The Differences Between a Full-Time MBA in New York City and Toronto
New York and Toronto are the largest cities in the United States and Canada, respectively. Both are major financial and cultural centers, and home to millions of hard-working students, employees, and businesses.
Both metros are also home to a number of quality business schools, each with their own prestigious full-time MBA programs. How do New York and Toronto compare as cities and as destinations for your full-time MBA studies? Let’s take a deeper dive and see.
Location
The most bustling and populous metro in the United States, New York City is is the capital of the business world. More Fortune 500 companies are headquartered here than in any other city. The Big Apple is not only home to Wall Street and the world’s largest financial institutions, but also media, marketing and advertising companies. New York is an enormous city and, unfortunately, expensive to live in, so it may not be for everyone.
When looking at metros with bustling financial sectors and companies, New York is often is the first to come to mind. But how about it neighbor to the north? Toronto is also considered one of the world’s fast-growing financial hubs. An article on the Huffington Post explains how Toronto has risen into the top 10 of the world’s most important financial centers. According to the Global Financial Centres Index from Z/Yen Group and Qatar Financial Centre, Toronto has surpassed Chicago and Boston to become the second-most important financial center in North America, and eighth in the world.
According to one unidentified New York banker quoted in the Global Financial Centres Index survey, “Toronto seems to get stronger and stronger. A number of our rivals have opened up subsidiaries there.”
New York City Full-Time MBA Programs
- Columbia Business School
- Stern School of Business – New York University
- Gabelli School of Business – Fordham University
- Zicklin School of Business – Baruch College
What stands out about these programs?
A Columbia MBA opens up countless career options and is sure to pay off in the long run. The median starting salaries for Columbia MBAs is $125,000, with 34 percent of full-time MBA of graduates being employed in the financial services industry. Students may assemble their own elective tracks, but the school also provides recommend course tracks for students interested in careers in entrepreneurship, healthcare, marketing, media, real estate, value investing, and social enterprise.
Meanwhile, Stern’s MBA curriculum gives students tons of flexibility, and allows degree seekers to choose one or two MBA specializations, NYU allows up to three specializations from 20 plus options. Stern makes sure that all students enrolled in the full-time program are ready for business school: Stern hosts a mandatory two-week orientation program in August called “Launch” as well as a special “Summer Start” program that allows students the school believes may need additional preparation to earn up to six credits before starting courses with their classmates in September.
Both Gabelli and Zicklin’s full-time programs feature cohort-based structures. Gabelli’s program features a New York immersion experience where, over the course of five days, students are exposed to a number of company visits with corporations like Deutsche Bank, Money.net, and Hewlett Packard. As an alternative to completing a major, Zicklin students may pursue a joint JD/MBA in conjunction with Brooklyn Law School or New York Law School.
Toronto’s Full-Time MBA Programs
- DeGroote School of Business – McMaster University
- Ivey Business School – Western University Canada
- Schulich School of Business – York University
- Ted Rogers School of Management – Ryerson University
What stands out about these programs?
DeGroote’s full-time MBA is a 16-month program ideal for candidates who are early in their career and want to gain advanced business knowledge in order to have more job opportunities. McMaster is one of only four Canadian universities ranked among the top 100 in the world, including by premiere publications like The Financial Times.
Ivey’s full-time program stands out because it can be completed in one year. During the year, students will learn business essentials from Canada’s only case-based MBA program. Students are able to experience real-world business scenarios through more than 300 cases a year, providing them of hands-on experience for how to best handle a variety of business scenarios.
The Sculich School of Business full-time MBA program is non-traditional due to its amorphous teaching format: The organization, pedagogy, and style of classes is determined solely by the most effective way to teach a particular course. This means that while some course instructors make extensive use of case studies, others do not. Other approaches to delivering courses include in-class presentations, role-playing exercises and visiting speakers and business leaders.
Schulich’s program, however, is on the more expensive side when it comes to Toronto metro business schools. The current full cost of the program in 2018-19 is $77,900 CAD for Canada residents, and $99,400 for international residents. While the tuition costs are actually higher than the likes of NYU Stern or the Columbia Business School full-time programs, because of the cost of living in New York City, the price is actually negligible—especially for Canadian residents.
