School Guide NYU Stern School of Business

New York University,
Leonard N. Stern
School of Business
About This Guide

The Clear Admit team has prepared this reference guide to New
York Universitys Leonard N. Stern School of Business (Stern or
NYU Stern) to assist you in your research of this program. Our
comments are designed to be of use to individuals in all stages of
the admissions process, providing information relevant to those
who are determining whether to apply to this program, looking for
in-depth information for a planned application to Stern, preparing
for an admissions interview or deciding whether to attend.
The guide is unique in that it not only addresses many aspects of
life as a Stern MBA student and alumnus, covering school-specific
programs in depth, but also compares Stern to other leading
business schools across a range of criteria based on data from
the schools, the scholarly and popular presses, and Clear Admits
conversations with current MBA students, alumni, faculty and
school administrators. We have normalized the data offered by
each school to allow for easy side-by-side comparisons of multiple
programs. While this guide focuses on the experience of the fulltime MBA program, it also includes a chapter on Sterns part-time
Langone MBA program.
Clear Admit is an educational counseling firm that guides academic candidates through the complex process of applying to top
MBA programs. We work with applicants from around the world to
maximize their success when applying to the best business schools.
Please feel free to contact our office at info@clearadmit.com if you
would like to receive feedback on your MBA candidacy and learn
more about how best to position yourself during the application
process.
MarkIII @ chasedream.com
Table of Contents |
Contents
1
Introduction to NYU Stern
Program Highlights. . . . . . . . . . .
Brief History of the MBA .
. 1
NYU Stern History .
. 1
Student Demographics. . . . . . . . . . 3
2
Academics 5
Academic Calendar. . . . . . . . . . .
Summer Start,
Pre-Term & Orientation. . . . . . . . . . 5
Student Body. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Core Curriculum. . . . . . . . . . . .
Electives .
. 7
Specializations. . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Cross-Registration .
. 8
Curriculum Comparison .
. 8
Grading System . . . . . . . . . . . .
Faculty .
3
Special Programs
9
10
12
Study Abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Semester Study Abroad.
12
Doing Business In.... . . . . . . . . . 13

Short-Term Study Abroad . . . . . . . . 13
Entrepreneurship. . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4
Life at NYU Stern
14
Campus Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Life in New York . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Greenwich Village .
14
The City of New York. . . . . . . . . . 15

Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Conferences .
17
vi | Table of Contents
Life After NYU Stern
19
Office of Career Development .
19
Recruiting/Interview Procedures. . . . . . 19
Career Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Alumni Network . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6
Admissions 24
Visiting NYU Stern .
24
Application Requirements. . . . . . . . . 24
Interviewing with NYU Stern . . . . . . . 25
Deadlines .
25
The Consortium . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Dual Degree Programs. . . . . . . . . . 26
7
Financing the NYU Stern MBA
28
Tuition & Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Financial Aid .
8
The Langone Part-Time MBA
28
30
Program Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . 30
Student Body. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Student Demographics . . . . . . . . . 30
Academics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Core Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Areas of Specialization . . . . . . . . . 31
Class Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Leaves of Absence .
31
Visiting Langone . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Applying to Langone.
31
Deadlines .
32
Appendix 33
Table of Contents |
Essay Topic Analysis .
33
Admissions Director Q&A . . . . . . . . . 34

Career Services Director Q&A .
10 Further Resources
37
40
Publications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
NYU Stern Research Centers & Institutes .
40
Contact Information .
40
vii
1 | Clear Admit School Guide: NYU Stern School of Business
Introduction to NYU Stern
Program Highlights
Finance Orientation NYU Stern sends a higher
percentage of graduates into financial services than any other leading business school.
Students interested in entering the finance
industry may take advantage of Sterns extensive finance-related academic resources and
on-campus recruiting opportunities, as well as
the depth of Sterns alumni network within the
industry.
New York Location Sterns location in the city
of New York allows for easy access to many of
the United States leading firms and executives.
Moreover, with three-quarters of NYU Stern
students choosing to remain in New York after
graduation, the schools location provides immediate access to a broad network of Stern alumni.
Diverse Class Located in one of the worlds
most diverse cities, NYU Stern enrolls one of the
highest percentages of women and underrepresented minorities of any of the leading business
schools. The diversity of its student body helps
ensure that Stern students are exposed to a
wide range of perspectives on pressing issues,
both in and out of the classroom.
Part-Time Program NYU Sterns Langone PartTime MBA program is one of the most respected
part-time programs in the United States. The
high caliber of the Langone programs students
and graduates enhances NYU Sterns reputation
and its alumni network in New York and beyond.
Brief History of the MBA

Originally conceived as an extra year of undergraduate training in finance, economics and
accounting, business schools shifted around the
start of the 20th century to begin offering managerial training for the U.S.s new industrialized
companies (see Figure 1.1). Their prestige grew
throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s,
when the research and training generated by
business schools was seen as a key to the coun-
trys economic recovery. The unprecedented

managerial needs of World War II further increased the demand for formal business education, and after the war, U.S. veterans used their
G.I. Bill funding to finance their business studies
and move into management jobs.
By the 1950s, the MBA was a two-year, postgraduate program that turned business into a
professional discipline on par with medicine and
law, and the degree was seen as a ticket to a
better, more secure career. The MBA continued
increasing in popularity, from 21,000 business
management masters degrees awarded in the
1969-1970 academic year to 139,000 in 20032004. This rise came in conjunction with a
growing demand for MBA graduates in the workplace and with rising starting salaries for those
graduating from top schools.
Since the early days of the MBA, there have
been conflicts over the purpose of a business
education. Initially, tension between a classical education in economics and more practical
training in business dominated the debate, and
in some ways this remains the central conflict.
Today, the tension between theory and practice
has increasingly taken center stage, as business
school professors have become more academic
and employers demand broader skill sets from
MBA graduates. Most business schools, however, have designed programs that offer students
exposure to both theory and practice internships, field work and school-based consulting
programs are widespread. The increase in average full-time work experience among entering
MBA students, as well as the growth in Executive MBA programs, ensures that classroom
theories are continually tested against real world
experiences. Regardless of these tensions, the
MBA remains one of the most popular graduate degrees in the United States and around the
world.
NYU Stern History

Noting the rapid influx of immigrants and the
increasingly complex demands of doing business
Introduction to NYU Stern |
Figure 1.1 Notable Developments in MBA History

MBA Degree
NYU Stern School of Business
Business schools are established in the U.S. to

train managers for service in the new industrialized economy, especially the railroad industry.
Academic focus is on accounting and bookkeeping, and most professors are professionals in these
fields.
1880s
1900s
The NYU School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance is established in 1900.
Association of Collegiate Schools of Business is

founded in 1916 to provide resources for the growing number of U.S. business schools, which by
1919 enroll over 36,000 students.
1910s
In 1916, the NYU Graduate School of Business

opens its doors in the Wall Street district.
On-campus recruiting by industry rises.

Curricula begin to include policy issues.
1920s
The research and training conducted by business

schools during the Great Depression is seen as key
to the U.S.s economic revival, significantly raising
public opinion of business schools.
1930s
World War II sharply increases demand for trained

managers, and WWII veterans return to U.S. business schools in droves.
1940s
Most professors now hold Ph.D.s in business, and

academic research begins to form the basis of
business school curricula.
Strategic decision making and quantitative and
statistical analyses enter many curricula.
1950s
MBA starting salaries rise 5-10% per year at some

schools, even during stagflation.
Entrepreneurship enters most curricula.
1970s
By 1936, women make up 15% of the business

schools student body.
Students from almost every state and 36 countries

are enrolled in the business school.
1980s
In 1988, Leonard N. Stern donates $30 million to

the business school, which is renamed in his honor.
Business schools focus on leadership, ethics and

interpersonal skills, altering course content and increasing classroom emphasis on working in teams.
1990s
A donation from Dr. Henry Kaufman in 1998

enables significant renovations across the Stern
campus.
High-profile corporate scandals prompt calls for

greater ethics education in business schools.
By 2004, 447,000 students are enrolled in U.S.
business programs.
2000s
Sterns centennial fundraising campaign raises over

$100 million, doubling the schools endowment.
Alumnus John Paulson donates $20 million to NYU
Stern.
Peter Blair Henry becomes the dean of NYU Stern,
replacing Tom Cooley.
2010s
in the city of New York, the New York State Society for Public Accountants teamed up with New
York University in 1900 to offer much-needed
business training to the citys young professionals. Out of this partnership grew the NYU
School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance,
which was located near Washington Square and
served as an undergraduate institution for students preparing for careers in accounting.
Not long after the schools founding, the citys
graduate-level students sought to be included
in the business school as well, leading NYU to
begin offering graduate business classes at a
satellite location near Wall Street prior to opening a formal Graduate School of Business Administration near Wall Street in 1916.
Unusual among most long-established business
programs, NYU welcomed female students from
the start and hired its first female faculty member in 1913. By 1936, women made up 15 percent of the student body a sizeable number,
considering that the graduate and undergraduate schools boasted a combined enrollment
of over 10,000 students. As longtime faculty
member and undergraduate business dean
Abraham Gitlow explained, by the 1940s Stern
was a huge educational factory, preparing New
Yorkers en masse for the rapidly developing
postWorld War II business landscape.
By the end of the 1950s, NYU counted business
students from nearly every state and 36 foreign
countries. The school strengthened its international business program throughout the 1960s;
the 1970s brought further expansion, both in
terms of new buildings and of a growing national reputation.
In 1988, an impressive $30 million gift from
Leonard N. Stern, who earned both his undergraduate degree and MBA from the school, led
the New York University Board of Trustees to
unite the undergraduate and graduate business
schools under the name of the Leonard N. Stern
School of Business. Mr. Stern made his fortune
as a land developer with the Hartz Group, Inc.,
of which he still serves as chairman and CEO.
In 1998, another generous alumni donation
this time from Dr. Henry Kaufman, a well-known
economist and Chairman Emeritus of the NYU
Stern Board of Overseers enabled renovations
to take place across campus that significantly
upgraded student living facilities.
centennial capital campaign raised $100 million, a sum that enabled the school to double
its endowment and supplement the schools
scholarship resources. Finally, in 2009, alumnus
John Paulson, founder and chairman of hedge
fund Paulson & Co., made a $20 million donation to NYU Stern, which was used to endow
two faculty chairs, increase scholarship aid for
undergraduate students and fund parts of the
Concourse Project, a significant campus renovation.
Student Demographics
NYU Sterns entering classes typically include
students from a wide range of academic, personal and professional backgrounds. With 392
students in its Class of 2012, Stern is a medium-sized institution relative to its peer MBA
programs (see Figure 1.2). Though it is significantly larger than Yale SOM and Simon, two of
its regional peers, it is more than a third smaller
than cross-town rival Columbia Business School.
In the Stern Class of 2012, the entering students scored an average of 715 on the GMAT,
with the middle 80% clustered in the 660-760
range. As undergraduates, the class earned an
average GPA of 3.42, with 80% of all students
earning between a 3.1 and a 3.8. While the
school clearly demands academic excellence
of its students, as evidenced by its high mean
GMAT score, its GPA figures indicate that it is
more willing than some peer schools to forgive
weaker undergraduate profiles.
During their undergraduate years, members of
the Class of 2012 primarily studied traditional
Figure 1.2 Size of Incoming Class
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Introduction to NYU Stern |
Figure 1.3 Undergraduate Majors

