finance go to CBS, if it is consulting, go to Kellogg.

4. CBS as a brand has been on a decline while Kellogg has been in top 5/6 schools in the last 7-10 years.

5. Kellogg will have a much greater Midwest focused impact for IB/PE. You are going to have a leg up because of Kellogg brand but based out of NYC, you’ll be competing against students from NYU Stern and Wharton.

Take these points into account. If I were in your position, ill choose Kellogg having personally gone through IB recruiting.

Posted from my mobile device

kardonirish24 · Answer

Both are great schools and honestly you can probably end up achieving your post-MBA goal from either school...the main difference will be how you get there. Recruiting for jobs in NYC from Kellogg will be different from recruiting while you live in the city, and there are pros and cons for each. For banking, there is a much larger network from CBS, especially in NYC, but like the poster above mentioned, there will also be more people trying to get a banking job at CBS than at Kellogg. This also means, however, that your post-MBA network in finance will also be much larger if you go to Columbia. My post-MBA goal is consulting, and while Kellogg is known for consulting, CBS actually sends more people into consulting than banking, so it is also a great consulting school, with a lot of alums in East Coast offices. If you are going for banking, I probably wouldn't recommend recruiting for consulting at the same time though since they have similar timelines and both require a lot of your time during the first semester, making it difficult to recruit for both. I really liked both Kellogg and Columbia but ended up picking CBS because I wanted a network in NYC, I connected well with the people I met during the admit weekend, and I felt comfortable that it would allow me to achieve my post-MBA goal. While I am currently still in the process of finding a summer internship, I have received interview invites at every firm I was interested in, so I'm part of the way there. Many of my friends interested in banking have multiple interview invites from top banks, and they'll know by the end of this week where they have offers from. As for the brand, I do agree with you that Columbia has a bigger brand name than Kellogg in Asia because of the reputation of the parent university, so if you are intending to return to Asia in the future, that is definitely something to consider. However, while I want to tell you to come to Columbia, after going through the same decision process last year, it really is about where you feel like you belong and where you think you'll thrive. Both schools will get you where you want afterward.

schadenfreudehere · Answer

CBS. It's a no-brainer. Better brand and a considerably better school if your focus is Finance

While Kellogg is great for Marketing and Consulting, its not in the top-tier when it comes to Finance (ft #19, US news #11) - has been consistently outranked by Anderson, Cornell etc.

MBAPursuit123 · Answer

Thank you everyone! 
Reading through the responses, I’m leaning towards New York given my more international background and the strong finance network there.

Ive signed up for both admit weekends, which thankfully are in two consecutive weekends. Will use this opportunity to understand the culture at each school and gauge the in’s and out’s of recruiting.

Posted from my mobile device

kardonirish24 · Answer

I'll warn you ahead of time--Kellogg puts on a much better and much more fun admit weekend, but don't let that distract you from your reasons for attending business school. I definitely almost submitted my Kellogg deposit while I was at DAK (I visited Columbia and Kellogg in the same weekend), but I forced myself to wait to return home to make my decision so that I could really reflect on the two schools, and I ended up picking Columbia in the end. Enjoy both weekends, and hopefully you'll know which one is a better fit after!

gmatlover12 · Answer

Hi  MBAPursuit123 , what did you ended up choosing?

Kellogg vs Columbia - 2 year full time MBA

Kellogg or CBS?

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