Schulich/NYU/Columbia Full-Time MBA Costs
| York/Schulich | NYU/Stern | Columbia Business School |
|---|---|---|
| $57,000 (Canada Residents) | $69,086 USD | $71,544 USD |
| $77,900 (Full Cost, Canada Resident) | $110,562 (Full Cost, U.S. Resident) | $107,749 (Full Cost, U.S. Resident) |
Ryerson’s full-time MBA stands out thanks to its Management of Technology and Innovation (MBA-MTI) program, which provides graduates with skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. Despite it’s technical sounding name, the MBA-MTO is not a technical program. Instead students enrolled in this track graduate with the skills needed to manage within companies that are focused on tech and innovation.
Breaking Down the Numbers
Even for those who do not pay extra for room and board, expenses for U.S. residents studying at many NYC business schools will be higher than their neighbors to the north. According to Numbeo, the cost of living in Toronto is 24 percent less than the cost of living in New York City, and rent is nearly 40 percent less.
However, the value of the individual school tends to favor New York City programs over its Toronto counterparts. NYU Stern is currently the 12th overall on the U.S. News & World Report 2018 ranking, with CBS coming even higher at 9th overall. The ranking comparison remains consistent with The Economist as well, with CBS coming in 9th (again), Stern coming in 14th. The highest ranked Canadian program in The Economist ranking—Ivey Business School—came in 59th.
NYC/Toronto MBA Rankings
| School | Financial Times Ranking (2018) | The Economist Ranking (2017) |
|---|---|---|
| NYU Stern | 23 | 14 |
| Columbia Business School | 7 | 9 |
| Ivey | 90 | 59 |
| Schulich | NR | 69 |
The higher rankings and costs tend to, unsurprisingly, have a high correlation with financial output. MBA graduates from higher-ranked NYC metro schools tend to do better in terms of salary and bonuses. As previously mentioned, CBS Class of 2017 MBA grads pulled in a median annually salary of $125,000. Class of 2017 Schulich grads, in comparison, made an average median salary of around $90,000 USD.
For more information on the best full-time programs, check out our New York City and Toronto metro pages.
School v. School: NYU Stern or Columbia Business School?
What happens when you pit two of the New York metro’s top business school’s against each other in a head-to-head duel of MBA might? It’s a school vs. school showdown, as we compare Columbia Business School to the Stern School of Business. Let’s take a deeper dive! Continue reading…
2018 Trends: New York City’s MBA Future
It doesn’t take a stable genius™ to figure out that New York City is the world’s most highly sought-after 22.82 mi² strip of land to pursue an MBA.
As is the case with most prime real estate, the stakes are high and the competition fierce. For many prospective business schoolers, the decision to step into the gauntlet is one made with a healthy sort of trepidation.
Hefty price tags and cutthroat admissions present real barriers for prospective students and deter more than a few. Still, many equate the New York MBA experience to a dream scenario—or a Gordon Gecko-style fantasy, replete with the promise of a staggering salary, an attractive range of employment opportunities, and prime placement in a city of constant progress.
How does the dream stack up to reality? Schools weigh in on 2017 trends for graduates, many of whom report satisfaction with employment offers. Let’s take a look at how MBA graduates are getting the most of their newly minted degrees!
2018 New York City MBA Trends
Columbia Business School
According to the school’s most recent MBA employment report, less than 2 percent of Columbia Business School graduates reported salary as the primary reason for accepting an offer. While the honestly of that polling answer pool is debatable, Columbia School of Business is the king when it comes to starting salaries on our list, with median salary of $125,000. Of the graduating class, 93.2 percent of students accepted employment offers within three months. Approximately 28 of 1,019 total students stepped aside to create their own companies. Per the standard with many of the NY-area schools, the largest portion of graduates selected financial services (34.4 percent) as their field of choice, followed closely by consulting (33.1 percent) and media and technology (15.6 percent). Companies such as McKinsey & Company, Amazon, Goldman, Sachs & Co., and Morgan Stanley welcomed a majority of Columbia’s finest.
The boastful salary expectations, unsurprisingly, are tempered a bit by the costs of the CBS MBA program. The current estimated budget for Columbia MBAs comes in at $107,749 in the first year, of which includes over $21,000 for room and board. Tuition in isolation, however, costs $71,544 for the first year. Looking at a degree at any New York City school, never mind an Ivy League institution, means cost of living has to be taken in heavy consideration, which can vary greatly from borough to borough.
Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business
About 88 percent of students in the Fordham Gabelli School of Business graduating class accepted employment offers within six months after graduation. Starting salary rates were below Columbia’s, at an average of $84,593, with an average signing bonus of $15,536 and additional compensation of $14,510. That average salary figure is an approximate 13 percent drop from the previous year’s reported averages.