Humanities, Arts
& Other
Figure 1.5 Minority Students

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pre-MBA fields such as business, economics,

science and engineering, though fully 35% of
students chose to study the arts, humanities or
social sciences at the undergraduate level, adding to the breadth of academic backgrounds in
the class (see Figure 1.3). The NYU Stern Class
of 2012 had an average of 4.7 years of full-time
work experience prior to matriculation.
Unlike medical and law schools, most business
schools struggle to attract and enroll women in
comparable numbers to men. In fact, women
make up only one-third of the class at most of
the leading MBA programs. Stern has historically met with more success than its peers in
meeting the challenge of female recruitment;
however, with women comprising 34% of Sterns
Class of 2012, the school now falls into the
middle of the pack due to its peer schools having made comparable gains (see Figure 1.4).
Figure 1.4 Gender Distribution

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This 34% is a respectable number among business schools, though, and part of Sterns success may be due to its willingness to consider
slightly younger applicants; many women, after
all, seek to balance career and family by pursuing an MBA earlier in their professional lives.
Because exposure to varied cultural and personal perspectives is valuable preparation for
the global world of business, NYU Stern and
other business schools seek to enroll students of
many nationalities and racial and ethnic backgrounds. Perhaps due in part to its location in
New York, one of the most diverse cities in the
world, Stern has been particularly successful at
enrolling a diverse student body.
A final indicator of diversity at American business schools is the number of U.S. citizens and
permanent residents who identify as members
of minority racial or ethnic groups, terms that
usually refer to students of African-American,
Hispanic/Latino, Asian-American and Native
American descent. NYU Stern reports that 29%
of students in its Class of 2012 identify as members of a U.S. minority group, a figure roughly
on par with those at peer schools (see Figure
1.5). Historically, roughly 15% of that total has
been Asian-American.
Roughly 38% of the Stern Class of 2012 consists
of international or dual citizens. However, since
dual citizens are not grouped together with
international students at any of the other leading MBA programs, it is unfortunately impossible
to make a meaningful comparison between NYU
Sterns international student population and
those of its peers.
Academics
The NYU Stern Full-Time MBA program is designed to be completed in two academic years,
with students pursuing an internship in the
summer between their first and second years.
Students enrolled in the program are required
to complete 60 credits of coursework, which are
split between required courses from the core
curriculum and elective courses of the students
choosing.
Academic Calendar
Sterns academic calendar is organized according to the traditional U.S. two-semester model.
Classes typically begin in the first week of
September and continue until the Fall Semester
final exams, which take place in mid-December.
At that point, students in NYU Sterns part-time
Langone program embark on a month of Winter
Intensive classes, as do many other students
at NYU; full-time MBA students, however, enjoy
a six-week winter break lasting until the end of
January.
All Stern students begin their Spring Semester
classes at the end of January and finish the year
in mid-May. Commencement for graduating students takes place immediately after final exams.
Both Fall and Spring Semesters are broken up
by week-long recesses: a Thanksgiving break in
late November and a spring break in mid-March
(see Figure 2.1).
Figure 2.1 Academic Calendar 2011-2012
Fall Semester
Classes begin
Thanksgiving break
Last day of classes
Exam period
Spring Semester
Classes begin
Spring break
Last day of classes
Exam period
Commencement
September 6,
November 2127,
December 15,
December 1622,
2011
2011
2011
2011
January 30,
March 612,
May 7,
May 915,
May 1617,
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
Summer Start,
Pre-Term & Orientation
Many schools offer pre-term and orientation
programs for first-year students prior to the
start of the academic year. While orientations are usually required three- or four-day
programs focused on meeting classmates and
becoming acclimated to the campus, pre-term
programs include an academic component,
which may be anything from placement exams
to leadership seminars. Orientations are always
mandatory, though pre-term programs may be
optional, depending on the nature of the activities taking place.
NYU Stern runs a distinctive program called
Summer Start, which allows a selected group
of entering students to spend the summer in
New York getting a head start on their MBA
coursework. When considering students for
Summer Start, the admissions committee looks
for candidates who have strong communication and leadership skills, but could nonetheless
benefit from extra preparation before beginning
the MBA. Some Summer Start students have
been out of school longer than most of their new
classmates, while others have worked in less
traditional pre-MBA professions.
Admission to Summer Start is by invitation only;
there is no way to apply directly to the program.
Because the admissions office looks to fill the
Summer Start program with candidates who are
enthusiastic about Stern and the programs mission, candidates invited to interview for Summer
Start have an opportunity to decline the invitation. However, once a student has interviewed
with Summer Start and received a formal offer
of admission to the program, participation is
mandatory.
Summer Start begins in mid-July and runs for
six weeks, earning participants six of the 60
credits needed for graduation. All enrollees
complete the core course Statistics & Data Analysis over the summer, and most also enroll in
Academics |
Management Communication as well as Collaboration, Conflict & Negotiation. Some students in

the program pursue coursework to boost their
quantitative knowledge or their business writing
skills. Summer Start students can also take advantage of a variety of social and cultural events
to introduce students to each other and to the
city.
In late August, Stern brings all entering students
to campus for two-week Pre-Term Orientation.
During the Pre-Term Orientation, students make
connections within the class, explore New York,
and participate in teamOne of the big things as a first
building and
year is pre-term. There we do
case-analysis
a lot of mock stressful situations
exercises as
with our study group, so we can
well as units
work out a lot of personality
on managequirks. NYU Stern 10
ment communication
and ethics. Other typical orientation activities include career development programming,
numerous receptions and social gatherings, a
cruise around Manhattan and a trip to a New
York sports game.
Student Body
NYU Sterns entering class is divided into six
blocks of 60 to 70 people apiece (see Figure
2.2). The blocks are further divided into study
groups consisting of five or six students each.
However, working with these groups is only
mandatory during core courses. Once students
begin taking electives, they are free to choose
Figure 2.2 Structure of the Student Body
400

Students per class
Blocks per class
60-70

Students per block
5-6

Students per study group
their own study groups for each course.

Each block takes five of its nine first-year core
courses together. The blocks also form an
important foundation for Sterns school-wide
activities and socializing. The students in each
block elect three leaders, at least one of whom
must be an international student; these three
leaders organize social and community activities, manage the blocks budget, and represent
its concerns to the Stern Student Corporation
(SCorp), the schools student government. Each
block receives a small grant from the MBA Student Activities Office to promote group activities, including volunteer days, pizza parties,
happy hours and other social events.
Core Curriculum
As at all leading business schools, Stern students must complete a set of core courses during their first year in the MBA program. This
core ensures that all students graduate with
exposure to the fundamental fields of business and an
understandThe core allows for significant
ing of how
flexibility but also requires that
these fields
each student explore a variety
interact. At
of disciplines, which are quite
Stern, all
helpful for narrowing in on a
MBA students
focus. NYU Stern 10
are encouraged to
complete 28.5 credits of coursework as part of
the core curriculum. These credits are divided
among 10 courses; nine are taken during the
first year, while one, the 1.5-credit Professional
Responsibility capstone course, is completed in
the second year.
During their first year, all students without waivers are required to take Financial Accounting &
Reporting and Statistics & Data Analysis, the
latter of which may be completed during Summer Start. Each student must also choose at
least five courses from a menu of seven core
subjects, though they are strongly encouraged
to take all seven (see Figure 2.3). Students
also begin taking electives during Spring Semester of their first year.
As at most schools that divide students into
smaller subgroups, Stern students take most
of their fall courses with the other members of
their block. By having students take the majority of their first-semester classes with the same
Figure 2.3 NYU Stern Core Curriculum

Required Core Courses
Financial Accounting & Reporting*
Professional Responsibility (second-year course)
Statistics & Data Analysis*
Menu Core Courses (choose 5-7)
Competitive Advantage from Operations*
Firms and Markets*
Foundations of Finance*
The Global Economy
Leadership in Organizations
Marketing*
Strategy*
* offered in Fall Semester of the first year
offered in Spring Semester of the first year
group of 60 to 70 people, the administration
hopes to strengthen the bonds among block
members and provide a built-in academic support network for all first-year students.
Incoming students with extensive academic or
professional experience in a given subject may
waive any core course, excepting Professional
Responsibility, by demonstrating a high level of
proficiency in the subject. This may be done
by sitting for a proficiency exam, certifying the
completion of an undergraduate major or masters degree in the field, or displaying a CPA
license, though the specific requirements vary
by course. To ensure they earn the 60 credits
needed to graduate, students who succeed in
waiving a core course must replace that course
with an elective of their choosing.
In addition to these waivers, the school has also
taken the unusual step of allowing students to
simply opt out of up to two menu core courses
without a formal waiver. Because these courses
serve as prerequisites for many electives, however, the administration discourages this practice in most cases, recommending that students
opt out of a core course only after careful consideration of their career goals and their planned
elective path.
Electives
Stern offers more than 150 elective courses
each year to its full-time, part-time and Executive MBA students. In parallel with their later
core coursework, Stern students are free either
to explore a wide array of subjects in management or to tailor their studies to their specific
goals. MBA students are also permitted to take
up to five elective courses from other schools
within New York University, including the Tisch
School of the Arts and the Robert F. Wagner
Graduate School of Public Service.
Enrollment in Sterns elective courses generally ranges from 30 to 70 students. As is the
case at any school, some elective courses and
instructors are so popular that student demand
exceeds available seats. To make the registration process
as fair as
I was immediately attracted to
possible,
Sterns curriculum and I knew
Stern uses
it was what I was looking for.
a lottery
The impact it has had so far
system to
on my experience has been
manage the
fundamental. Now that I am
elective enin the process of selecting my
rollment proelective classes for my second
cess. During
year, I feel very well-prepared.
the lottery
NYU Stern 11
submission
period before
each term, students submit a ranked list of elective sections in which they wish to enroll, as well
as an alternate for each. The ranking period
lasts three weeks, during which time students
are free to make as many changes to their proposed schedules as they wish.
A computer application then groups students
into cohort batches based on when they are
expected to graduate, giving priority to students
closest to completing their degrees. The system first attempts to enroll all students in their
top-ranked courses, then in their second-ranked
courses, and so on; those who are closed out of
their top choices are instead enrolled in the alternate suggestion they provided, and are given
priority when assignments to second-ranked
courses are being made.
At the end of the lottery process, students are
notified of their tentative course schedules and
are permitted to add or drop sections at will, or
to add themselves to the waitlist if they were
closed out of one of their preferred courses.
While the lottery process is fairly straightforward, the Stern Graduate Office of Records and
Registration provides students with a set of lottery hints, including a list of courses that are so
large that they seldom exceed capacity, to help
them strategize as they rank courses.
Academics |
Figure 2.4 Specializations at NYU Stern

