Finance - SAIS vs SIPA

[nebula]

Funding aside, which one would be better for someone looking to enter the IR Finance world, investment banking or management consulting? I've looked at the employment reports and both seem appealing. What do you guys think?

[RS- Tz]

4 hours ago, nebula said:

Funding aside, which one would be better for someone looking to enter the IR Finance world, investment banking or management consulting? I've looked at the employment reports and both seem appealing. What do you guys think?

Having spoken to a lot of alumni and generally having worked with a lot of them over the past 5 years, SAIS- if you're looking at IR financing, investment banking. 

[nebula]

Is the employment account for SIPA 2016 a fluke or a sign of a trend? Lot of people getting into Deloitte, McKinsey, etc. This is making me reconsider SAIS.

[Pichichi]

I can't speak to the employment outcomes at SIPA, but SAIS graduates also go to both of those firms.

See: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/sites/default/files/2016 Employment Outcomes.pdf and https://sipa.columbia.edu/system/files/OCS/MIA_Employment_Overview_2016.pdf

In my opinion, it might be worthwhile to 1) browse: https://www.linkedin.com/school/144720/alumni and https://www.linkedin.com/school/15105509/alumni 2) Contact the admissions office at both schools and relay your questions/interests 3) Reach out to students/alumni through any channel you can (the admissions offices may be able to connect you with someone of interest) 4) Look at the course curriculum and professors to gauge how well your interests/needs align with the each program.

Best of luck.