Hi all,
I was accepted into both NYU Stern and Cornell AEM and I’m having a very tough time choosing. I want to major in both finance and economics/applied economics in both schools. I want to eventually work in Venture Capital or Management Consulting. I wouldn’t mind Private Equity either, just not investment banking or capital markets. Here are my concerns:
Although I got a 40k scholarship from stern, it will still cost 33k, and I’ll end up with around 40-ish-k in student loans. Cornell, on the other hand will meet 100% of my financial needs.
Stern is in the city, which SHOULD be nice and is accessible to my family (who lives abroad) since JFK is right there.
Cornell has a campus which should be nice, but terrible weather…
I also heard that AEM is considered a joke while Stern is taken more seriously… But Cornell IS ivy. I need help 
Will also post on NYU forum
AEM is not, not, not, considered a joke. Its generally considered at worse a top 10 undegraduate business program, and based on a fast rising reputation for being a leading edge Applied Economics program is generally considered top 3. With that said, Stern is absolutely top notch as well, and you should be proud of being admitted to two top ranked programs. I think what people will start to see over the next decade is an even greater rise in the ranking and exclusivity of a Dyson AEM degree. It’s already a hotly recruited program by the big consulting and IB firms nationally; as well as in New York. If you truly have a 100% ride to Cornell AEM I think your decision should be a no brainer. The great appeal of AEM is not only a very specialized & highly relevant set of concentrations it offers you as a student, but also the fact that you are in a rarefied group of 150 students or less per class. That kind of top end business program is incredibly rare. I believe Wharton for example has 800 plus students per class. So if you really are struggling with this question you need to do a deeper dive into what makes Cornell AEM a program that is so far beyond being a joke. Question, if what you’ve read that AEM is a joke why did you apply?
I heard it was a joke looooong after I applied. I honestly believe and know its a top program. I just read somewhere that a lot of frat students go there… I didn’t get a full ride, I would pay 18k compared to sterns 33k. Is Cornell’s weather a turn off? Thanks!
AEM is an excellent program and you will get pretty good recruiting there. Cornell after all is one of the best hunting grounds for Wall Street jobs. However I would go to Stern. Access to NYC for 4 years is an amazing thing. It’ll give you a unique experience and you get to enjoy NYC and not just be there working all the time.
It doesn’t matter that Cornell is an Ivy - I have many friends here at Stern who came to NYU over great schools such as yale, columbia, cornell, dartmouth, brown, duke, uchicago etc. These days the ivy tag doesn’t mean much any more since there are so many great programs people would gladly take over a lot of them and Stern is one of those programs
I would pick based on what school you like more - money aside, most people would probably pick Stern given the choice. Seems like it would be more fun and provide more opportunities than Cornell.
Both are great schools and you should be very proud of getting admitted to both! AEM is a fantastic program, and everything said in the first post is correct. It’s very highly regarded and heavily recruited. If I had to guess, the people calling it a “joke” come from Cornell itself and are probably jealous of the job prospects AEM students get after going through (so I hear) what is not an extremely difficult courseload. Combine that with 100% of financial need met, and I would absolutely choose Cornell.
The weather is not as bad as anyone would make you believe. People complain about the weather more often than they do just about anything else, but I’ve lived here 19 years and have survived. This past winter, NYC got hit way harder than Ithaca did!
I’m not sure most people would pick Stern over AEM. That’s highly debatable. However, I agree both are stellar undergraduate business programs. I think AEM’s program intimacy and fast growing reputation should give you something to consider.With that said, Wharton, AEM, Stern, Mendoza, U of V…all great programs so for your purposes fit and finances should be primary factors. Not weather between NYC and Ithaca.
Here’s an interesting ranking from the very reputable Poets & Quants on best undergraduate business program rankings. This is actually based on ROI, and both AEM and Stern are top 10. P&Q also has another cumulative ranking that combines the rankings from USN, Forbes, Businessweek, and Bloomberg. In that ranking AEM is ranked second behind Wharton. So again, which is better? Debatable. The good news is you can’t go wrong with either.
http://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2015/03/09/business-programs-with-the-best-roi/3/
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Thank you everyone! I really appreciate that help! I am leaning towards Cornell due to the intimate class (relative to stern) and it being much cheaper. One last question; is it true that being a sternie (best at nyu) is convenient compared to being dyson (not best at Cornell)?
I think the perception that Dyson AEM is not best or one of the best programs at Cornell is outdated. I think early on the perception that the bulk of the available seats were taken by Athletes was overplayed. The reality is that AEM has less than a 7% acceptance rate (2016). The level of student it admits are top notch, and the general perception of AEM as a top notch program is more accurate within Cornell.
I don’t know where you heard that Cornell AEM is a joke, but most likely they meant that it is a joke because the classes are so easy. The AEM curriculum is known to be easy to get A’s and is probably the hardest school to get into Cornell but the easiest to graduate from.
Alright guys. I’m set in Cornell. You guys really pushed me over the edge. Thank you all!!
@Sternie2020 Just a heads up, breaking into the private equity and venture capital fields is an incredibly difficult process. While there isn’t any set career path, many people enter into those fields after exiting from IB.
Stern is a better B-school. Cornell is a better university.
If Cornell is so much cheaper, it makes little sense to go to Stern unless you are truly wealthy.
I am not truly wealthy lmao. I am truly broke.
I would agree that Stern has a longer history as a strong B-School, but to say its better is difficult to say with any authority. Cornell AEM acceptance rate is less than 7%, and the quality of undergraduate student it attracts is the equal of many other top level programs (Wharton, Stern, etc.). With that said, it’s also a younger business program than many of its peers, but from a perceptual & analytical view it is considered by most measures a top 5 business undergraduate program.
Idk about top 5… I mean, you have Wharton, Sloan, Haas, Ross, Stern, and Tepper!
Poets and Quants has AEM ranked number 2, and their ranking is based on the averages of US News, Businessweek, Forbes, and Bloomberg. So yea top 5. Again, which school is better is always debatable, but there is no question that AEM is viewed as a tier 1 undergraduate business program with the likes of Stern, Wharton, etc.
http://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/school-profile/cornell-university-dyson-school-of-applied-economics-management/
Yeah I heard about that. And why would it be for 18k?
@Sternie2020 Because he said that’s how much the OOP would be for Cornell for him.