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Joined: 04 Dec 2002
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Re: Wharton-Lauder ($$$) vs. CBS J-term ($0)
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18 Dec 2021, 18:45
Hi and Congratulations on your success with the applications. I can see where you’re coming from comparing Wharton and Columbia.
I feel that if you already have a net work in New York and you can rely on that, it could be more advantageous than a summer internship. I don’t know how well known you’re brand this for your current firm. If it’s a well-known brand, I see no hesitations about skipping a summer internship. The main value of an internship is to validate you as a candidate and give you either a brand or relevant work experience which are lacking. Since you’re not liking relevant work experience the only value for internship would be getting a brand name. Of course internship also provides a foot in the door but circle companies and industries go through a lot of interns to recruit just a handful of people.
Business school will be challenging. You will have their little time. You will have to manage the time between school, family, and recruiting. Usually this means people will neglect recruiting to certain extent which happens to be the most important yet least deadline driven element. I would think about which program would give you the best opportunity to do recruiting. Obviously Wharton has a lot of connections and pathways into hedge funds and private equity and investment banking. Columbia does too since it’s right there in New York. What about other aspect, such as personal life and getting DO degree with a distract you? You can easily make up the difference in scholarship by graduating a year early and making $300,000 in your first year.
Bottom line, I would consider your ability to recruit and weigh the pros and cons from the standpoint. Think about what gives you the best chances and the most opportunities.
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