Accounting
Banking
Business Analytics
Corporate Finance
Economics
Entertainment, Media and Technology
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Finance
Financial Instruments and Markets
Financial Systems and Analytics
Global Business
Law and Business
Leadership and Change Management
Luxury Marketing
Management
Management of Technology and Operations
Marketing
Product Management
Quantitative Finance
Social Innovation and Impact
Strategy
Supply Chain Management and Global Sourcing
Specializations
The Stern MBA is a general management degree, but students may plan out their elective
studies to complete up to three specializations of their choosing. These specializations
are not required, but may be used to enhance
ones personal knowledge in a specific field or
to highlight an area of expertise on ones resume. Students declare their specializations via
an online Stern database and may change them
at any point until they submit their petitions for
graduation.
Stern offers more than 20 specializations in
fields ranging from Leadership and Change Management to Corporate Finance (see Figure 2.4).
In general, each specialization requires nine
credits, or three to five courses, for completion, though some may impose additional course
requirements. To give an example, students
who plan to specialize in Entertainment, Media and Technology (EMT) must register for a
1.5-credit course called Entertainment & Media
Industries early in their Stern careers, since this
course provides the foundation for later study
in the field. Upon completing this first course,
EMT students then choose 7.5 additional credits
of coursework from the more than 15 graduatelevel courses affiliated with the specialization.
Meanwhile, the Financial Instruments & Markets
specialization requires students to complete
nine credits from selected Finance department

courses, six of which must be upper-level MBA
courses.
Sterns specializations are organized in a manner similar to that of the concentrations at
schools such as Chicago Booth. At both schools,
students can choose whether to pursue an area
of focus, and each concentration or specialization typically requires just three courses to
complete. This stands in contrast to peer school
Wharton, where all students are required to
declare a major and complete a sequence of five
or more specialized courses.
Cross-Registration
In addition to the elective courses offered by
Stern faculty, MBA students may also crossregister for up to 15 credits, or five elective
courses, at other schools within NYU. For a
non-Stern course to count toward the graduation requirements, it must be at the masters
level or higher, related to business or management, and clearly relevant to the MBA. Students should note that, although Stern encourages its MBA candidates to gain proficiency in a
foreign language, language courses are not eligible for cross-registration credit at Stern. A list
of courses pre-approved for cross-registration
is available through Sterns advising website,
and students may petition for approval of other
NYU courses that they believe meet the schools
academic requirements. All grades earned in
cross-registered courses are listed on the Stern
transcript and are included in the GPA.
Curriculum Comparison
While each of the leading MBA programs organizes its program around a core curriculum,
the structure and flexibility of these cores vary
significantly. By comparing the number of core
courses a school requires to that schools overall
graduation requirements, prospective students
can determine what proportion of their studies
will be structured by the school and what proportion might be spent pursuing topics of their
own choice. This flexibility may be enhanced by
the possibility of waiving core courses or substituting them for electives; courses that can be
waived in this manner are considered conditionally required.
At Stern, the only truly mandatory course is the
1.5-credit Professional Responsibility seminar
taken in the second year. All other core courses
Figure 2.5 Course Type as Percentage of Credits Required to Graduate

(OHFWLYH&RXUVHV
&RQGLWLRQDOO\5HTXLUHG&RXUVHV
0DQGDWRU\&RXUVHV
Note: Mandatory classes are required for graduation and cannot be waived under any circumstances. Conditionally required courses are part
of the core curriculum but may be waived by exam or credential or substituted with other coursework.
are conditionally required, meaning that students may waive them if they can prove proficiency in the subject (see Figure 2.5).
Moreover, in providing a menu of core requirements from which students can pick and choose,
Stern effectively allows its students to opt out of
one or two core courses at will. This is an unusual policy, but it has its analogs in the flexible
Chicago Booth core curriculum and in the Content Areas in Whartons new core curriculum. At
Wharton, all students must fulfill certain distributional requirements, known as Content Areas,
and are given a choice between two or three
courses that fulfill each requirement. Chicago
Booths Functions, Management, and Business
Environment requirement, meanwhile, allows
students to choose one course each from six out
of seven possible academic categories, a policy
that provides students with significant flexibility
in tailoring their academic schedules. Because
of these schools flexible approaches to the core
curriculum, first-year students at NYU Stern,
Chicago Booth and Wharton can begin customizing their courses of study from the very beginning of the program.
This approach stands in contrast to the waiver
philosophy at Columbia and many of Sterns
other peer schools. Columbia students who
wish to waive a core course must sit for an
exemption exam, equivalent to a final exam,

for each course they wish to waive, regardless
of prior coursework or experience. Columbias
policy of offering waivers in every core subject
means that a Columbia student with ample
background could place out of almost all core
courses, though students from non-traditional
backgrounds would likely be required to complete the entire core. Put another way, a student entering business school with an extensive
academic background in business might be able
to exploit Columbias flexibility more fully than
the average student, whereas the type of flexibility afforded by NYU Stern is more accessible
to someone with less formal business education
and therefore less ability to test out of specific
courses or disciplines.
Grading System
NYU Stern grades are awarded according to
a standard American letter system, in which
grades run from A through F and are tied to a
numerical grade point average (GPA) scale with
a 4.0 corresponding to an A, a 3.0 to a B, and
so on. Although all grades above a D, or 1.0,
are considered passing, students with a cumulative GPA of below 2.3 are placed on academic
probation. To graduate from Stern, students
must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.5.
Academics |
Course grades depend on the content and structure of the course, as well as on the professors
own approach to the material. Grades are often
based on class participation, exams, case analyses, problem sets or other individual and group
projects. The school mandates that no more
than 35 percent of the students in each core
course section can receive a grade of A in the
course, a policy put in place to ensure consistent grading across first-year blocks.
Faculty
The NYU Stern faculty consists of over 200
professors across its academic departments and
programs. In keeping with Sterns reputation as
a finance-oriented program, the Finance department is the largest at the school, employing
over 40 professors. Other sizeable departments
include Information, Operations & Management
Sciences and Economics, both of which employ
approximately 35 professors apiece. A few
of the programs notable teachers and faculty
members are profiled below.
Adam Brandenburger
As the 2006 NYU Stern MBA Professor of the
Year and the 2008 recipient of Sterns Excellence in Teaching Award, Brandenburger is a
clear favorite of the Stern community. A wellknown game theorist in the schools economics
department,
BrandenThe professors are truly leaders
burger coin their fields and yet they
authored the
couldnt be more accessible.
book Co NYU Stern 09
opetition
with Barry
Nalebuff in 1996, which has been translated into
more than ten languages; he has also written
extensively on all aspects of game theory. Before coming to Stern, Brandenburger taught at
Harvard Business School for sixteen years.
Aswath Damodaran
The chair of Sterns Finance Department, Aswath Damodaran is a seven-time winner of the
Stern School of Business Excellence in Teaching Award. In addition to his reputation as an
effective educator, Damodaran is also an expert
in valuation, corporate finance, and investment
management. He has written five books and
published numerous articles in the Journal of
Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Review
of Financial Studies, and other top publications,
though he notes dryly that I am sure the list of
people who
have read
these articles
is a short
one. Former students
report that
while just
400 people
are enrolled
in his classes
in any given
semester,
more than
4,000 people
a week tune in to watch his online lectures.
His research interests include information and
prices, real estate, and valuation. He currently
teaches Corporate Finance and Equity Instruments & Markets at Stern.
Prof. Damodaran... teaches
Corporate Finance, in the spring
semester of the first year. It
is just unbelievable. I have no
words to really describe how
interesting the class is, and
how fun finance is the way he
teaches it. He was able to teach
me how to see corporate finance
and its role in the world today in
a whole different way.
NYU Stern 11
Durairaj Maheswaran
Durairaj Maheswaran, the Paganelli Bull Professor of Marketing at Stern, teaches courses in
marketing concepts and consumer behavior. He
also currently holds the Stern Research Professorship in Marketing. From 1997 to 2001, he
served as Sterns NEC Faculty Research Fellow
and was recognized in 1993 with the Excellence
in Teaching Award. The Journal of Consumer
Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology,
Journal of Marketing Research and Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology have all
published Professor Maheswarans research on
cross-cultural consumer behavior, international
marketing and attitude change. He has also
served as the president of the Society for Consumer Psychology and the editor of the Journal
of Consumer Psychology.
Elizabeth Wolfe Morrison
After earning her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Kellogg in 1990, Professor Elizabeth
Wolfe Morrison jumped straight into a teaching
career at NYU Stern. From 2001 to 2005 she
was chair of Sterns Management and Organizations Department. Currently, as the ITT Harold
Geneen Professor in Creative Management,
Professor Morrison teaches the courses Leadership in Organizations, Collaboration, Conflict
& Negotiation, and Managing People & Teams.
Professor Morrisons research focuses on employees willingness to take initiative on behalf
of their own interests as well as the interests of
their companies. More recently, she has delved
into the ease of communication in a work environment, examining the factors that affect
10
whether employees feel comfortable pointing

out problems. Her articles have been published
in several prestigious journals, including the
Academy of Management Journal, the Academy

of Management Review and the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Special Programs |
Special Programs
Study Abroad
Semester Study Abroad
Students seeking long-term immersion in a
foreign business environment may be interested
in exploring NYU Sterns semester-long study
abroad opportunities. Stern is a member of the
Partnership in International Management (PIM),
which gives the schools MBA students access
to exchange opportunities at over 40 business
schools in 30 different countries (see Figure
3.1).
The study abroad application process, which

takes place between mid-February and early
March, consists of a written application and a
personal interview. Students are asked to rank
their top three study abroad choices and are
notified by early April if they have been successfully matched with a program.
To help students strategically plan their applications, Stern provides a spreadsheet of the
results of the previous years application process. The number of spaces available in each
program varies greatly; just two to four spaces
are offered per year at popular destinations in
Figure 3.1 International Exchange Partners