Out of the many fields MBA students typically chose this year, Fordham students favored less predictable fields: just under 50 percent went into financial services, while 11 percent earning employment in consumer products, technology, and media, respectively. Unlike MBA graduates from many other NYC schools, however, only 5 percent of Gabelli students went into consulting, signifying a deeper trend of tech continuing its encroachment on MBA talent.
Compared to many other schools on this list, Gabelli’s distinct advantage is cost. The first year of the MBA program currently costs $49,645: more than 30 percent less than the cost of the Columbia full-time MBA tuition.
NYU Stern School of Business
This may shock you, but, NYU Stern MBA students are doing pretty well, with an average starting salary of $121,146 in placement of some of the most prestigious institutions in finance (32.4 percent), consulting (26 percent), technology (16.8 percent), real estate (3.5 percent), and retail (3.2 percent). Around 83 percent of those students landed jobs in the Northeast U.S., while nearly 10 percent of graduates found positions in Asia, Europe, and South America. Nearly half of all job offers were the result of an internship facilitated by NYU.
Like the trend at Gabelli, NYU grads jumping into tech has been steadily climbing over the past few years, rising from just 6 percent of employed grads from the Class of 2014, to 17 percent for the most recent class. The incremental increase coincides with the school’s recently added Tech MBA.
Stevens Institute of Technology School of Business
In a metro brimming with very successful business schools, the Stevens Institute of Technology School of Business separates itself with an incredible employment placement rate of 94.9 percent; the best placement among all business schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The Stevens MBA faculty claim to provide “exceptional career services much earlier than other universities.” 90 percent were employed in the industry of their choice. Starting salaries fell between $88,805—$125,000. Companies such as Goldman Sachs, Protiviti, PwC ,and Prudential offered employment opportunities for these students.
Cornell University’s SC Johnson Graduate School of Management
About 93 percent of students from Cornell‘s Ithaca and NYC campuses received employment offers within six months of graduation. The average base salary was $125,578, which was an increase from previous years “driven by salary growth in consulting and finance.” Chosen fields for students were finance (38 percent), consulting (26 percent), and general management (21 percent). Out of the 122 companies that sought 2017 graduate students, the top recruiters were Citi Group, Amazon, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Ernst & Young, and McKinsey & Company.
Even Cornell MBA students in an internship were earning some of the best salaries in the country, pulling in a reported $8,764 per month. Those figures out over a 12-month rate are more than triple the average intern salary, according to Glassdoor data.
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The QS World MBA Tour Is Coming To New York City
The QS World MBA Tour will be stopping in New York City this Saturday, January 20.
Potential graduate school applicants attending these events will have an opportunity to connect with alumni from many of the most prestigious schools in the world, including the likes of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Business School, the Stanford Graduates School of Business, and much more.
Details on the event website read as follows:
“The QS World MBA Tour gives you the opportunity to network with admissions directors and alumni from over 120 business schools around the globe. Our fairs feature top local and international business schools presenting a diverse range of programs to choose from and a chance to apply for a pool of exclusive MBA scholarships, totaling $7m [million]! The QS World MBA Tour takes place in 23 cities across the US and Canada; find an event in a city near you and discover the many benefits that an MBA has to offer.”
Registration and further details for the New York City event can be found here. For those not in the metro, check out the rest of the QS World MBA Tour dates, listed below.
- Boston: Thursday, January 18, 2018 – 4:30 – 9:00 p.m.
- New York: Saturday, January 20, 2018 – 1:30 – 6:00 p.m.
- Washington DC: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 – 4:30 – 8:30 p.m.
- Chicago: Thursday, January 25, 2018 – 4:30 – 8:30 p.m.
- Los Angeles: Saturday, January 27, 2018 – 1:30 – 6:00 p.m.
- San Francisco: Sunday, January 28, 2018 – 1:30 – 6:00 p.m.
- Vancouver: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 – 4:30 – 9:00 p.m.
- Montreal: Thursday, February 1, 2018 – 4:30 – 9:00 p.m.
- Toronto: Saturday, February 3, 2018 – 1:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Registration and more information on the QS World MBA Tour events can be found here.
The QS World MBA Tour Is Coming To These Select Cities
There are few better opportunities to learn about the exemplary business school opportunities than at an MBA fair. And luckily, for many prospective MBA students, that opportunity will soon be arriving in their city with the QS World MBA Tour.
