Yale SOM vs Columbia Business School for Deferred Applicant
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07 Jul 2020, 12:42
Hi everyone!
Scenario
I have the great (and difficult) choice between Yale and Columbia. For context, I am an applicant straight out of college, so I am admitted to Yale Silver Scholars and the Deferred Enrollment Program at CBS. I just graduated with a BS in Business/ Economics, but for COVID-related reasons I will stay at my current university for one more year to get an MS in Applied Economics. For those of you familiar with the programs, Yale technically requires you to enroll right away without work experience, but in order to get my MS next ear, I was able to negotiate a deferral with the school.
Background
A little bit about me: 23-y/o recent graduate from a Top10 public school in the US. White male European citizen. My short-term career goal is to go into strategy/ turnaround consulting (MBB), and then eventually pivot into a managerial role. In terms of where I want to work, I am pretty flexible, even though I think that I might have to stay in the US for a few years after graduation to make US money to pay off my debt. I was not able to visit any of the schools in question yet. Columbia is a regular deferred program (entry 2023-2025), while I would attend Yale for one year (core classes), then do a one-year internship, and then go back to school for another year (electives).
Yale
Pros: super super nice recruiting process, cost of living would not be incredibly high, good for consulting, Silver Scholar Program sets you apart from others (only 20 or so of us each class), networking with two separate classes, reputation of the brand name in Europe, gave me a deferral (shows interest?)
Cons: not sure if too focused on social impact, MBB recruiting with only one year of full-time experience (internship) might be more difficult, no money
Columbia
Pros: brand name in the US bigger, greater alumni network, MBB recruiting might be more established, NYC seems like a great place to be, might get a scholarship (who knows?)
Cons: did not really get that "feel" that I get from Yale, might be more difficult to form meaningful relationships due to big city and bigger class, have to recruit out of my school (non-target for sure) during a pandemic (2022) after I graduate from my MS to work for 2-4 years.
Questions
What should I do?? Haha, no, but seriously, I definitely need help.
-Is the possibility of getting company sponsorship for CBS even something I should consider? How common is that? And as I said, I have no idea how good my chances to get into MBB are out of my school.
-I know that CBS is ranked higher, but I also know that Yale's social focus skews their grads' salary down a lot (looking into employment reports, consultants out of each school make nearly the same). Also - do rankings really matter in the Top 10?
-Speaking about employment reports: Yale does not publish numbers about where their grads go. How good is MBB placement out of SOM?
Sorry for the long post! I greatly appreciate any and every response!
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