UCLA vs NYU vs Yale

[TooLegit2Quit]

Situation:
I was admitted to UCLA in R1 while working on my R2 application for Yale and NYU. Now I really need to do an internal ranking among these three schools because there is no point continuing with my R2 application, flying to U.S. from Asia for interviews, if UCLA is my first choice. Yet, I am having a hard time letting the other two schools go for the advantages I might benefit from attending there.

Long term aspiration is to do investment managment in Greater China region.

What do you guys think? Why? Current students' inputs are very welcomed.

UCLA
Pros:
Great weather of Southern California
Top school in the second biggest metropolitan city
Better ranked and great reputation in Asia
Many Asians, good for my long-term goal to do IM in the Greater China region
The school culture is very collegial and students are great to talk to
Decent facility

Cons:
Not as finance focused as Yale- Student placements are scattered among finance, consulting, and marketing
Not as many Investment Management (IM) electives that intrigue me


Yale
Pros:
Great overall brand - Access to Yale club around the globe
Awesome IM-related electives- value investing, endowment management, behavioral finance...etc
High % of students is placed in financial service function upon graduation and supposedly strong in buy-side IM
I like the idea behind the new core curriculum
I’m inspired by Yale’s aspiration to become one of the top bschool with dramatic changes in the near future- new building, new curriculum

Cons:
New Haven…
Small student body = small SOM alumni base
I was told that the facility is not very good

NYU
Pros:
It’s in New York with great Wall Street connection; I also love the city
Strength in finance
Students are very down to earth and easy to talk to
Electives are not as IM-focused as Yale

Cons:
Overall reputation is not as well respected as the other two
Cold weather in winter…

[simonyu]

其實我覺得你自己已經很清楚了。另兩間學校應該值得你再努力一下，特別是你將來需要花費的時間和金錢成本必然遠大於目前的投入成本。

[陳鵬文]

If u wanna pursue Finance, the answer is obvious that NYU could be the best choice among the three list above regardless of ranking. This is my two cents and just share with you!

[kristayang]

Hello,

I also go with NYU coz you might change your mind when you start your MBA, no matter the place or the job function. Finance area is very broad, isn't it?

NYU has the famous Valuation class and Professor Aswath Damodaran is awesome. Therefore, if I were you, I would rank NYU first, Yale second and UCLA is the third.

Btw, it is not that cold in NYC now due to the greenhouse effect. So, you don't need to worry too much about the cold weather.
(Of course, LA's weather is much better)

Congrats and Good Luck !

Krista

[MarkHsu]

Here's my assumption: you're an international student, no US citizenship, PR or Canadian citizenship, no undergrad in US or Canada and no prior finance (as in investment) experience.

UCLA is a fine school, but if you want to do Investment Management, I don't think it's the right school. The odds are against you.

The core finance schools: W/Col/Chi/MIT/NYU

the do whatever the hell you please schools: HBS/Stanford

European schools: INSEAD/LBS

[mysmys]

suppose u dont have sell side or portfolio management background. i would suggest u choose a so-called finance school to help u to get into IM.

if u have some backgrounds, u may pick the school u like. go UCLA if u really like it.
personally.. i didn't go to LBS or apply other finance schools but still can get in touch with some buy side firm, like Citadel.

btw, u dont need to worry about this question until u get in all of them. kidding good luck.

[TooLegit2Quit]

Here's my assumption: you're an international student, no US citizenship, PR or Canadian citizenship, no undergrad in US or Canada and no prior finance (as in investment) experience.

UCLA is a fine school, but if you want to do Investment Management, I don't think it's the right school. The odds are against you.

The core finance schools: W/Col/Chi/MIT/NYU

the do whatever the hell you please schools: HBS/Stanford

European schools: INSEAD/LBS

I probably should mention my background:
I am US citizen with two years of buy-side experience by the time I matriculate next fall. Currently working on CFA Lv II

Interviewed with both Chicago and Columbia, but didn't get into either one =( I thought about applying to Wharton, but... it's a long shot...

I might end up applying to both NYU and Yale and maybe they will simplied my decision by denying me, haha

[Anita0716]

可以請樓主分享UCLA interview的經驗嗎?感謝!!

[TooLegit2Quit]

UCLA was my first interview, so I was a bit nervous going in. I interviewed with a second year student.

-Walk through your resume for me.

-Why MBA? Why now? Why Anderson?
Current students told me that the "why Anderson" is particularly important for UCLA

-Tell me about a time when you failed to work in a team, why, and what did you learn from it?
I know UCLA is about teamwork, so I did prepare a couple questions about teamworks. Yet, I was not prepared for this twist so I also had to think on the spot...

-Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership
Ha! Finally a question I prepared for, breezed through it like I practiced.

-Tell me about a time when you are disappointed with yourself.
This question really tripped me up so I made up this story about how I was not able to muster the courage to approach this girl I saw during an Broadway show intermission =P It did generate some laughter on his side though...

-Do you have any question for me? Perhaps about my experience.
My interview is an editor for the bschool paper, so he was pretty knowledgable.

Overall, my interviewer was very professional and friendly at the same time. He was very good at transitioning between questions to make the interview conversational. I also enjoyed my stay at UCLA, seeing students walking around in tshirt, shorts, and sandles in the middle of November. Yet, I also enjoyed my visit to NYU and would love to be able to call myself a Yalie.

I did my interview in mid-November, so I can't recall every single detail of the interview. For information on other people's interview, though, you could visit http://www.clearadmit.com/wiki/index.ph ... nInterview

[Anita0716]

Thanks for your kindly reply and congratulations.

I submitted my application on R1 but did not arrange an interview and didn't receieve any futher information.

Do any R1 applicants have the same situation with me and can share your status?