World Bachelor in Business or NYU Stern

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
1

I know there are a lot of these questions up around CC, but I really felt like I needed advice as commitment day is coming up very soon. Thanks for any feedback. (I also posted this on USC forum but felt like NYU people wouldn’t visit there so…)

So basically I’ve been accepted into these business programs and am at complete loss as to what to do. For those who don’t know, the WBB is an international business program in which you get to go to the business schools at USC, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Bocconi University in Italy. You get to earn 3 full business degrees there within 4 years and there are only 45 people per year. Here’s a link for those who still don’t know:

http://wbb.usc.edu/

World Bachelor in Business:
PROS:
-I love traveling, and this programs gives me the opportunity to do so. This would also give me opportunities to get networking done in many different places.
-Very close with all the directors of each business school at the respective institutions
-Only 45 students per cohort, and thus tend to stand out or get priorities
-International exposure
-3 full degrees in different continents
-Strong in terms of entrepreneurship as I plan to return to USC in my fourth year
-Overall, a more transformative experience than Stern
-Access to three alumni networks of USC, HKUST, and Bocconi as I would be considered a graduate of each school.
-High potential of growth rate and recognition

CONS:
-Don’t get the exposure to people and opportunities I would get at Stern
-Can’t work on the East coast, or harder to
-A very new program, in it’s 3rd year, and its future is very uncertain
-It the program doesn’t do good, the initial ‘wonder’ of WBB could fade and job opportunities could waver.

NYU Stern:
PROS:
-Situated in NYC. Nothing beats that if one is interested in Wall Street Jobs. I am however, not interested in investment banking at all, but rather large firms in consulting.
-More prestigious and well recognized business school
-Still have access to many international trips, through ‘Stern Around the World’, ‘International Studies Program’, and the ‘International Business Exchange’. However won’t be as in-depth as WBB.
-Despite not being so known for consulting and entrepreneurship, it is still in NYC. If possible, I could make the connections myself as the international opportunities and diversity of people in NYC are great.

CONS:
-I’m not so sure about the environment at Stern. It seems very cutthroat and I feel like I won’t be able to make long lasting friendships there. For WBB I feel like I will have my cohort to back me up, but for Stern it feels like I’ll have to do things myself and compete with everyone else. Could any people comment on this?
-I’m also not interested in investment banking, and that is Stern’s forte. I’m more interested in entrepreneurship and consulting, but I don’t think the opportunities for this are so good at Stern as they are for investment banking. Again, could someone comment on this?

Thanks so much!

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There are definitely a lot of aspects to making your decision so I tried to break it down into the main areas of focus.

  • Travel & Education
  • Career
  • Finance vs Entrepreneurship Environment
  • Life On Campus

Travel & Education
I haven’t heard of the WBB program until now but it sounds amazing! NYU and Stern both have very international focused programs which could combine both aspects of what you’re looking for. NYU has one of the largest study abroad networks and the Stern BPE program has been around for a long time with a similar structure to WBB.

Overall in terms of travel and curriculum, I have heard that attrition it pretty common as a lot of students realize that they want flexibility in their courses and education. A lot of the students that drop out of BPE end up choosing to study their business courses abroad at sites outside of the BPE/WBB program. So for example if you were more interested in Buenos Aires, the United Arab Emirates, or France for example, than the fixed locations a BPE/WBB program provides, a general admittance might be more up your alley.

I think the fixed cross-school education at least for an undergraduate level program is pretty unique to USC’s WBB. A general study abroad curriculum could provide you with a similar experience as I know a few classmates also studied at Bocconi for a semester, and UNSW in Sydney, but it would just have to be something you’re more proactive about in terms of scheduling.

Career
If you are looking specifically into consulting both schools are pretty similar in terms of recruitment. At the undergraduate level, BCG is active across both schools, Bain is more active at USC and McKinsey is more active at NYU (will also often be region specific for the latter 2). NYU/Stern might place better amongst the larger consulting firms (Accenture, PwC, EY etc. given their proximity and larger recruiting efforts and year round internships).

I think the single greatest asset to NYU over most other schools is simply its proximity to companies. By the time most students apply for Junior Summer internships, they have had 2-4 professional internships vs students from other schools who often only have their academic experience or part time jobs.

Finance vs Entrepreneurship Environment
While finance is definitely a focus at Stern, it’s also somewhat of an age old stereotype at this point. The past 3 years has seen a large transformation in the curriculum and placement of alumni across a diverse range of career paths (particularly into marketing, management, and tech). Stern has made it so that students only have to choose 4 out of 6 core classes (intro accounting, marketing, finance, statistics, etc.) allowing them to allocate the remaining credits to explore other areas or focus on something they are more passionate about. Stern also has an Entertainment, Media & Technology program which might be of interest if you ever want to go towards the tech/entrepreneurship route over consulting.

Tech and entrepreneurship has also seen a large amount of growth in NYC in general which I think is also fueling Stern’s shift from finance. Every large tech company has operations here and the spotlight on new tech companies is definitely in NYC at the moment over Silicon Valley.

Life On Campus
You mention that Stern is more prestigious, but it’s also a very regional preference as USC is often mentioned as the NYU of the West and vice versa. To that point, your lifestyle is going to be extremely different and I think it’s one thing that wasn’t really emphasized in your tradeoff. I went to both a large campus focused school as well as Stern, and the difference in day to day life is very stark so I would think about that a bit more.

In terms of friends, it’s the same as any other school at the end of the day. Stern is a competitive environment (not cutthroat) but every business school sees this because it’s also natural to the industry and how companies market their recruitment efforts. It might be a little bit different given the large international student body at NYU and at Stern but that is also a part of the experience (and I think a better representation of reality). The process and lifestyle might be a bit different but you connect with people just as deeply. Stern has a cohort program for the general student body, but I know that students that participated in specific programs like BPE are also much closer.

Recap
All in all, based on you wanting to work on the East Coast and my assumption that you wouldn’t mind/love the city life. I would enroll in Stern but not into the BPE program. I would spend my freshman year in NYC as the first year is pretty big opportunity to meet new people and truly experience college. Then spend my sophomore year abroad across multiple locations (Abu Dhabi, Buenos Aires, Sydney, or Ghana for example). Come back to NYC your junior year to focus on recruiting for your Summer internship (this is often a difficult process for BPE students as they come back right in the thick of recruiting season and have to catch up, you might want to consider this with WBB). If your internship goes well and you sign full time early, you can spend your senior year studying abroad. If you still want to recruit for a different company, you would then still have the option to stay in NYC and focus on that.

^Is also what I wish I had done… :frowning:

phew that was long