Undecided - 02-25-2022 | Clear Admit DecisionWire

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February 25, 2022 4:10am ET

Enrolled: Undecided

Admitted: Columbia , Cornell / Johnson $

$150000

, MIT Sloan

Applied: U. Chicago Booth, Columbia, Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, Yale SOM

Entering Year: 2022

Post MBA Career: Consulting Companies: Bain, BCG, McKinsey

GMAT: 730

Location: NYC

Notes:

Looking for perspective here - admitted to Cornell with Park Fellowship and Columbia with no $$. Waitlisted in R1 by MIT. How much weight does the named scholarship hold with recruiting? CBS is higher ranked as a whole, but wondering how the scholarship might influence employers due to the risk it mitigates financially

Like (4)

Show Comments (8) Last: March 9, 2022

sidparekh Likes Earned: 12 Congratulations on the great offers! I'd say follow the money for two reasons: 1. While yes, Columbia does have the M7 edge in terms of MBB recruiting, Cornell seems to be doing better since a couple of years. But even then, a lot of people seem to ignore the fact that many people from M7 programs also go to Tier-2 strategy consulting firms and M7 programs generally have a higher percentage of candidates who are "MBB or bust" - meaning they pursue other career options if they strike out from MBB recruiting (Intern & FT) 2. Since you're presumably working in NYC, you already may be having a strong NYC network. Combined with Cornell's strong alumni base in the NYC area, the prestigious full-ride with additional mentorship opportunities makes it a compelling package. From what I've heard, employers do look at the prestigious scholarships, but nothing more than a cursory glance. A lot depends on how "MBB or bust" you are and your personal financial situation. Do factor in the higher COL of NYC vs Ithaca as well. All the best! (3)

eliot Verified User. Likes Earned: 1902 Congrats on your acceptances to CBS and your $150k scholarship to Cornell! (Based on your note, it sounds like you are currently waitlisted at MIT Sloan). 1) Park Fellowship. The main benefit of the fellowship is that you will save $150k on your tuition costs. Meaning, I don't think that a Park Fellowship per se will give you any advantage in MBB recruitment. Top consulting firms place a lot more emphasis on your intellect - meaning, they will look at your first year MBA grads and your GMAT score. 3) Scholarship: Clearly, Johnson has a big advantage here since you have a $150k scholarship vs none at CBS or MIT. In addition, as spsdp mentioned, your cost of living is likely to be higher in Manhattan than in Ithaca. 3) MBB placement. While both schools offer solid MBB job placement, CBS does have an edge in MBB placement. Looking at Class of 2020 MBB placements, just over half of CBS grads accepting consulting jobs landed a MBB consulting position vs about 40% for Cornell Johnson graduates accepting consulting jobs. 4) Fit - do you have any personal preference between these two programs? Would you prefer to be in CBS' larger program in NYC or a Johnson's smaller, close-knit program in Ithaca? I encourage you to do your due diligence. In summary, I agree with spsdp. Johnson with a $150k scholarship sounds quite attractive. In addition, I am sure that you would be competitive for MBB jobs as a student at Johnson. Just be sure to do your due diligence to confirm your personal fit. Best of luck. (3)

anon10646 Likes Earned: 783 What I recall of the Park Fellowship, it won't really provide any tangible recruiting advantages, beyond the leadership add-on stuff you might use as some content to weave into some networking and interviews. However, in your elevator pitch story, when you get to 'why you choose Cornell', you slip in 'and I was one of 25 students to receive the Park Fellowship of full tuition,' and it's a differentiator. You now stand out among your peers in your cohort to alumni and bump up your rep to any non-alumni you talk to as infers you could have gone to a higher rank. I took a full over higher ranks last year and it definitely helped me punch above my weight in recruiting, but it won't quite be 'Park Fellow' suddenly equals CBS, but it signals you as top percentiles. As mentioned, CBS doesn't actually have that huge of an MBB difference, although if you really won't be satisfied with a T2, the ~50% placement jump of new joiners could be a big deal. I'd say to look into the placements with each club as each school is known for their financial services. Check it's not people at Johnson just being really organized and dedicated to a single industry pipeline and some people at CBS half-hearting trying consulting as one of a couple areas - i.e any at CBS who tried for MBB got it, but those at Johnson had to fight for it. Also, obviously think about which type of class size, culture, and location fits you best. Some people don't like NYC, but others cannot handle somewhere as rural of a college town as Ithaca. Do your due diligence for what will work best for you. If you really love CBS, maybe see if you can negotiate your way into 25-30K, but my perspective would be take the $$$$ from Johnson with figures as-is. (2)

zs24 Likes Earned: 140 OP: This was helpful perspective - assessing for fit is a lot easier than deciding the financial implications of taking money vs. loans. At the end of the day, its a great problem to have I suppose! Thanks for the feedback and help! (2)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1677 More details on this decision in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2022/03/wire-taps-219/ (1)

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1238 This was indeed a tricky one. Hopefully the discussion on the podcast episode helps as you weigh your options!
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