<p>Hey, I realize that Dyson has an undergrad program where as Johnson Doesn't, but can somebody please explain the difference between the graduate branches of these schools? Why do they need two different business schools?</p>
<p>The Johnson school is the branch that awards the MBA degree, and is the main “graduate school of business” at Cornell.</p>
<p>The Dyson school is more undergrad focused, and contains the undergraduate business program, AEM (which has been ranked very highly since its inception). </p>
<p>The Dyson school also offers advanced degrees, but not the MBA. The Dyson graduate degrees are more geared toward agricultural economics, Johnson is more for Wall St./Corporate Jobs</p>
<p>@DarkIce</p>
<p>Your idea that the Dyson School (AEM) is “geared more toward agricultural economics” misses the mark. AEM’s Agribusiness Management specialization is, in reality, just one of its ten specializations.</p>
<p>Here are the other specializations within the Dyson School: </p>
<p>Accounting
Applied Economics
Entrepreneurship
Environmental and Resource Economics
Finance
Food Industry Management
International Trade and Development
Marketing
Strategy</p>
<p>[Dyson</a> School of Applied Economics and Management](<a href=“Applied Economics and Management Degree Program | Cornell Dyson”>Applied Economics and Management Degree Program | Cornell Dyson)</p>
<p>Indeed. Here’s a list of last year’s graduates’ job placement:</p>
<p>[Charles</a> H. Dyson School: Careers](<a href=“Applied Economics and Management Degree Program | Cornell Dyson”>Applied Economics and Management Degree Program | Cornell Dyson)</p>
<p>While I hear that the agribusiness focus is particularly strong, my first-blush reaction to this list is that it is similar to what you’d find at most top-level undergraduate business programs.</p>
<p>Dyson is not a separate school, AEM is just one of the majors within CALS. Johnson is the graduate business school.</p>
<p>@silver. Dyson has graduate programs too. Thats what I’m asking about.</p>
<p>This is interesting. While I don’t know the difference in curriculum, it seems as if the graduate programs in AEM prepare their students primarily for careers in academia, with the public sector the second most popular option (more specifically, PhD’s go primarily into academia, and MS grads primarily into the public sector), whereas the Johnson MBA’s will generally follow your traditional private corporate path:</p>
<p>[Charles</a> H. Dyson School: Graduate Program](<a href=“Graduate Programs | Applied Economics and Management | Cornell Dyson”>Graduate Programs | Applied Economics and Management | Cornell Dyson)</p>
<p>Which makes me think that the overlap (and possible redundancy) would exist between the AEM PhD and the Johnson School PhD.</p>
<p>Off to research more.</p>
<p>Back in the day, “Ag Ec” , as we called it, (not “AEM”) was really and truly a department of agricultural economics. Its faculty did outstanding research in areas such as developing country economics, global natural resources, energy economics, etc, real agricultural economics. Then they also had that agribusiness thing going on, I think, since it was the closest thing to an undergrad business program we had. But IMO it pretty clearly appropriately belonged to the ag school, back then.</p>
<p>It’s become a much bigger deal now, with expanded scope significantly beyond its roots, it seems. Based on how everyone is treating it these days anyway; I haven’t actually looked at their curriculum and courses.</p>
<p>Things do change, and this seems to be one of them.</p>
<p>I know 8 seniors/recent grads in AEM. 7 of them are in/going to do Ibanking/finance, the other one is working for an agribusiness thing hedging apples and stuff.</p>
<p>Tboonepickens: do they get into top Ibanks or just normal ones?</p>
<p>“It’s become a much bigger deal now, with expanded scope significantly beyond its roots, it seems. Based on how everyone is treating it these days anyway; I haven’t actually looked at their curriculum and courses.”</p>
<p>lol trust me, as a student here the difficulty of the AEM program is a complete joke, as with all other undergraduate business programs. Upper classes have significant overlap, and really the only useful class offered is AEM 3240 (Finance). Sections are filled with tons of recruited athletes that ask the dumbest questions, and prelim scores are all around Bs or B+ without even curving. It does, however, guarantee you a high GPA, which is the most important thing to break into ibanking.</p>
<p>Do AEM students get into top Ibanks/consulting firms or just normal ones? What about average starting salary at AEM (compared to other schools)?</p>
<p>Top ibanks? Yes, bulge bracket recruitment is huge here, not just for AEM majors but for anyone who can maintain a high GPA. </p>
<p>Top consulting firms? Not nearly as much. Bain actually stopped recruiting here a couple years ago. Reason? Since most of the students with high GPAs are from AEM, they often get the top interview spots. However, according to top strategy consulting firms, “the student caliber of the AEM program does not measure up to our standards” as a result of poor performances in interviews. Cornell does, however, have good relations with Deloitte.</p>
<p>@babyboom: again, AEM is not a school, it’s a program within CALS, so I don’t know if you can find avg starting salary for AEM alone. Basically, base starting salary for corp finance/ibanking/consulting is around the same, ~60-70k. First year analyst in ibanking can earn up to 50k in bonuses which is not reflected in starting salary reports, which can all be found on cornell’s website.</p>
<p>average starting salary for AEM graduates was given in a link by an above poster…</p>
<p>*lol trust me, as a student here the difficulty of the AEM program is a complete joke, as with all other undergraduate business programs. Upper classes have significant overlap, and really the only useful class offered is AEM 3240 (Finance). Sections are filled with tons of recruited athletes that ask the dumbest questions, and prelim scores are all around Bs or B+ without even curving. It does, however, guarantee you a high GPA, which is the most important thing to break into ibanking. *</p>
<p>Not if someone is actually taking a lot of courses outside of AEM, such as language and/or math courses.</p>