Argentina: IAE Business School, Universidad
Austral
Australia: Australian Graduate School of Management; Melbourne Business School, University of
Melbourne
Austria: Wirtschaftsuniversitt Wien
Belgium: Universit catholique de Louvain
Brazil: Escola de Administrao de Empresas de
So Paulo/Fundao Getulio Vargas
Canada: Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill
University; Schulich School of Business, York
University
Chile: Pontifica Universidad Catlica de Chile
China: China Europe International Business School
(CEIBS); Fudan University School of Management;
Guanghua School of Management, Peking University; Tsinghua University School of Economics and
Management
Costa Rica: INCAE Business School
Denmark: Copenhagen Business School
France: HEC Paris
Germany: Faculty of Management, Economics and
Social Sciences, Universitt zu Kln; Mannheim
Business School
India: Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad; Indian Institute of Management Bangalore;
Indian School of Business
Ireland: Michael Smurfit School of Business,
University College Dublin
Israel: The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration, Tel Aviv University
Italy: SDA Bocconi School of Management

Japan: Graduate School of Business and Commerce, Keio University; Graduate School of International Management, International University of
Japan; Graduate School of International Relations,
International University of Japan
Mexico: EGADE Business School, Instituto Tecnolgico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey;
Instituto Tecnolgico Autnomo de Mxico
Netherlands: Rotterdam School of Management,
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Norway: Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration
Singapore: Nanyang Business School; NUS Business School, National University of Singapore
South Africa: Wits Business School, University of
the Witwatersrand
South Korea: Yonsei University College of Business
and Economics
Spain: ESADE Business School, Universitat Ramon
Llull; IE Business School; IESE Business School,
Universidad de Navarra
Sweden: Stockholm School of Economics
Switzerland: Universitt St.Gallen
Thailand: Thammasat University Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy
United Kingdom: London Business School; London
School of Economics and Political Science; Manchester Business School
Venezuela: Instituto de Estudios Superiores de
Administracin
12
Australia, India and Europe, but many other

partner schools open up slots based on how
many of their students plan to spend a term
studying at NYU. The statistics show that while
it may be difficult to capture a seat in the most
popular programs, there is more than enough
capacity to accommodate flexible Stern students
who wish to spend a semester abroad.
Doing Business In...

For students interested in gaining international
exposure, Sterns one- and two-week Doing
Business In... (DBI) programs offer an appealing short-term alternative to spending an entire semester abroad. The programs usually
travel to between four and six locations each
semester; past destinations include Argentina,
Australia, China, Hungary, Italy and India. DBI
trips take place outside the normal academic
calendar, usually between semesters or during
Spring Break, making it easy for students to fit
the program into their schedules at some point
during the MBA.
Admission is determined by lottery. Each DBI
program includes one pre-trip class session, followed by four to ten full days of scheduled activities in the host country. Classes are taught by
the faculty of the host university; these faculty
members also award the final project or paper
grades for the course. Successful completion
of the course is worth 1.5 or 3 credits toward
graduation and can be counted towards a specialization in Global Business.
Short-Term Study Abroad

In addition to the DBI programs, NYU Stern
also offers students the unusual opportunity to
study abroad for one to six weeks with one of
four partner universities in Argentina, Denmark,
Germany or South Korea. Three of these shortterm courses take place in early to mid-May,
making it possible to arrange a summer internship start date around completion of the course;
the Denmark program, however, takes place in
late June and early July. The one-, two- and
six-week programs can earn students between
1.5 and 6 credits toward graduation. Although
many MBA programs allow students to study
abroad for a full semester or to travel abroad
as part of a course, few provide summer ex-
changes through which students can earn credit

toward graduation.
Entrepreneurship
The NYU Stern Entrepreneurs Challenge, sponsored by the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial
Studies and open to all members of the greater
NYU community, is among the largest business plan competitions in the U.S. Beginning in
September, the challenge spans eight months
and includes workshops, coaching sessions and
networking events to help participants refine
their business plans. Teams must include at
least one current NYU student. All participating teams receive feedback from experienced
industry professionals throughout the competition, and have ample opportunity to test their
business ideas and practice their entrepreneurial
skills in a risk-free environment.
The challenge, which drew an unprecedented
211 teams in 2011, consists of three separate competitions: the NYU Stern New Venture
Competition; the NYU Stern Social Venture
Competition; and, new in 2011, the NYU Technology Venture Competition, divided into Life
Sciences and IT & Clean Tech tracks. Winners
of the three competitions are awarded a combined $250,000 in seed money and in-kind
support. In addition to valuable funding and
continual guidance throughout the competition,
the winning teams receive access to a virtual
pod in Sterns new-venture incubator, where
they will benefit from $10,000 in pro bono legal
and consulting support, an extensive mentor
network, ongoing technical assistance, educational programs and other university-sponsored
resources.
The three ventures that won the 2011 Entrepreneurs Challenge were CourseHorse, a city-wide
directory of recreational courses and workshops
that took top prize in the New Venture Competition; See & Be Seen, a Social Venture Competition entrant that distributes reflective backpacks to improve road safety in East Africa; and
Anzenna, a medical devices venture that took
home the first grand prize of the Technology
Venture Competition.
Life at NYU Stern |
Life at NYU Stern
Campus Spaces
New York Universitys Stern School of Business
is located in the Kaufman Management Center (KMC), situated near the center of NYUs
Greenwich Village campus. This 10-story facility
houses MBA classrooms, student lounges and
study areas, and an amphitheater for large assemblies, as well as faculty and administrative
offices. KMCs sixth floor is a major center of
MBA activity, with the Admissions, Financial Aid,
Student Affairs and Academic Advising offices all
situated on this level; the Office of Career Development, another major point of interest for
MBA students, is just one floor down. Sterns
undergraduate program is located in nearby
Tisch Hall, which is connected to the Kaufman
Management Center by a first-floor walkway.
All of KMCs classrooms and study areas are
equipped with wireless Internet access, and
there are also computer stations for student
use on several floors. Stern students can reserve individual study cubicles or group meeting
rooms through an online system, but many prefer to congregate spontaneously in more casual
lounge areas. The most popular of these is the
Sosnoff Lounge Grad Caf, located on KMCs
first floor, which sells grab-and-go sandwiches,
salads, coffee and other drinks from Monday
through Saturday starting at 8:00 a.m. MBA
students who have a job interview scheduled
between classes, or who plan on hitting the gym
or going out on the town after a day of class,
can take advantage of the lockers located on six
of the buildings floors. The Kaufman Management Center is easily accessible by bus or subway, and students traveling by car can receive
discounted parking at several nearby garages
with validation or an NYU student ID.
The Kaufman Management Center is just two
blocks away from the NYU Coles Sports Center, which offers fitness and weight rooms, an
Olympic-size pool, a track, and courts for tennis,
racquetball and squash. The Palladium, another
fitness center, is fifteen minutes away from KMC
by foot, and features a broader array of cardio-
vascular options, another swimming pool and

a 30-foot rock-climbing wall. Access to both
of these facilities is free to NYU students. Just
across the street from KMC, Washington Square
Parks nine acres of green space offer MBA students a welcome respite from the downtown city
bustle. Home to the iconic Washington Square
Arch, among other historical monuments, the
park hosts free film screenings and concerts
throughout the summer.
Life in New York

Greenwich Village
Although New York University also owns facilities in the Bronx and new residences in Union
Square, the heart of the university is its Greenwich Village campus, where NYU Stern is located. Greenwich Village, most often called just
the Village, is a place of great historical and
artistic significance. Venerated folk songwriter
Bob Dylan
wrote many
Future students should know
of his songs
that this is a vibrant and exciting
while residing
environment to pursue an MBA.
in the neighThe location is phenomenal, and
borhood; it
the community that surrounds
was also for
our school is as alive and
many years
energetic. NYU Stern 11
the home
of the Beat
movement,
best remembered today for the writings of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Today, most
cutting-edge artists have migrated south into
the up-and-coming neighborhoods of Brooklyn,
and the Village boasts some of New Yorks highest rents and biggest names. Movie star Uma
Thurman, for example, lives within a few blocks
of NYU.
The area is still culturally vibrant, offering
outstanding theater (the Blue Man Group has
taken up residence in nearby Astor Place), music (CBGB in the East Village is said to be the
birthplace of American punk rock music) and
14
literature (the alternative newspaper The Village

Voice is published in the Village, and the Strand,
New Yorks most famous bookstore, is located
nearby). Like the rest of Manhattan, the Village
is replete with dining options, from Johns Pizzeria on Bleecker Street, regarded by many as the
best in the city, to Babbo, the pricey Italian creation of famous chef Mario Batali, located just
off Washington Square Park on Waverly Street.
The Village is notoriously easy to get lost in,
especially for newcomers. The neighborhood
was originally a separate city from the rest of
New York, and therefore its streets do not follow
the simple grid pattern of much of the rest of
Manhattan. Most streets in the Village are not
numbered, particularly as you move south from
the main NYU campus. Even those that are do
not necessarily play by the rules; for instance,
West 4th Street suddenly turns right at one point
and begins running north-south, intersecting
West 12th Street. However, after a day or two of
confusion, most visitors come to enjoy the narrow and often curvy streets that give the Village
its charming, slightly European feel.
The City of New York

The largest city in the United States, the most
densely populated in North America, and one of
the largest metropolitan areas in the world, New
York offers an almost unlimited range of activities and opportunities for the interested student. Over one-third of New Yorks population is
foreign-born, and 138 languages are spoken in
the borough of Queens alone, making it one of
the most diverse cities in the world.
Home to the United Nations, Wall Street, and
myriad international companies and financial markets, as well as world-class museums,
restaurants and fashion, New York is known for
its culture, economic opportunity and fast pace
of life. The city is made up of five boroughs
Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island
and Brooklyn each with its own character, history and attractions.
New York is a hub for American art, theatre
and television. The world-famous Metropolitan Museum of Art calls New York home, as do
the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim
Museum and nearly 2,500 other museums and
galleries. The Broadway Theatre District is an
international center for the performing arts, with
a staggering array of musicals, comedies, dramas, world premieres and experimental theatre.
With all four major American TV networks and
many large cable networks headquartered in

