Duke, USC, Columbia or Boston U?

[apu]

hi all, i've posted many threads before asking ppl for their comments on US grad schools. Now after months of 'hard-work' and patience, it comes down to choosing the best offer, so, what do u guys recommend between the following grad schools

Duke University

University of Southern California

Columbia University

Boston University

[englandmj7]

You got an offer from all of these schools? Good job man.

Personally, I would choose Columbia, as I have had family members who went there/go there and loved it.

What are your career prospects? That should sway your decision towards certain schools out of those.

[apu]

career prospect ->management

my background is in engineering and biotechnology

i was thinking Duke but Columbia is another option

USC is good as well cos i'd like to stay in LA (many family friends there) but i heard USD is full of rich kids, etc

[englandmj7]

career prospect ->management

my background is in engineering and biotechnology

i was thinking Duke but Columbia is another option

USC is good as well cos i'd like to stay in LA (many family friends there) but i heard USD is full of rich kids, etc

He heh; USC has some rich kids, but they also have thousands of students who are not. I went to school in LA and many of my friends went to USC. I was never into their campus at all (alas, it is in the heart of south central's ghetto). Only thing 'close by' in LA standards is downtown; all the places you might want to hang out are long drives in LA traffic (W. Hollywood, Venice, Santa Monica, hell, even Silver Lake & Los Feliz). Then again, it's only for 2 years...........

Some good companies interview at USC, but at the end of the day, I would tend to lean more towards the ivy league (Columbia) for a larger array of top industry affiliations.

[mis]

I'd go to Duke or Columbia, I generally get bad vibes from people who talk about USC(ie rich kids school, and you need a high GPA to grad.), but their alumni is supposed to be very strong

[apu]

yes, Columbia or Duke are what I have in mind

how about the Geological advantages of each uni? e.g. whether there are high-tech/IT companies around, etc (sorry, i am from Australia and I was real bad at Geography and all)

[ddohnggo]

is this for business school? it honestly depends on the grad program you're going for as schools tend to have strengths in specific grad programs. if it's an mba, i would say duke or columbia. my sister currently goes to columbia for her mba and really likes it. but you should really look into the school's programs to see if their strengths align with your goal in management the best.

[ddohnggo]

yes, Columbia or Duke are what I have in mind

how about the Geological advantages of each uni? e.g. whether there are high-tech/IT companies around, etc (sorry, i am from Australia and I was real bad at Geography and all)

columbia = new york city (i.e. everything is around)

duke = north carolina (not much is happening)

[djrajio]

If you're considering management, I would definitely consider Duke or Columbia. For high-tech/IT, then Duke would probably be a better choice. There are several VCs around the area that are hot beds for the bio-tech/pharm companys in the delta. Columbia would probably be better for management consulting, i.e. McKinsey, et. al. largely because its proximity to New York. Hedge funds/investments banks would probably be better for Columbia as well, but I know the top-tier banks make rounds in the fall to Duke.

[apu]

tough one

looks like i need to use the search function more

[englandmj7]

yes, Columbia or Duke are what I have in mind

how about the Geological advantages of each uni? e.g. whether there are high-tech/IT companies around, etc (sorry, i am from Australia and I was real bad at Geography and all)

I don't know crap about Duke unfortunately.........

Columbia - NYC's vast array of consulting firms and investment banks. Damn near every other type of company in the world as well though......

USC - Major entertainment companies (CBS, Disney, Universal, Warner) as well as branches of all the Silicon Valley techs (Apple, Oracle, Microsoft). Investment banks and consulting firms too, of course.

If you are focusing on tech. I don't think there would be much of an advantage to considering USC over Columbia. They are both good schools and I am sure they have an equal number of tech-related companies interviewing at both. Your #1 option in this field would have been Stanford of course (right in the heart of Silicon Valley)........

[apu]

after some rigorous searching

i confirmed that the course at Duke offers more specializations within Science and Technology as well as technology management

whereas the course at Columbia University offers these two only,

Logistics and Supply Chain Optimization

Revenue and Risk Management

[apu]

I don't know crap about Duke unfortunately.........

Columbia - NYC's vast array of consulting firms and investment banks. Damn near every other type of company in the world as well though......

USC - Major entertainment companies (CBS, Disney, Universal, Warner) as well as branches of all the Silicon Valley techs (Apple, Oracle, Microsoft). Investment banks and consulting firms too, of course.

If you are focusing on tech. I don't think there would be much of an advantage to considering USC over Columbia. They are both good schools and I am sure they have an equal number of tech-related companies interviewing at both. Your #1 option in this field would have been Stanford of course (right in the heart of Silicon Valley)........

yea, Stanford, my dream school

unfortunately i was regretfully informed that my admission was rejected as there are too many applicants blah blah blah...

i mean my GPA, GRE, work experience is no way good enuf for Stanford

[mis]

Did you take SATs?

[apu]

naaa... i thought SAT is for undergrads

i took GRE and 3 weeks isnt really enuf for preparation

and one thing that pissed me right off was that for the verbal section, the computer based test is wayyy harder as for paper versions, the verbal section is much easier

well, forget abt GRE, dont need to take it anymore in my lifetime

[ayn]

sucks that the school(s) in the bay area didn't like you... from the list I'd go with Columbia... all the other ones kindda suck (sorry)...

