Hi, im tossing up between these two schools. I really want to go into business and want to have good job opportunities.
I love BC’s campus and the schools whole vibe but I don’t know if CSOM is competitive enough. Stern is in a great location for internships and jobs but if the difference between CSOM and Stern is not too large in job placement I’d rather go to BC.
Thanks 
The job opportunities you’ll have after you graduate (5 yrs from now) are dependent on too many variables. These include the job market, your interests which will likely change during college, your GPA, where companies are hiring, etc.
Are there some differences between job opportunities between these two schools? Sure. Are they enough to matter at this point? No.
Both are great business schools and both will afford you great employment opportunities when you graduate. Check off that box, and move on to the many other important aspects of college life for your selection.
It all depends on a lot of things. For example, if you want to major in accounting than bc is the obvious choice as they have one of the top accounting schools and I don’t think stern even offers an accounting major. Realistically I think job offers would be around the same if your majoring in something in demand, but if you only really care about prestige then you should go to stern.
The difference will be that you really have to be at the top of CSOM to have a chance of pulling the similiar opportunities the 3.4-3.5 kids at Stern with great year round experiences will have no problem getting.
As long as you do well at Carroll (3.8/3.9+) you can still be in a decent position
@qwertyzxc:
As a junior at Stern, I’m sure you’re in a great position to provide input on what opportunities your upperclassmen friends have experienced. What is your source of information for comparing that to CSOM?
Dear qwertyzxc : Your post is extremely disappointing in that you are providing disinformation which is worse than not answering the question.
Explain where you have seen data sheets suggesting that a 3.5 NYU Stern average maps to a 3.9 BC Carroll average. Further, please offer hiring firms that you have seen at either institution that would share these types of metrics. Truth be told, hiring firms would never - repeat never - disclose metrics based on GPA as representing a hiring decision. That is what makes your discussion so very disappointing - it is uninformed.
Let’s turn this discussion towards concrete data points.
One student (hometown friends with my older attendee at BC) transferred from BC to NYU following his freshman year after deciding he wanted to be in the New York area. Another student (hometown friends with my younger attendee at BC) transferred from NYU to BC into order to get a stronger college campus environment in the Boston area. Both students (after transfers) took amazingly similar courses as they would have at the original institution; knowing both candidates, their performances and grades were based on their own efforts.
Both graduated into entry level business positions with Big-4 consulting firms with opening salaries in the $65,000-$70,000 range (recall, these two data points are two years apart, hence the range). Both are now working 70-80 hours per week inside these consulting organizations and both are equally questioning their decision to focus on business as opposed to a set of potentially broader options afforded by liberal arts. When one has no life outside of work, such questions about your real passions in life are easier to identify.
If you have never done it - really done it - working 70-80 hours per week is certainly a game for young people in their early 20s with 14 hour days, Monday through Saturday, without so much as commuting and (imagine this) having any social time.
The point of today’s essay is simple : Both schools, NYU and BC, will afford you great opportunities in business. However once you step into those business waters, the workload and time commitment will be like nothing you have ever experienced previously. Your metrics about a 3.5 vs. a 3.9 will very quickly fade.
Scottj nailed it on the GPA. There are plenty of CSOM students with a GPA in the 3.5 range who get top notch jobs. That’s because firms look at much more than the GPA. They look closely at extra-curriculars. Specifically, did you make a difference outside the classroom? Those that throw their hearts into it are true leaders and desired by many firms. The time commitment to do that while getting good grades also gets at work ethic.
You can’t go wrong with either school to be sure. Look at the rankings of CSOM and Stern. Both are very highly ranked. Look for fit. There’s a whole lot more to college than how grades can get you a job.
IMO, the only real plus to Stern is that it is a big feeder to Wall Street, so if that is your target, and the costs are similar, then yes, the Village makes sense. OTOH, the Big 4+ accounting firms hire from everywhere.
My point was not about 3.5 vs 3.9 student’s performance on the job. I was talking more in line with the recruitment opportunities available to each school in different GPA ranges and will lay out my argument below.
My evidence comparing it to CSOM is that I have several friends from high school who went to CSOM and whom I still talk to. These kids are performing at the top with 3.8/+ GPAs at BC CSOM and the best that they did was places like Jefferies and UBS which is not bad at all (great in fact) but those same kids at Stern with those type of GPAs go places like Evercore, GS, MS, BX, Lazard and buyside shops. I talk to them about the recruitment opportunities and there is a distinct difference in the kinds of place students go to from both schools. My understanding is that Front-office finance is only reserved for the top kids at BC CSOM while a lot more students at Stern from different GPA ranges get those opportunities (experience is a big reason).
Not trying to toot my own horn but as a junior at stern with a 3.4-3.5 GPA I was able to land multiple BB IBs (JP, BAML, Barclays). While this happens frequently at Stern (more so true for MMs than BBs however), that for sure is not happening at Boston College - I’d be hard pressed to find any BC junior or senior with a 3.5 going to a BB for IB let alone any IB job at all. I’m not saying its because BC CSOM is a bad program because it definitely is not (its a great school and lots of smart people come out of it every year).
The reason is because the Stern students are doing IB internships at small boutiques starting freshman year. For example I had a IB boutique internship during my sophomore year which led me to get great interviews / offers from all sorts of places my junior year.
Experience and networking trumps everything else, especially at smaller places. These two are Stern’s biggest advantages and that’s why Stern students with lower GPAs are able to land top-tier jobs.