New York, there is always filming happening in
the city.
The citys extensive network of parks offers opportunities for jogging, swimming, canoeing and
kayaking, as well as leisurely strolls or picnic
dinners. Sports fans appreciate that the New
York/New Jersey metropolitan area has two or
more teams
in each of the
Living in New York is unlike
U.S.s four
living in any other city, so for
major professtudents who relocated to the
sional sports
city, there is a huge number of
leagues the
things shows, restaurants,
Mets and
sights, activities to take part
Yankees in
in. Having New York City as
baseball,
the backdrop of Stern shapes
the Nets and
our social lives, and naturally,
Knicks in
provides unparalleled access to
basketball,
the many companies located in
the Giants
New York. NYU Stern 10
and Jets in
football, and
the Rangers, Devils and Islanders in hockey.
Tenniss U.S. Open is hosted in Queens each
year, and the New York Marathon, held each fall,
is one of the worlds premier long-distance running events.
Winters in the city tend to be cool, but less
harsh than those in many inland cities, with
average winter temperatures ranging from 25
to 40F (-4 to 4C). Snowfall does occur in the
winter, but the warm ocean air makes rain more
common. Summer highs tend to stay in the
mid-80s (approx. 29C), with high humidity.
Three major airports serve the New York metropolitan area: John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia
International Airports in Queens, and Newark
Liberty International Airport across the Hudson
River in Newark, New Jersey. Frequent train
and bus service connects New York to the rest
of the Northeastern corridor, and the major U.S.
cities of Boston, Philadelphia and Washington,
D.C., are only 2 to 5 hours away by car. Most
residents find it easy to get around the New
York area without a car, relying instead on subways, buses, cabs and trains to move throughout the city and its suburbs.
Housing
Although students are not required to live on
campus, Stern does offer limited on-campus
housing for full-time MBA students. At the Palladium, a relatively new apartment complex
Life at NYU Stern |
Figure 4.1 NYU Stern Student Clubs and Conferences

Athletic Clubs
Stern Basketball Association
Stern Golf Club
Stern Racquet Association
Stern Rugby Football Club
Stern Soccer Club
Stern Softball Club
Stern Racquet Club
Affinity/Identity Clubs
Asian Business Society
Association of Hispanic & Black
Business Students
European Business Society
Japan Business Association
Jewish Students Association
Latin American Business
Association
Military Veterans Club
OutClass
South Asian Business Association
at Stern
Stern in Africa
Stern Opportunity
Stern Women in Business
Technology & New Media Group
Career and Professional Clubs

Association of Investment
Management & Research
Emerging Markets Association
Entrepreneurs Exchange
Government and Business
Association
Graduate Finance Association
Graduate Marketing Association
Luxury & Retail Club
Management Consulting
Association
Media, Entertainment & Sports
Association
Real Estate Club
Sales & Trading Club
Social Enterprise Association
Stern Hedge Fund Association
Stern Pharmaceutical & Health
Care Association
Stern Private Equity Club
Strategy & Operations Club
Social Clubs
Net Present Vocals
SpeechMasters
Stern Adventures
Stern Wine Cellar
owned by NYU, four full floors are reserved for

approximately 100 Stern students. The building offers furnished studios and shared twobedroom apartments, and is a good choice for
single students who are new to the city. Former residents of the Palladium say that living
in the building is a great way to make friends
at Stern, since the proximity of other students
means that it is always easy to find help with
homework, a buddy for the gym or company for
dinner. In addition to being fully furnished, all
rooms include local phone service, cable television and high-speed internet.
Clubs
Stern boasts more than three dozen student
clubs and organizations representing a range of
personal, social and professional interests (see
Figure 4.1). All clubs are overseen by the Stern
Student Corporation, or SCorp, which serves
as the schools student government. Among
SCorps responsibilities are allocating funds to
clubs and officially acknowledging when new
ones are founded. Students are encouraged
to start new clubs if they can make a case that
the interests or concerns of their proposed
clubs members would not be met by any existing Stern outlets. SCorp facilitates a number
Stern Conferences
Association of Hispanic and Black
Business Students Conference
Association of Investment Management & Research Conference
Graduate Finance Association
Conference
Graduate Marketing Association
Conference
Luxury & Retail Conference
Media, Entertainment & Sports
Association Conference
Stern Private Equity Club
Conference
Stern Women in Business
Conference
of community-wide events, from the First Beer

Blast in September to the Stern Follies show
and MBA Flag Football Days in May.
The largest number of clubs at NYU Stern are
dedicated to common professional pursuits,
ranging in focus from financial engineering
to entertainment to social enterprise. These
professional clubs offer their members tools to
help them prepare for their post-MBA careers.
The Social Enterprise Association (SEA), one
of the most prominent such clubs, doubles as
NYU Sterns chapter of Net Impact, a nationwide
organization that aims to encourage students
from all industries and functions to make a
meaningful impact in the world. Each year, the
SEA hosts a speaker series, several discussion
forums and a spring break trek, among other
events.
Given the number of Stern students who enter jobs in finance, it is not surprising that the
Graduate Finance Association (GFA) is one of
the largest and most active student groups
on campus. With over 850 student members,
drawn from both the full-time and part-time
MBA programs, alongside a large network of
alumni who remain involved in the club, the
group provides extensive educational, network-
16
ing, and career preparation resources to its

members. Frequent club events during Fall Semester feature industry speakers presenting an
overview of different areas of finance, highlighting career opportunities and notable trends in
the industry. In Spring Semester, career panels
and training seminars prepare students to find
and excel in finance positions.
Another finance-oriented club of note is the
Stern Private Equity Club (SPEC). SPEC helps to
connect students interested in careers in private
equity and venture capital to leading figures
in their target industries, organizing events
ranging from alumni mixers to mock interview
sessions. SPEC also hosts an off-campus conference each spring that is open to all interested
NYU Stern community members and industry
professionals.
Students are very involved
Serving both
in extracurricular activities.
professional
Any given student may be a
and social
member of a handful of clubs
purposes,
and focus on a leadership
NYU Sterns
role in one or two clubs. The
affinity- and
clubs and extracurricular
identityactivities are student-run, and
based clubs
it is incredible to see what
reflect the
the students can accomplish
diversity of
through their organizations.
the schools
The extracurricular offerings
student body.
are extensive and are a huge
For instance,
part of students lives, socially,
OutClass,
academically and for recruiting.
Sterns LGBT
NYU Stern 10
group, seeks
to identify
and address
issues of sexual orientation and gender identity as they relate to the workplace, as well as
serving as a social and professional network for
its members. Current and past members of the
organization have been recognized by such publications as The Advocate and BusinessWeek.
With over 500 active members, NYU Sterns Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS) is one of the largest clubs on
campus. The association provides an important
link between Hispanic and black students and
the professional communities they seek to enter,
organizing one of the largest and oldest conferences on campus as well as a series of career
treks and other events for its members. AHBBS
also actively reaches out to other affinity groups
on campus to pool resources and networks.
The Military Veterans Club (MVC), geared towards those who have served in any branch of
the U.S. Armed Forces, is an affinity group that
doubles as a particularly strong social network
and support group. The clubs goals are to enable more veterans to become Stern students,
to ease the transition from military life to a business environment, and to aid those injured or
the families of those killed while serving their
country. For example, the MVC hosts a regular $10,000-per-table charity event open to
students from all of Sterns peer schools, the
proceeds of which went to Reserve Aid, an organization devoted to helping military reservists
wounded while on active duty.
As one of the schools social clubs, Stern Adventures hopes to bring students together outside
the classroom through outdoor expeditions.
Welcoming everyone from beginners to accomplished daredevils, the club organizes adventures ranging from skiing trips to whitewater
rafting. The Stern Soccer Club, too, provides a
non-academic backdrop in which Stern students
can get to know one another. Through their
participation in regular practices and inter-MBA
competitions, students get the chance to work
as a team without having to prove their quantitative prowess. Win or lose, the team also
hosts many parties and happy hours that allow
members to socialize off the field.
A more cerebral but equally non-academic club
is the Stern Wine Cellar, whose main concern
is the joyous consumption of libations and
fine cuisine. With regular wine-tasting events
throughout the year, the Wine Cellar provides an
opportunity for students to become acquainted
with a fine Shiraz while simultaneously learning
a little more about their peers.
Conferences
Stern has a very active events schedule. Its
professional and affinity clubs host several
conferences each academic year that bring together students, faculty members and industry
professionals. Regular conferences include the
Stern Private Equity Club Conference, the Stern
Women in Business Conference, and the Global
Business Conference, which is sponsored jointly
by the Emerging Markets Association and several other clubs with an international or industry
focus.
The Graduate Finance Associations annual GFA
Life at NYU Stern |
Conference, usually the first of the academic

year, draws approximately 200 attendees each
year, including a large contingent of New Yorkbased Stern alumni working in finance. The 15th
annual conference, held
Guest speakers would often
in mid-Occome to campus. For example,
tober 2010,
the presidents of the WNBA and
included
the MLB Players Union, came
seven panel
to speak, because their offices
discussions,
are here in New York. NYU is
three guest
accessible to visitors. At times at
speeches and
b-school, things get theoretical,
a plethora of
and I was more interested in
networking
applying theory. The speakers
opportunities.
would give real-world experience
The featured
and tell us why the MBA is
speakers
useful. NYU Stern 10
were Jacob
Silverman,
CFO of the financial advisory firm Duff & Phelps;
NYU Stern professor Charles Murphy, the former head of Credit Suisses global investment
banking department; and Ray McGuire, Head of
Global Banking at Citigroup.
For the past 25 years, the AHBBS has held one
a mid-October conference, generally held the

