NYU (Stern) MBA Program

Leonard N. Stern School of Business

While NYU’s Stern School has many things going for it, the selling point that comes up most often is its location. Stern sits right in New York City’s Greenwich Village, between Manhattan’s Midtown and Financial District. Students and grads rave about the school’s location, and the administration smartly plays up its ties to New York when promoting Stern.

Given Stern’s location, it is not surprising that more than 40% of grads go into investment banking, where the Stern name and alumni network are strongest. Taking into account other finance- and investment-related jobs, this number climbs to more than 60%. Although Stern’s overall academic reputation is strong, most people consider its finance department to be by far the school’s greatest strength. If you are interested in work outside of finance, don’t rule out Stern, but know that finance is where most of the action has historically been. The good news is that the school is aware of this perceived inequity and has been working hard to boost its other academic departments.

While Stern is best known for finance, its approach to management education is mostly a general one. First-year students go through a complete required curriculum of courses in all of the business fundamentals, with the bulk of elective coursework coming in the second year. Stern grads earn either a general management MBA or pursue up to three specializations in areas including finance, marketing, consulting, real estate, entertainment & media. Some of these specializations utilize cross-registrations with other schools at NYU, such as the Real Estate Institute and the Tisch School of Arts, while others take advantage of the school’s location in the city by offering opportunities for hands-on learning at various partner companies.

Stern’s New York ties are also very apparent in its faculty makeup. The school boasts dozens of adjunct professors, many of whom are highly regarded veterans of the New York business community. The school prides itself on giving its students lessons with real-world applications, and part of this is letting students hear lessons straight from these veterans’ mouths.

Stern also heavily promotes the strong spirit of community among its students. Students and grads sometimes comment that they were pleasantly surprised to find that the culture is more cooperative than they expected. If you apply to Stern, don’t discount the importance of teamwork in your message. The school is less impressed by individual achievers than it is in well-grounded people who have excelled in their past jobs by working with others. Also know that the other key ingredient in Stern’s community is student involvement, from its Stern Student Corporation (Stern’s version of student government) to its many student-run clubs and conferences. Stern is looking for people who like to get involved, so be sure to bring this out in your application.

The school is also serious about entrepreneurship, and offers students a number of ways to pursue the subject while at Stern. The Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies serves as the hub for this activity, running conferences and facilitating a mentoring program for budding Stern entrepreneurs. Stern’s annual business plan competition is one of the most popular of its kind, offering a traditional business plan track and a social entrepreneurship track, with prices of up to $100,000. This is an area of the program that the school continues to emphasize. If you consider yourself to be an entrepreneur, or you want to be one, be sure to let the Stern admissions committee know about it.

With an admitted student yield of about 50%, Stern gets stiff competition for finance-minded students. It’s an outstanding program, but one that happens to have another top-ranked finance-oriented school (Columbia) just uptown and another within driving distance in Philadelphia (Wharton). Showing the admissions committee that Stern really is where you want to be—and having convincing reasons for why this is the case—is important. In your Stern application, take particular note of Essay #2, which specifically asks you to describe what interactions you have had with the “Stern community” and what you have done to learn more about the program. It’s a great question, and a strong cue that you need to really do your homework about Stern. If you do, you can greatly improve your odds of success.

• Columbia
• University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)

1. Think about the decisions you have made in your life. Answer the following (maximum of 750 words):
   
   
   1. What choices have you made that led you to your current position?
   2. Why pursue an MBA at this point in your life?
   3. What is your career goal upon graduation from NYU Stern? What is your long-term career goal?


2. The NYU Stern community is one of our strongest assets. Please answer the following questions about our community (500 word maximum):
   
   
   1. What is your personal experience with the Stern community?
   2. What actions have you taken to learn more about us?
   3. How would you contribute to our community as a student?
   4. How will you benefit personally and professionally from the Stern community?


3. Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use almost any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative. (See notes on the content parameters)


4. Please provide any additional information that you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. This may include current or past gaps in employment, your undergraduate record, plans to retake the GMAT and/or TOEFL, or any other relevant information. If you are unable to submit a recommendation from a current supervisor, you must explain your reason in this essay. If you are applying to a dual degree program, please explain your decision to pursue a dual degree.

This and dozens of other top business schools are covered in detail in Your MBA Game Plan, the definitive guide on MBA admissions, now in its second edition.