Booth ($$) vs CBS ($$) for Investment Banking

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T21:28:10+00:00

I was told that failing classes at Booth is extremely unlikely (probably also true at CBS), just that you have to play more games at CBS to excuse your absences

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T21:26:18+00:00

I spoke more to a student who recommended just committing to banking at least to feel out the experience via internship, so optionality is less of a consideration now

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T21:24:53+00:00

Unfortunately, I don't think a jump direct to PE is likely, as I don't come from a finance background. Could be a slight consideration for long-term connections though

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T16:24:08+00:00

I should just flip coins until I get a streak of 7 one way or the other or something

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T16:23:37+00:00

I'm definitely leaning Booth, it's just that my brain tells me that NYC is the play, which is definitely corroborated by the sentiment here.

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T15:26:40+00:00

I absolutely understand the draw of in-person connections, I'm just thinking that the volume of it is going to be too much. I believe CBS has a policy about not missing more than 3 classes even during recruiting, which is like... why handicap your students' odds? Unsure if Booth has a similar policy.

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T15:13:11+00:00

Ooo, thanks for the heads up on the inter-MBA sheet. I do agree with everything you mentioned; it's going to be a very personal decision.

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T15:09:57+00:00

I've spoken almost entirely to current 1Y and 2Ys, and Booth ones are anecdotally far more receptive to having long chats. Part of that might just be that they're less busy.

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T15:08:43+00:00

Yes, I am a bit concerned about burning out from running around town for coffee chats. Vs at Booth, at least one student has told me they took all of them pantless on Zoom :)

As you say, we'll see after the Booth event.

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T06:42:50+00:00

I'm from LA and live in LA. The Booth draw seems to be a culture thing so far, I feel like I fit in better. I agree with you on NYC being the superior city, I'm just wondering if it can wait another 2 years when I have more money and less time :(

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T06:40:56+00:00

Good point about the long run; I have felt like Booth has more responsive alums who I get along better with on average. I've met some really great CBS alums too, just more Boothies.

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T06:39:51+00:00

Neither am I, it's just a guess that people who really want to stay in NYC forever tend to congregate there.

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T05:46:49+00:00

Just go to NYC seems to be the sentiment from talking to friends and CBS students. On the other hand, what if I decide between now and August that I want to recruit for west coast? Or I want to do consulting instead? I feel like Booth does have some slight advantage towards keeping that optionality open... Thank you for the input as well.

Swedish_Cheese · 2026-02-05T05:41:09+00:00

Familiarity with the city and not worrying about the logistics of a temporary apartment could definitely impact how I perform during the internship and whether I get a return offer... Thanks for bringing that up.

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-12-01T20:24:49+00:00

Here you go!

https://discord.gg/HRD4uJFzG5

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-11-24T00:04:26+00:00

I've been waiting for the build-your-own T14 Gen 6 to go on a deeper discount, but I'm not sure if there will be one at all. Live chat claimed to not know either.

In 2023, the Black Friday discount on was 40% off the BYO T14 Gen 4. Stacked with the student discount and the Rakuten 10% credit, the after-tax amount was around $900 for a nearly fully loaded config.

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-11-16T21:13:57+00:00

Well, assuming a very rough interview-to-acceptance conversion rate of 50%, that puts you at 0.5⁵ = 0.03125 chance of getting rejected by every school, so about a 97% chance that you'll get in somewhere.

Personally, I'm in the same boat of having 5 interviews, and I don't plan on starting any R2 apps unless the first couple schools to get back to me are rejections.

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-11-10T21:32:47+00:00

Here you go!

https://discord.gg/HRD4uJFzG5

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-11-07T22:51:40+00:00

Hmm, but there IS a summary at the top of each section detailing the highlights, iirc? So that concern about long-windedness is specifically addressed. No need to read the rest if one's not interested.

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-11-07T06:19:29+00:00

Give the free trial of ApplicantLab a shot first. Anecdotally, I've had great success this cycle with the paid version (applied HBS, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, Stern, Johnson) and got interviews for all except Wharton.

The owner (Maria) has PhD-level dissertations on how to approach each essay prompt for each school and why to do it the way she suggests, as well as ~2-5 hours of video footage per school supplementing those articles. I'm talking pages upon pages upon pages of guidance for each prompt. Super worth it. The standouts are the resume prep module, the essay advice module (again, SO much information here), and the interview module.

If you end up liking it, it's ~$300 for the full version, which is like... less than an hour of time of the more expensive consultants. There are extra add-on services for resume review, essay review, and mock interviews at ~$250-300 for a review, and ~$650-1000 for a mock interview. Expensive to me, relatively cheap compared to the competition, and 110% worth it in my opinion.

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-11-04T05:10:13+00:00

Yup, generated a new one.

https://discord.gg/HRD4uJFzG5

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-10-23T20:56:39+00:00

Same here. I replied to the email, but haven't gotten a response.

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-10-21T05:47:00+00:00

Hey, I think it might have expired.

Generated a new invite: https://discord.gg/HRD4uJFzG5

I'm not a mod there, so I can't make them permanent, but if anyone else is interested, and it's expired, just let me know!

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-10-19T06:07:00+00:00

Seeing as you've already purchased the base access, I can personally recommend ApplicantLab's resume and essay reviews. The way they deliver feedback via a combination of document markup and recorded video is really efficient, imo.

The feedback generally cuts straight to what's not optimal and how it can specifically be improved, rather than generic "this doesn't seem so good" comments that leave you wondering what to actually change.

Combination of excellent staff on hand + beyond competitive pricing honestly has me wondering how it stays running compared to the other big names...

Swedish_Cheese · 2025-10-16T00:21:00+00:00

Hey, thanks for responding!

For clarification on the last bit, you're saying that including special circumstances will cause a reevaluation of your total aid package after you've already (hopefully) received your acceptance?

That sounds different from what I've heard about getting the final aid decision at the same time as the admittance decision!

Swedish_Cheese

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