week after the GFA Conference, which draws
upwards of 300 current students, minority applicants, alumni and industry professionals to
campus. In 2010, the conferences platform
was Moving Forward: Building Momentum for
the Milestones Ahead. The conference featured
speeches by Kym Hubbard, Treasurer and Chief
Investment Officer for Ernst & Young, and Barbara Byrne (MBA 80), Vice Chairman of Investment Banking for Barclays.
Held in back-to-back weeks in February 2011,
the 19th annual Stern Women in Business Conference focused on women who seek to create social change outside the bounds of their
companies, and the Media & Entertainment
Association conference provided opportunities
for networking within the film, music, broadcast and cable television, sports and publishing
industries. Keynote speakers at these conferences have included Karen Peetz, Vice Chairman and CEO for Financial Markets and Treasury
Services at BNY Mellon; Avivah Wittenberg-Cox,
CEO of 20-First; Jeffrey Zucker, President and
CEO of NBC Universal; and Joseph Uva, CEO of
Univision.
18
Life After NYU Stern
Office of Career
Development
The Office of Career Development, or OCD, is
the organizing force behind NYU Sterns oncampus recruiting program. The office employs
over 20 staff members with specialized industry expertise and offers numerous programs to
support students internship and full-time job
searches.
The Career Resource Center (CRC), located
within the OCD, is a library dedicated to the job
search process. Resources in the CRC include
job postings, business directories, recruiting
pamphlets, videos of corporate presentations,
Sterns annual placement reports and general
guides on how to navigate the job search. Another valuable resource at the OCD is the Career Advisory Program, an online resource that
links students with successful Stern alumni to
arrange informational interviews and possible
mentoring relationships.
In addition to
these research tools,
the OCD
organizes a
busy schedule of career
development
programming to help
students
enhance their
job search
skills. Much of this programming takes place
on Friday afternoons throughout the year, with
sample topics including mock interviews, resume review, industry-focused panel discussions
and workshops on networking. Students can
also take advantage of one-on-one career counseling with OCD staff members. These individualized sessions can help students assess their
strengths and goals, focus their job searches
and build their networking skills.
Because I was a career
switcher, the Office of Career
Development was instrumental
to my success. Whether it was
preparing me for interviews, or
helping me structure an excellent
resume, their help was vital.
Their advice has been pivotal in
making the right decisions.
NYU Stern 11
Recruiting/Interview Procedures
One of the OCDs most important functions is
to organize the on-campus recruiting program
that brings hundreds of employers to Stern
each year. On-campus company presentations
geared toward second-years begin early in the
fall semester, and interviewing for full-time positions starts in mid-October of each year. Firstyear students, on the other hand, are allowed
several months to settle into Stern before the
recruiting season begins in earnest. Interviews
for summer internships begin in the second
week of January and continue through early
spring.
Recruiters interviewing at Stern may opt for
either a closed or an open schedule, a division
used by many leading MBA programs. In the
closed model, firms pre-screen the resumes of
all interested candidates and submit a list of
those they would like to interview, while in the
open model, students are free to bid for interview slots at their target companies. Many
students, especially career changers, prefer the
open schedule, since it provides an opportunity
for those with little prior experience in the field
to demonstrate their relevant knowledge and
their passion for the position.
Career Statistics
All MBA career offices work to build recruiting
relationships with companies in many industries
and geographic locations. However, if a school
boasts a high number of students with an interest in a particular industry or location, that often
suggests that the school is more likely to attract
recruiters from those fields or regions, and that
those companies are more likely to have a successful recruiting season and be interested in
building partnerships with the school. Likewise,
when a large number of companies from a particular industry or region regularly visit a school,
it tends to attract a larger network of students
interested in that field or location.
Because of this cycle of interest in on-campus
Life After NYU Stern |
Figure 5.1 NYU Stern Industry Placement

Other

Media/
Entertainment
Consumer
Goods/Retail
Financial
Services

Consulting
Note: Other includes Technology, Healthcare/Pharma/Biotech and
Real Estate, as well as other industries not delineated within NYU
Sterns employment report.
recruiting, MBA candidates should research the

industry and regional employment statistics of
their target schools to get a sense of the relative
recruiting opportunities available. Of course,
with up to half of students at some schools finding their full-time positions through independent
searches, it is important to remember that there
are many opportunities available beyond oncampus recruiting.
Industry
NYU Sterns reputation as a finance-focused
school is borne out by its career placement record. The school sent 47% of its Class of 2010
into the financial services industry, which is not
only one of the highest finance percentages, but
also one of the highest percentages of students
entering a single industry, at any leading business school (see Figure 5.3). Only Columbia,
another New York school known for its finance
orientation, sends a higher proportion of students into the sector.
Of Stern graduates entering financial services,
the majority tend to take positions in investment banking, a field that attracted 31% of the
Class of 2010. In other words, Stern sends as
large a percentage of graduates into investment
banking alone as many business schools send
into the entire financial services sector.
graduates into that industry of any leading MBA

program.
In contrast, NYU Sterns location in the media
and entertainment center of New York translates
into a relatively large percentage of graduates
entering the entertainment industry. In the
Class of 2010, 4% of Stern graduates entered
the media and entertainment industries, a figure
that has risen as high as 10% over the last few
years. The only school that regularly sends a
comparable or higher percentage of graduates
into the business is the UCLA Anderson School
of Management, located in Los Angeles, the
U.S.s other main entertainment and media hub.
Geography
Given New Yorks status as one of the worlds
financial capitals and the high percentage of
Stern graduates entering financial services upon
graduation, it is not surprising that the vast
majority of Stern graduates settle in New York
City and the Northeast U.S. (see Figure 5.2). In
the Class of 2010, fully 80% of graduates took a
position in the Northeast, a percentage broadly
in line with historical trends. Europe and Asia
were the next most popular destinations for
Class of 2010 graduates, with 4% of the class
choosing to relocate to each of those regions
(see Figure 5.4). International placements are
consistently popular among Stern graduates,
drawing 13% of the class last year.
On the other hand, only a handful of NYU Stern
graduates choose to settle in other regions of
the U.S. Only 3.5% of the Class of 2010 accepted a position in the West after graduation, and the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, South and
Southwest all attracted fewer than one percent
Figure 5.2 NYU Stern Regional Placement
Other International
Other U.S.
Asia
Europe

With financial services dominating the recruiting landscape, there are fewer students left over
to populate traditional post-MBA fields such as
consulting, consumer products and technology
(see Figure 5.1). In fact, with only 15% of the
Class of 2010 accepting positions in consulting,
Stern sends one of the lowest percentages of

Northeast
20
Figure 5.3 Job Placement by Industry
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Financial
Services
Consulting
Consumer
Goods/Retail
Technology
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Healthcare/
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Life After NYU Stern |
Figure 5.4 Job Placement by U.S. Region
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Northeast
1<86WWHUQ

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West
(including
Alaska &
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22
of Stern graduates. This indicates that while

job searches outside of New York can indeed be
successful, they will likely need to be very selfdirected, as campus resources and recruiting
relationships in those regions appear to be slim.
On the other hand, with such an overwhelming
percentage of graduates settling in the New York
area each year, students interested in working
in New York after graduation will have extraordinary local resources on which to draw.
Alumni Network
NYU Sterns combined undergraduate and MBA
alumni network consists of over 90,000 living
alumni based in more than 100 countries around
the world. While at Stern, MBA students have
the chance to connect directly with participating
alumni through several mentorship and networking programs, including the New Venture
Mentor Program and the Social Venture Mentor
Program. These programs match current MBA
students who are interested in entrepreneurship
and social entrepreneurship with alumni active
in those fields.
As graduates,
many Stern
[The alumni network] is very
MBAs conimportant. Not only in terms
tinue to be
of building a more robust
involved in
professional network, but also
the schools
to meet people that have been
mentoring
in the position you currently
programs,
are. They can relate to your
either as
dilemmas, uncertainties and can
mentors or
be a tremendous source of help.
mentees, and
NYU Stern 11
also have
free access
to a separate career services office dedicated
to the needs of mid-career professionals. The
Career Center for Working Professionals (CCWP)
offers one-on-one career counseling, mock
interview services, workshops, and access to

seminars, networking events and job postings.
In a typical year, the CCWP offers more than 25
workshops, holds over 1,500 career counseling sessions and provides access to more than
1,700 job postings, making it a rich resource for
Stern graduates.
Stern alumni
can stay
connected
with each
other through
the schools
online alumni platform, NYU SternConnect. Users may access Sterns online alumni database,
class notes, alumni group websites and CCWP
career resources, and can take advantage of
Sterns lifetime email forwarding service.
I cold-called 150 alums and
everyone was very responsive.
NYU Stern 10
In addition to the ongoing communication and

career resources, Stern hosts several major
alumni events each year. The Global Alumni
Conference is an annual three-day professional
event that brings expert speakers and interested alumni together to discuss global themes in a
different major city each year. On a more social
note, the annual Stern Alumni Ball is a black-tie
gala held during the holiday season to celebrate
the Stern community.
Finally, all NYU Stern alumni are eligible to continue their business education through Sterns
Alumni Students program. Although many
leading business schools allow graduates to
pursue additional coursework, Stern has one of
the most flexible policies in this area, allowing
alumni to enroll in three credits of coursework
per semester with no cap on the number of
post-graduate credits they may earn. All alumni
students must pay applicable tuition and fees,
and all course grades are recorded on the participants official NYU transcript.
Admissions |
Admissions
Visiting NYU Stern

NYU Stern welcomes prospective students to
campus throughout the year, offering combined
tours and information sessions on Mondays
through Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. Members of
the Admissions Committee partner with current
students to present a short, informal tour of the
campus and an informational presentation that
includes a Q&A session. Although prior reservations are not necessary to participate in the tour
and information session, visitors are encouraged
to arrive at
least 15 minBecause of my proximity
utes
before
to NYU, I was able to visit a
the
session
number of times, and each
starts in ortime I felt extremely welcome
der to sign in
and comfortable. The energy
with security
among the students, faculty and
and register
administration who I met was
with MBA
contagious. Stern fostered the
Admissions.
community that I could most
easily envision myself being a
part of. Now that Im at NYU, I
can see that my impression of
the school and the student body
was correct. The community is
vibrant, motivating and fun to be
a part of. Stern 10
Prospective
students are
also welcome
to sit in on
a class while
on campus.
Class visits
are available throughout Fall Semester, though availability may fluctuate based on exam and vacation
schedules. For more information on arranging
a class visit, visitors should contact the MBA
Admissions office several weeks in advance of
their trip.
Application
Requirements
NYU Stern evaluates candidates for admission
on the basis of their academic potential, career
history and goals, and personal and professional
characteristics. Within this framework, Stern
seeks students with the academic confidence
to ask difficult questions and to persist through

challenging academic situations. The school
does not require a minimum GPA or GMAT score
for consideration, though both are seen as important factors in evaluating a students potential. Work history is considered for its length
and consistency, as well as for the breadth of
the candidates responsibilities and evidence
of progression within their field. Finally, Stern
looks to admit candidates who will be actively
involved in the Stern community, and therefore
values proven leadership, evidence of strong
communication skills and participation in ones
community.
The two-part NYU Stern online application form
requests an array of standard biographical data,
as well as standardized test scores, information
about the applicants academic record, awards
and extracurricular activities, and, if applicable,
an International Supplement form. In addition to the application form, candidates should
submit a current resume, transcripts from any
undergraduate or graduate coursework they
have undertaken, two letters of recommendation, GMAT or GRE scores, TOEFL scores (if
applicable), and responses to the schools three
essay questions. Candidates should also plan
to complete an employment history form and to
submit an application fee.
Although most of NYU Sterns application requirements are in line with those of other
leading MBA programs, the school does throw
applicants one curveball (see Figure 6.1). The
schools Essay 3 asks applicants to describe
themselves to their MBA classmates using any
method or medium to convey their message.
This question is famous for its open-ended
nature and usually either delights or confounds
perspective students. The Admissions Committee stresses that there is no wrong approach
to the question, so long as students use good
judgment in considering what they want to
convey about themselves. That said, they do
request that applicants refrain from sending
in anything perishable (such as food) or anything that has previously been worn (such as
24
Figure 6.1 NYU Stern Essay Topics 2011-2012

