Columbia Students???

[trance2]

Would actually like to know who on this board goes or has gone to Columbia Grad school. I'm looking to go for my MBA or in information systems. I'm looking to see the difference between Columbia and Stern. I heard Stern blows Columbia away as far as MBA goes. Sorry to go off topic like this, but looking for some info and help. I'm working at Prudential right now as a research analyst. Maybe I should post this on Monday since no one wants to read this on Friday night. I just read Napster is not going anywhere for a while.

[herculesmo]

if u can get into columbia i'd go there.. The program at stern is probably better but in the end people look at the name and say "wow columbia"..

it's helpful most employers are a lot stupider than the people applying hehe

[PinkFloyd40]

i'm in stern right now and plan on going for my mba as well. I'm working at an accounting firm currently(Edward Issacs & co.) but i don't intend to major in accounting. Possibly finance, but not sure. Anyway, about the whole columbia thing, stern is the top in the country to my knowledge, and i understand whats being said about the whole rep. w/ columbia, but companies and firms recruiting know that stern is such an amazing school, and NYU is not inferior to columbia anymore. The school is on par w/ columbia, and is applying for ivy league status. So that one notch for columbia will no longer even be an advantage since they both are gonna be ivy leagues.

-Rob

------------------

"And thus they give the time, that Nature meant

For peaceful sleep and meditative snores,

To ceaseless din and mindless merriment

And waste of shoes and floors."

[liquidsquid]

[This message has been edited by liquidsquid (edited 07-30-2000).]

[liquidsquid]

i,m so sick of living with nosy roomates that steal your passwords.

then you come back from a party and check the board and there's a whole mess of embarrassing replies that need to be edited.

i need to get my own place.

pissed off!

[This message has been edited by liquidsquid (edited 07-30-2000).]

[madnadder]

As a grad of one of these Ivy League institutions, I can tell you that the name Columbia brings with it is certainly strong but the recruiters know exactly where each B school stands and they view Stern as higher than columbia. Having finished one of the more quantitativly-strong schools, recruiters still view columbia as a liberal arts approach to biz, and stern is more finance oriented...so it depends what you want to do. If its to continue in securities research, i think Stern is the better choice . If its to meet and network with very diverse class, columbia might be better, but i work on wall street now and i've met maybe one person so far from Colubmia B-school.

Oh, and pfloyd, NYU is a great school, but its not becoming Ivy league any time soon. No such thing as "applying" for Ivy League status...ivy's are and will stay what they are, that won't change, its a history book.

[Guest cosmicgirl]

i go to stern and am so so so happy here....the vibe at nyu cannot be beat

[john58]

jennysweet,

First off, let me say that its refreshing to learn that people pursuing/possessing MBA's are reading the club board. I doubt most of the people I went to Wharton with would look away from their Bloomberg terminals long enough to end up posting something here.

Anyway, I believe that both Columbia and Stern are great schools. As was said earlier, Stern has a better reputation in finance. However, an argument could be made that Columbia has more name recognition to a wider range of employers. Why? Because the business school uses the same name as an elite undergraduate institution, which will be recognizable to firms that don't typically hire MBA's. Will a financial firm recognize and respect the Stern name? Absolutely. Will a small startup in the Northwest US? Maybe, maybe not.

In the end though, these issues matter far less than the amount of focus you have when you begin your masters program. This is not to say that you should have your entire life mapped out when you begin. However, by the time you start interviewing, you will do a lot better (and feel a lot saner) if you focus your attention on a narrow range of positions. When you begin your program, you will have a lot less spare time than you would like to research all the different companies and positions out there, so you should try to learn a lot about your career goals before going. My point is that the important question is not where will you do your MBA, but when and why. Once you can definitively answer this, you will probably make a better decision when choosing a school.

One final thought... you should consider each program's academic structure in your decision too. Some programs use a lot of case-based learning in their classes. Harvard, for example, is exclusively case based. For quantitative classes, I never thought that made much sense. Some programs (Wharton for example) have student body policies that prevent employers from asking about grades. In hiring, this favors students with prior experience in their chosen field, since employers have no other tangible means to distinguish between candidates. If you have an opinion on these types of policies, you should weigh that into your decision...

oops, i guess i've started rambling a bit here. my main point is that any top school will be beneficial to you, but by carefully defining what you want from an MBA, you can select the school that you will be happiest at professionally and academically.

[PinkFloyd40]

madnadder- i didn't mean apply as in fill out an application. What i meant is that L.J. has worked very hard to raise the precedents of the school and has fundraised greats amounts to achieve that goal. Ivy leagues must have certain of these precedents met(ie so many volumes in library system etc.) in order to receive such status. Oliva is aiming high and the school and students are really benefiting as a result

-Rob

------------------

"And thus they give the time, that Nature meant

For peaceful sleep and meditative snores,

To ceaseless din and mindless merriment

And waste of shoes and floors."

[john58]

jennysweet,

First off, let me say that its refreshing to learn that people pursuing/possessing MBA's are reading the club board. I doubt most of the people I went to Wharton with would look away from their Bloomberg terminals long enough to end up posting something here.

Anyway, I believe that both Columbia and Stern are great schools. As was said earlier, Stern has a better reputation in finance. However, an argument could be made that Columbia has more name recognition to a wider range of employers. Why? Because the business school uses the same name as an elite undergraduate institution, which will be recognizable to firms that don't typically hire MBA's. Will a financial firm recognize and respect the Stern name? Absolutely. Will a small startup in the Northwest US? Maybe, maybe not.

In the end though, these issues matter far less than the amount of focus you have when you begin your masters program. This is not to say that you should have your entire life mapped out when you begin. However, by the time you start interviewing, you will do a lot better (and feel a lot saner) if you focus your attention on a narrow range of positions. When you begin your program, you will have a lot less spare time than you would like to research all the different companies and positions out there, so you should try to learn a lot about your career goals before going. My point is that the important question is not where will you do your MBA, but when and why. Once you can definitively answer this, you will probably make a better decision when choosing a school.

One final thought... you should consider each program's academic structure in your decision too. Some programs use a lot of case-based learning in their classes. Harvard, for example, is exclusively case based. For quantitative classes, I never thought that made much sense. Some programs (Wharton for example) have student body policies that prevent employers from asking about grades. In hiring, this favors students with prior experience in their chosen field, since employers have no other tangible means to distinguish between candidates. If you have an opinion on these types of policies, you should weigh that into your decision...

oops, i guess i've started rambling a bit here. my main point is that any top school will be beneficial to you, but by carefully defining what you want from an MBA, you can select the school that you will be happiest at professionally and academically.

[trance2]

What other schools are good for an MBA then? I think I pretty much have my mind set on Stern. I will be commuting so it's not like I'm looking for a college life or anything like that. And to be honest with you, I can care less about the vibe. I'm more interested in how the professors are and how well they prepare you for the jobs to come. I think any job will look at either of these 2 school's graduates and know they are fully competent people. Does anyone goto Stern? If so can they tell me if they like it>?