[poly800rock]

yeah, i'd really only consider duke and columbia. seems like every school has a business school and name recognition counts ESPECIALLY for business schools. Case and point being how many people have MBA's now, and essentially making it a standard, not an option for advancement. You also have to figure that since 99% of people get their jobs through hookups anyways, I'd think that a better name school would have better hookups

[djrajio]

Sorry to hear about your rejection. You could always consider getting your MBA from there...

[ayn]

also I'd choose NYC due to the network you would build up there while u'r in school, and obviously for the shopping and clubs and restaurants and what not that NYC has to offer... columbia it is man... forget about the rest...

[englandmj7]

Sorry to hear about your rejection. You could always consider getting your MBA from there...

Oops; I was confused.

Your not going for your MBA apu?

[apu]

thx AYN for the feedback

i dont have to return my admission decision until later so i guess theres still plenty of time to look around, as at the moment, i am going thru some job interviews for graduate programs (at various companies in IT, consulting, etc)

if i am lucky enuf to get a job offer, i might defer my masters admission and hope that if my performace is good enuf, they might consider sponsoring me for a MBA or something

[apu]

Oops; I was confused.

Your not going for your MBA apu?

i would if i am old enuf and have few years of work experience as most good MBAs require the applicant to have at least 3 years full time employment experience

i am just straight out of Uni and talking abt full time employment, i only have 3 months full time as an intern, the rest are part time working as sales, asst. manager, and hard labor

[mwrenchd]

I'm getting my MBA at Columbia right now and have been pretty impressed with the school. Aside from top private equity and venture capital funds, I basically have my pick of jobs. And that is more a function of my experience before school rather than Columbia not having good placement in those fields. Harvard and Stanford were the only other schools I would have considered going to over Columbia.

That said, I don't know anything about the program you are considering. You really should be considering the merits of the individual degree programs and not the institution as a whole. Value of your graduate degree will hinge on the individual program's prestige, not that of the whole university.

e.g. Yale has maybe 5 peer institutions globally for undergrad and will get you in the door at nearly any company. The MBA program, on the other hand, is rather middling, and it is an uphill battle to get into a bulge-bracket bank from there.

[djrajio]

Good points. I know from my own connections and friends at MBA, nearly all the VCs (75%+) on Sand Hill come from Stanford MBA or have close connections with the school. At first I thought it was just an abberation... Same goes the other way for banks and consulting, Wharton, Columbia, Harvard. Tufts has also gotten very good in terms of reputation....

[apu]

I'm getting my MBA at Columbia right now and have been pretty impressed with the school. Aside from top private equity and venture capital funds, I basically have my pick of jobs. And that is more a function of my experience before school rather than Columbia not having good placement in those fields. Harvard and Stanford were the only other schools I would have considered going to over Columbia.

That said, I don't know anything about the program you are considering. You really should be considering the merits of the individual degree programs and not the institution as a whole. Value of your graduate degree will hinge on the individual program's prestige, not that of the whole university.

e.g. Yale has maybe 5 peer institutions globally for undergrad and will get you in the door at nearly any company. The MBA program, on the other hand, is rather middling, and it is an uphill battle to get into a bulge-bracket bank from there.

yea, i am going to look more into how their individual degree is like, and maybe ask around a few professionals

pity not many ppl around me knows abt these stuff, lucky i've got SuFu

[mwrenchd]

My advice is to put off school and get some experience. Getting a masters now is going to sort of pigeon-hole you. You need to know you really, really like that field before allowing that to happen w/o any full-time work experience. The job market is strong right now -- don't go back to school right away just because it's what you are used to doing.

[apu]

i agree with the work first option

but here in Australia, employment opportunities is alot less than in the US, especially in the field i am interested in (that is Biotech, Pharmaceutics, etc)

I have applied for graduate programs in IBM, SunCorp, Accenture, HP, etc and i'll see how i go in the 3 rounds of interviews

[djrajio]

Agreed. Its sort of a catch 22. Most top investment banks and consulting firms recognize two distinct entry programs for new graduates, Analyst (undergrad) and Associate (MBA/PhD) programs. The catch is that even if you go for a Masters, you'll most likely be pigeon-holed into an Analyst program with those with just an undergraduate degree. The work and compensation will be completely the same. You could certainly apply outside of these programs, but these programs tend to be the feeders to the top desks and positions in banks/consulting positions. The other catch is that, because the game has gotten so competitive, now many employeers are only hiring people with Masters+. I know in my firm and group, I'm the only new hire who does have a masters or ph.d....Of course for bio-tech/tech-IT, its mostly contigent on your work-experience, research experience, etc. But these fields tend to be extremely specialized and moving into other industries tends to be more difficult.

[apu]

yea, it aint easy to make a living these days, a good living that can afford me with 300 dollar jeans and all

i just have to wait and see for another month, and if no luck for the graduate programs/jobs, i am gonna start an intership straight away to add to my CV

[apu]

also, just wondering how hard is it to find a company that is willing to sponsor their employee for US permanent residency???