Essay 1
Think about the decisions you have made in your life. Answer the following:
(a) What choices have you made that led you to your current position?
(b) Why pursue an MBA at this point in your life?
(c) What is your career goal upon graduation from NYU Stern? What is your long-term career goal? (750
word maximum)
Essay 2
We take great care to shape the Stern community with individuals who possess both intellectual and
interpersonal strengths. We seek individuals who are highly intelligent, collaborative and committed to
flourishing as Stern leaders. Please answer the following questions:
(a) What is your personal experience with the Stern community? Tell us what actions you have taken to
learn about us.
(b) Describe what most excites you about Stern from both an academic and extracurricular perspective.
(c) How do you anticipate making your mark on the Stern community? Be specific about the roles you will
take on and the impact you hope to achieve. (500 word maximum)
Essay 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.
For Clear Admits strategic advice on how to approach the NYU Stern essays, see the section
Essay Topic Analysis in Chapter 9
old clothing). In addition, the committee has
recently imposed size restrictions on Essay 3
submissions, likely due to limited on-site storage space.
In exceptional circumstances, some candidates
may be given permission to submit a paperbased application. However, in most cases,
candidates are expected to submit applications
online.
Interviewing with NYU Stern

NYU Stern considers the interview to be a vital
part of the admissions process, and the Admissions Committee rarely extends an acceptance
without conducting an interview. Interviews
are by invitation only and therefore cannot be
scheduled by the applicant.
Candidates are informed of an invitation to
interview by the notification date of each admissions round. Applicants not invited to interview
are usually denied or placed on the waitlist at
this time. Stern strongly encourages those invited to interview to come to campus to interview directly with a member of the admissions
committee. In a typical interview, the admissions officer has spent some time beforehand
reading the applicants file and will already be
familiar with their background and goals. This
differs significantly from the blind interviews

conducted by many peer schools, including Kellogg, Wharton and Darden.
Although some interviews are held off-site, usually in Europe and Asia, the availability of these
interviews is limited, and spaces fill early. Requests for alumni or phone interviews are rarely,
if ever, approved, so overseas candidates who
cannot attend the off-site interviews must make
arrangements to travel to New York for their
interviews.
Final admissions decisions are typically released
within three weeks of the interview date. At this
time, candidates can receive an acceptance, a
place on the waitlist or a denial of admission.
Deadlines
The NYU Stern admissions process is rolling,
meaning that the school reviews applications in
the order in which they are received and releases its admissions decisions as soon as they
are made. The school does offer several priority
deadlines, though, corresponding to the threeround system in place at other schools (see
Figure 6.2).
Applications received by November 15, Sterns
Admissions |
Figure 6.2 NYU Stern Deadlines 2011-2012

Application
Initial

Deadline
Notification
Round 1 November 15, 2011 February 15, 2012
Round 2 January 15, 2012
April 1, 2012
Round 3
March 15, 2012
June 1, 2012
Note: On or before the initial notification date,
candidates will receive either an interview invitation, a slot on the waitlist or a denial of admission.
first deadline, receive priority consideration for
merit-based scholarships, as well as priority in
signing up for off-site interviews. Students who
hope to learn their final admissions decisions in
time to attend Sterns admitted student event
in April should plan to apply by January 15, the
second deadline. The final deadline to apply
is March 15. Applications are not read until all
materials are received, so candidates should
make every effort to submit their full applications as early in the season as possible, taking care to ensure that any physical materials,
including their Essay 3 projects, are mailed to
the MBA Admissions office in a timely manner.
All online application materials must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of
the deadline, while mailed application materials
must be postmarked by the date of the deadline.
The Admissions Committee aims to notify all
candidates of their admissions decisions within
eight to ten weeks of submission, distributing
all interview invitations, waitlist placements and
denials of admission within that timeframe. An
invitation to interview is not an offer of admission, though it is a signal of the admissions
committees interest in learning more about the
applicant.
The Consortium
NYU Stern is one of 17 members of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, an
organization promoting diversity and inclusion in
American business. The Consortiums mission is
to address the underrepresentation of women,
African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native Americans in business education and management positions. To do this, the Consortium
actively recruits U.S. citizens and permanent
residents from these underrepresented groups,
as well as any applicant who can demonstrate
a commitment to furthering the Consortiums
mission. Through the Consortium application,

candidates may apply to up to six of the member business schools using just one application
form. Candidates admitted to one or more of
these schools are considered for a full-tuition
Consortium Fellowship and have access to the
Consortiums dedicated career development
services.
Dual Degree Programs

Stern offers seven dual degree programs in conjunction with other schools at NYU, the majority
of which last for three years (see Figure 6.3).
For admission into any dual degree program at
NYU, candidates must first apply to and be accepted at both of the programs in question.
NYU Sterns newest dual degree program, announced in spring 2007, is designed for students seeking to combine a passion for film with
a solid grounding in business. Offered jointly
by Stern and the Kanbar Institute of Film and
Television at the Tisch School of the Arts, both
highly regarded programs in their fields, the
three-year MBA/MFA program prepares students
to be creative producers with a keen sense of
the artistic and managerial demands of their
chosen discipline. Students who are admitted
to the program spend their first year completing
the Stern core curriculum, their second year at
Kanbar, and their third year taking electives at
both.
Figure 6.3 Dual Degree Programs at NYU
Stern
Dual MBA with HEC Paris (2 years)
Biology: MBA/M.S. in Biology with the Graduate
School of Arts and Science (3 years)
Film Production: MBA/MFA with the Kanbar
Institute of Film and Television, Tisch School of
the Arts (3 years)
French Studies: MBA/M.A. in French Studies
through the Institute of French Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Science (2.5 years)
Law: J.D./MBA with the School of Law (4 years)
Mathematics: MBA/M.S. in Mathematics in
Finance through the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and
Science (3 years)
Politics: MBA/M.A. in Politics with the Graduate
School of Arts and Science (2.5 years)
Public Administration: MBA/MPA with the Robert
F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (3
years)
26
In addition to the seven dual degree programs

offered on campus, Stern maintains an unusual
arrangement with the cole des Hautes tudes
Commerciales de Paris, or HEC Paris, that allows
candidates to earn two MBAs one from Stern
and one from HEC in just two years of study.
Participants in the program may begin their
studies in either Paris or New York and usually spend one academic year in each location.
Students beginning at either program have until
Spring Semester of their first year to apply to
the second school. Although the schools have a
formal partnership, admissions decisions at both

programs are made independently; in other
words, HEC students are not guaranteed admission to Stern, nor are Stern students guaranteed admission to HEC.
Those students who are admitted to the dual
degree program have full access to the lifetime
alumni resources offered by both NYU Stern and
HEC Paris, including access to all career development programs and alumni networking opportunities.
Financing the NYU Stern MBA |
Financing the NYU Stern MBA
Tuition & Expenses

Full-time MBA students at NYU Stern arecharged
an annual tuition of just over $50,000 for the
2011-2010 academic year, payable as a lump
sum before fall semester began. Though this
system of annual payments is fairly standard, it
stands in contrast to those at schools like Chicago Booth, where students pay their tuition per
course, and Wharton, where students receive
tuition bills at the beginning of each term.
Figure 7.1 Estimated Costs 2011-2012
Expense Item
Tuition & Fees
Room & Board
Miscellaneous
Books & Supplies
Local Travel
Loan Fees
Total
Amount
$51,942
$23,534
$7,206
$1,940
$936
$102
$85,660
Although tuition is relatively similar at most of

the leading MBA programs, additional fees and
differences in cost of living can significantly
impact a programs total cost of attendance.
This is particularly true in the city of New York,
where the cost of housing and essential items
tends to be extremely high (see Figure 7.1). To
help incoming Stern students organize their finances and plan their budgets, the Stern Graduate Financial Aid office estimates the total cost
of attendance to be over $85,000 in the first
year of the program. This estimate includes
one-time costs such as the orientation fee, as
well as standard expenses such as rent, food,
transportation and health insurance.
Financial Aid
NYU Stern students typically cover the cost of
their education using a combination of scholarships, teaching fellowships, loans and savings.
As much as 30 percent of entering full-time
Figure 7.2 Available Loans

U.S. Citizens & Permanent Residents
Direct Stafford Loans
Direct Graduate PLUS Loans
Private loans
International Citizens
Private loans (with or without a U.S. co-signer)
Stern students receive merit-based scholarships
each year. Though the precise selection criteria
for these awards vary depending on the scholarship, the selection committee generally looks for
evidence of outstanding academic and professional performance as well as demonstrated
personal characteristics such as leadership, integrity and community involvement. Candidates
who apply by November 15 of each year the
schools unofficial Round 1 deadline receive
priority consideration for merit-based awards.
All recipients are notified of their awards at the
time of admission.
For second-year students, Stern offers a variety of merit awards based on first-year performance, as well as teaching fellowships and
graduate fellowships for those interested in
working one-on-one with Stern professors.
Despite the availability of merit aid, most students still finance the bulk of their education
through one or more of the loan programs
sponsored by Stern (see Figure 7.2). U.S. citizens and permanent residents may be eligible
to borrow up to $10,250 per semester from the
federal government in the form of Stafford and
Graduate PLUS Loans. To cover any additional
financial need, both U.S. and international citizens are expected to draw on loans from private
lenders.
Full-time MBA students are discouraged from
pursuing part-time work during the first year,
excepting teaching fellowship and graduate fellowship positions, which are only open to students who have completed at least nine credits.
If pursued in the second year, part-time work is
28
strictly limited to 20 hours per week, with the

understanding that academic work must be the
first priority for all students.
The Langone Part-Time MBA |
The Langone Part-Time MBA
NYU Sterns Langone Part-Time MBA, named in

honor of generous NYU donor Kenneth Langone,
is one of the best-regarded part-time MBA programs in the United States. With classes held
on the main NYU campus in Manhattan and, as
of September 2006, on its satellite campus in
Westchester County, Langone is easily accessible to residents of the New York metropolitan
area.
Program Highlights
Incorporation of Full-Time Curriculum All
Langone students are required to complete the
Stern full-time MBA core in its entirety, ensuring
that part-time students are exposed to the same
business fundamentals as students at Sterns
highly-ranked full-time program.
Flexibility With course formats of varying
intensity and scheduling options that enable
students to complete the program in anywhere
from two to six years, Stern allows students to
tailor the Langone program to meet their personal and professional needs.
Student Body
During any given semester, approximately 2,000
students are enrolled in the Langone program.
The typical size of a class entering in Fall Semester is 450, and an additional 250 students
usually enter the program the following spring.
The exact enrollment figures vary widely because some students take longer to complete
the program than others, and given Langones
flexibility, it is difficult to predict how many students might choose to speed or slow their progress toward graduation in a particular semester.
Student Demographics
Because of the variation in class size and the
unpredictability of students graduation dates,
Langone does not publish demographic information for each incoming class, instead reporting
statistics for a typical admitted class. The
middle 80 percent of Langone applicants enter
with undergraduate GPAs of between 2.9 and

