The Johnson School of Cornell University caters to MBA masses through its unique and intense performance-learning based curriculum and its collaborative community.
The school has designed its curriculum in a way that students are provided stimulated trial and error business environment during their course which provides them with the real business life scenarios unlike their counterpart business schools. These situations are altered in a way to help students to take lessons from them and shape their career path ahead.
Students at the Johnson School of Cornell University also partake in a more collegial learning community as compared to other B-Schools. This is all because of equally contributed efforts which consist of Johnson’s strategic class intake size and high level of communication and collaboration between deans, professors, and students at the school.
Admissions and Tuition:
The Johnson School of Cornell University like most of its peers takes judicious care in offering their prestigious seats to the pool of candidates. The admission statistics are provided as under:
“In a typical application cycle the institution, approximately gets 2,000 candidates petition for entry into the school’s full-time MBA program. Out of these about 30% of these applicants are granted offers of admission, half of whom typically accept admissions offers from Johnson and become a part of entering classes that usually consist of 250 to 275 students. For the entering class of 2007, which consisted of 267 students, the average GMAT score was 690, while the average undergraduate GPA was 3.30.
In order to be competitive in future application cycles at the Johnson School, applicants should generally have numbers near or above these averages, although the school does not have any specific numerical minimums or cutoffs. Work experience is also an important factor in admissions, as is evident by the fact that entering classes at Johnson typically have an average of 5 years of work experience.”
However, many a times, the quality of work overrides the quantity. Keeping this very fact into consideration Johnson’s School of Cornell University has gone a step ahead to relax the requirement. According to the institutions vast experience, it has come across many applicants with relatively few years of work experience can make up for such shortcomings with strong letters of recommendation from employers or an impressive record of assignments and promotions.
Along with the above mentioned factors, the college also takes into account consideration required and optional essays that are meant to shed light on the candidate’s achievements, ambitions, and personal background. Applicants that are able to compose these essays with care and thought can greatly increase their chances of admission at the Johnson School.
Well, everything has a price attached to it so does this well attached! For applicants who accept offers of admission from the Johnson School, the unenviable task of paying for their MBAs awaits. For the 2008-2009 academic year, tuition for the school’s full-time MBA program is $44,950, while living costs figure to be about $20,000. According to BusinessWeek, the overall cost of the program, including two years of foregone salary, is almost $275,000. Of course, this is a cost that Johnson students should be happy to pay, as BusinessWeek estimates that the school’s graduates experience a 35% increase in salary as they begin their post-MBA careers.
Academics and Curriculum:
The Johnson School of Cornell University has neatly carved out its course curriculum for the students. During their first semester at the Johnson School, students enroll in a traditional curriculum of core courses that is designed to give them a solid academic foundation as they prepare to tailor their education to their specific interests. In the second semester, most students choose to partake in Johnson’s Immersion Learning Program, a semester-long program that combines elective courses and field work to provide students with an intense and unique educational experience. Currently, students can choose from among eight Immersion offerings, which include an Investment Banking Immersion and a Managerial Finance Immersion.
After surviving this intense yet fulfilling semester, students at Johnson can choose from over 100 electives to complete their MBA education during their second year.
According to recent graduates and current students, securing a seat in elective courses is usually not problematic, thanks to the school’s strategic size selection and the willingness of professors to help students attain spots in crowded courses.
Apart from the numerous electives offered at Johnson, the school’s students can also receive credit for courses taken at Cornell’s other schools and colleges, including the reputable schools of law and hotel administration.
Besides this, the college also offers dual degree programs thus ensuring that the students of the Johnson School have plenty of options as they lay their path towards graduation which help them be successful in their demanding lives ahead.
Quality of Life:
The Johnson School of Cornell University promises to offer the much needed piece during their two years of curriculum. However, this does not mean that the students have to leave out their social and cultural life. Ithaca is home to numerous bars and pubs that allow Johnson students to unwind and drink away the stresses of a long week of classes. The Johnson School and its student organizations also play a large part in ensuring that students can play as hard as they work in Ithaca by planning various social events throughout the academic year.
Low housing costs in Ithaca are also advantageous to Johnson School students, who doubtlessly enjoy the fact that their rent costs are likely a fraction of many MBA students living in large metropolitan areas.
While committing to an institute like the Johnson School of Cornell University, students should however make sure that they are ready to commit their two years of their life to Ithaca, which is located in a remote and secluded area unlike its peer B-schools who have their foundations in big cities.
Employment Prospects:
Many recent graduates of the Johnson School attribute much of their success in finding employment to the connections provided by the school’s alumni network. This network, whose largest representation is in New York City, is said to be unfailingly loyal and dedicated to Johnson students.
As a result of the efforts of this network and of the school’s similarly praised Career Management Center, an impressive 95% of the school’s students are typically employed within three months of graduation. A fairly large majority of each year’s graduates stay in the Northeast to begin their post-MBA careers, while small yet significant percentages are able to find employment in the West and Midwest regions.
Typically, heavy-hitters such as Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and American Express are at the top of the list of the top employers of Johnson School students. This apart, the college’s does not restrict its kitty to these companies itself. For the college, these do not form only form a few of the many large firms and companies that travel to Ithaca each year to recruit students.
Nearly half of the Johnson graduates usually begin their post-MBA careers in the finance field, while the marketing and consulting fields are usually the second and third most popular fields for Johnson graduates.
In terms of compensation, the most recent graduating class of the Johnson School received nearly $120,000, including bonuses, in their first year after graduation.
In Sum:
Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management is known for its intense and unique curriculum and its tight-knit community. The institute is apt for candidates who hope to earn a prestigious MBA in a calm and friendly environment away from the bustles of the city yet not compromising on the societal and cultural living atmosphere. This institute offers the best of the combination of subjects to help the students to shape up their career path in the desired direction thus finally helping them moving a step towards their coveted dream jobs ultimately leading them to successful lives in future.
It will obviously be worth to spend the two years of their MBA away from the busy bustling life where he or she has been brought up to experience the household a change of nature in the child. The far apart environment allows the student to brew within himself a sense of responsibility within the students which helps them ahead in nurturing their own family.
The student surely wouldn’t mind sacrificing those two years of hectic city life for them when they know that they are getting so much return. Apart from these benefits, he or she is surely going to get the single most coveted thing from an MBA institute – a definite hike in the salary and a feeling of job satisfaction.
Contact Information:
111 Sage Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
607.255.4526 607.255.4526
http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/prospectivestudents/
Quick Reference:
2009 U.S. News Ranking: 14th (tied with Virginia and Duke)
Average GMAT score: 690
Average undergraduate GPA: 3.3
Application fee: $200
Application deadline: N/A
Entering class size: 250-275
Yearly Tuition: $44,950 (2008-2009)
Percent of graduates employed 3 months after graduation: 95%
Average starting salary and bonus: $118,888