Comparing New York City’s Top B-Schools

New York is home to a number of top B-schools. As a global epicenter of business, finance, and media, NYC provides numerous opportunities for MBAs to thrive.

Stacy Blackman, founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting, recently did a deep-dive comparison of three top-ranked MBA programs in NYC: Columbia Business School (CBS), NYU Stern School of Business, and Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management and highlighted some of the key benefits of each.

COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL (CBS)

Columbia’s acceptance rate, like many other business schools, has increased in recent years due to a drop in MBA applications. Still, at 22.1%, CBS is considered one of the top B-schools in the nation.

The B-school offers a strong core curriculum with unique courses tailored to specific industries like private equity, real estate, and sustainability.

“Aspiring MBA candidates should consider applying to Columbia Business School if they seek a rigorous education from a top-ranked institution while enjoying the networking opportunities provided by its prime location near Wall Street,” Blackman says.

NYU STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

One of the biggest differentiators of NYU Stern’s MBA program is its focus on EQ.

“We are in the business of creating the conditions for a transformative MBA experience at NYU Stern,” JP Eggers, Vice Dean of the MBA program at NYU Stern, tells P&Q. “MBA students choose us, in part, because we promise to be the place where they learn how to make “change” their ally. Stern is a pivotal point in their journey to becoming inclusive leaders who build trust and inspire action using EQ.”

Flexible program options are another selling point for NYU Stern’s MBA. The B-school offers two one-year specialized programs in addition to its traditional two-year program.

“Many working professionals choose part-time or online MBA programs offered by NYU Stern while maintaining their full-time jobs, allowing them to apply their newly acquired skills in real time and build valuable connections within the business world,” Blackman says.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY – SAMUEL CURTIS JOHNSON GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

In early 2021, Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management designated its MBA as a STEM degree, which led to a 21% increase in overall applications.

With locations in both Ithaca and NYC, Cornell offers a true two-campus experience.

“Constructed from scratch to meet the needs of the digital economy, the campus features a curriculum in which MBAs team with graduate students in engineering and computer science to complete consulting projects and develop start-up ideas,” Dean Mark Nelson tells P&Q. “Our MBA students can spend from a weekend to an entire year at Cornell Tech, experiencing all that we have to offer at Cornell’s Ithaca campus as well as in the heart of Manhattan.”

Additionally, the B-school is well-known for its immersion program, where students spend their second semester first year focusing on a career interest like consulting, investment banking, tech, marketing, or operations.

“[Students] appreciate the opportunity to engage with real companies under the supervision of an experienced practitioner, and they come back from their summer internships very grateful for the advantage their immersion gave them when competing with other interns for full-time offers,” Nelson says.

Sources: Stacy Blackman Consulting, P&Q, P&Q, P&Q

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