3.8, while GMAT scores of the middle 80 percent
fall between 620 and 730. As such, Langone
students are academically on par with those at
many of the leading full-time MBA programs,
including Sterns; the range among admitted
students, though, is much wider.
One-third of Langones enrollees are women, a
figure at or above the average at most full-time
programs. In general, MBA programs in New
York have a slightly easier time attracting female students, as indicated by the high percentages of women in the Stern full-time program
and at Columbia Business School. In addition,
roughly one-quarter of Langone students identify as members of a minority racial or ethnic
group, a percentage that correlates with the
averages at most of the top full-time programs
and reflects the ethnic diversity of the city of
New York.
Academics
Core Curriculum
Langones academic program shares many similarities with those of full-time programs, including a set of core courses that every student
must complete and an opportunity to focus in
depth on a certain area of study.
The core courses account for over half of the 60
credits required to graduate. Most are drawn
directly from NYU Sterns 28.5-credit full-time
MBA core, of which four courses are designated
basic. The Stern Core is then supplemented
by a three-course, 4.5-credit Langone Core
consisting of Business Communication; Collaboration, Conflict and Negotiation; and Global
Perspectives on Enterprise Systems. Students
are required to complete both the Basic Stern
Core and the Langone Core during the first two
terms of the program. Only one core course,
Corporate Finance, may be waived.
To enable students to balance their coursework
with full-time jobs, the Langone program of-
30
fers a variety of flexible scheduling options. For

instance, students can take advantage of the
intensive course modules offered in January/
February and August/September of each year.
These intensive courses can last from three days
to three weeks, depending on the material and
scheduling. Because so much material is covered in each of the intensive module class sessions, students are advised not to register for a
course if they know they will need to miss even
one session. In addition, if a student misses the
first class meeting, the professor has the authority to require withdrawal from the course.
Leaves of Absence
Areas of Specialization
Visiting Langone
Although all Langone graduates earn a general

management MBA from the NYU Stern School of
Business, the school also offers the opportunity
to specialize in a subject of interest. Students
are encouraged to select as many as three
specializations that are relevant to their career
plans.
Given NYUs overall strength in finance, many
students choose to major in one or more of
the programs finance-oriented specializations,
which include Corporate Finance, Finance, Financial Systems & Analytics and Quantitative
Finance. Langone also offers a specialization
in Data, Models & Decisions, a cross-functional
course of study tailored to help students use
data and mathematical models to better understand their businesses. In addition, the Law &
Business specialization allows part-time MBA
students to enroll in a course at the well-regarded NYU School of Law.
To complete a specialization, students must take
at least nine credits in their chosen field. However, to promote a wider base of knowledge,
no student may take more than 24 credits in a
single department.
Class Structure
When Langone students first enroll in the program, each is assigned to a Core Group of
students with whom they will take at least one
Langone Core course. In addition to sharing time in the classroom, each Core Group
chooses a leader to serve as its liaison to other
Core Groups and the NYU Stern administration.
Some students choose to remain with their Core
Groups throughout their time in the program,
while others eventually lose track of their group
due to differing interests and schedules.
Although one Langone students schedule may

look entirely different from anothers, the school
is committed to tracking each students progress to ensure that they complete the program
in their intended time frame. Therefore, even
when a student chooses not to take any courses for the semester, which happens relatively
frequently, he or she must apply for a Leave of
Absence. The student must also pay a fee for
each term that he or she is enrolled at Langone
but does not earn any credits.
Langone offers prospective students the opportunity to get to know both NYUs Washington
Square facilities and the newer Westchester
campus. Information sessions are scheduled
every two weeks at Washington Square and
once or twice a month on the Westchester
campus, generally on weeknights in the early
evening. Candidates should plan to attend a
session at the campus to which they intend to
apply, since the presentations are tailored to
each location. Langone strongly recommends
that interested candidates register in advance,
as the sessions regularly reach capacity.
Applying to Langone
To be considered for the Langone Part-Time MBA
program, applicants must submit a completed
online application form, official transcripts from
all colleges and university coursework completed, official scores on the GMAT, GRE and TOEFL
(if applicable), a current resume, two letters of
recommendation, responses to all required essay questions and a non-refundable application
fee. Reapplicants must submit a new round of
application materials in each year they intend to
apply; those who are reapplying within one year
of their previous part-time application, however,
may omit Essay 3, one letter of recommendation, college transcripts and standardized test
scores.
Although the essay topics are similar for the
full-time and part-time programs, Langone applicants must adhere to a smaller maximum
word count than their full-time counterparts
(see Figure 8.1).
A candidate may not apply for entry into more
than one NYU Stern MBA program in the same
The Langone Part-Time MBA |
Figure 8.1 Langone Essay Topics 2011-2012

Essay 1: Professional Aspirations (250-word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)
What are your short and long-term career goals?
Essay 2: Fit with Stern (250-word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)
a. Why have you chosen to pursue your MBA on a part-time basis?
b. Earlier in your application, you indicated your Langone program preferences in rank order from among
the choices below. Please explain your preferences. (Manhattan Weeknights; Manhattan Weekends; Westchester Weeknights)
Personal Expression
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.
term. Once enrolled in Langone, students may
not transfer into the Full-Time MBA program,
though it is possible to switch between the accelerated two-year part-time program and the
three- to six-year program after completing one
year of coursework.
Deadlines
Because Langone students may start in either
the fall or the spring semester, Langone has two
separate deadline and notification schedules.

Applicants who wish to start in Fall Semester
must submit their applications by mid-May of
each year and are notified of their admissions
decisions in early August. Those hoping to start
in the spring submit their materials in midSeptember and are notified at the beginning of
December. All online application materials must
be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on
the day of the deadline, while mailed application
materials must be postmarked by the date of
the deadline.
32
Appendix
Essay Topic Analysis

As seen in Chapter 6: Admissions, NYU Stern
applicants need to respond to a total of three
essay questions in the 2011-2012 admissions
season. These essay topics have remained
largely unchanged over the past several application seasons. As in prior years, Essays 1 and
2 allow applicants to discuss their career goals
and fit with Sterns MBA program, while Essay 3
encourages applicants to tap their creativity to
showcase an element of their profile not covered
in the rest of the application. Essays 1 and 2
(and 3, if applicants opt for a conventional written response) should be formatted with doublespaced paragraphs and a 12-point font.
The Clear Admit team has combined its years of
business school expertise to analyze NYU Sterns
essay topics and help applicants determine how
to craft effective responses. Feel free to contact
us at info@clearadmit.com for a free consultation, in which we can help you think through the
elements of your profile and determine how to
best present your strengths across this set of
essays.
Essay 1: Professional Aspirations
Think about the decisions you have made in
your life. Answer the following:
(a) What choices have you made that led you to
your current position?
(b) Why pursue an MBA at this point in your
life?
(c) What is your career goal upon graduation
from NYU Stern? What is your long-term career
goal? (750 word maximum)
This is your standard career goals/why MBA
essay, with a few interesting quirks. First, note
that the initial section requests that applicants
reflect on and explain the choices theyve made
to date, placing a bit of extra emphasis on the
presentation of ones career as a coherent and
directed whole. While its always important to
explain the reasons youve moved from one
company to the next, youll also want to think
about the more subtle decisions youve made

to further your professional development. Have
you actively sought out more responsibility?
Requested an assignment with an eye to gaining
a certain skill?
This essay is a great place for you to highlight
your initiative and foresight in the process of
relating your career progression to the adcom.
Within the same theme of deliberate decisionmaking, the second thing to keep in mind is the
prominence of the why now issue. A thorough
and well reasoned answer to this question will
be a must for a solid response. Beyond your career path to date and the why now issue, Stern
will be looking for a detailed explanation of your
short and long-term career plans and interest in
the MBA as a means to realize these goals.
This is a lot of information to pack into a 750
word essay, but introducing the central elements
of ones candidacy in such a brief essay is definitely achievable, provided that applicants take
their time to compose well-crafted and concise
responses.
Essay 2: Your Stern Experience
We take great care to shape the Stern community with individuals who possess both intellectual and interpersonal strengths. We seek individuals who are highly intelligent, collaborative
and committed to flourishing as Stern leaders.
Please answer the following questions:
(a) What is your personal experience with the
Stern community? Tell us what actions you have
taken to learn about us.
(b) Describe what most excites you about Stern
from both an academic and extracurricular perspective.
(c) How do you anticipate making your mark
on the Stern community? Be specific about the
roles you will take on and the impact you hope
to achieve. (500 word maximum)
Sensitive to the fact that applicants targeting
Stern may also be applying to other programs
that are strong in finance especially regional
peer Columbia NYU is essentially asking appli-
Appendix |
cants exactly how much homework theyve done

on the school through Essay 2a. Obviously, the
more information you can provide about trips
to campus, visits to classes and conversations
with students and alums, the more sincere your
interest in the program will seem.
Essay 2b encourages applicants to delve
even deeper into the question of why Stern.
Through asking applicants to discuss what
excites them from an academic and extracurricular standpoint, the adcom indicates a strong
interest in a candidates sense of fit. In making
the case that Stern is right for them given their
personalities and professional goals, candidates
will want to touch on specifics of the academic
and extracurricular programs, bringing relevant
aspects of their backgrounds into the discussion
as well.
Essay 2c is a logical follow-up to Essay 2b, asking applicants to discuss how they will make a
difference in the Stern community. After identifying the academic offerings and extracurriculars that interest them in Essay 2b, applicants
may then share how they would contribute to
these programs. For instance, an applicant
might explain how he or she is interested in the
Graduate Finance Association and then move
on to discuss the leadership role that he or she
would hope to play in organizing a certain conference or speaker series. By being clear about
how you will contribute, you will make it easier
for the adcom to picture you as an active and
valued member of the Stern community.
Essay 3: Personal Expression
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.
Guidelines:
Your submission becomes the property of NYU
Stern and cannot be returned for any reason.
If you submit a written essay, it should be 500
words maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font.
If you submit a video or audio file, it should be
five minutes maximum. If you prepare a multimedia submission, you may mail a CD, DVD or
USB flash drive to the Admissions Office. These
are the only acceptable methods of submission.
Please do not submit an internet link to any
websites or to a video hosting service such as
YouTube. The Admissions Committee reserves
the right to request an alternate Essay 3 if we
are unable to view your submission. Do not
submit anything perishable (e.g. food) or any

item that has been worn (e.g. clothing).
This essay gives applicants a chance to showcase their creative sides by allowing them a
broad range of (non-perishable) possible media
in which to express themselves. Candidates with
an artistic inclination, or those who harbor a
passion that could be better conveyed through a
method other than prose, might seriously consider submitting a poem, photograph or visual
representation of their message. Like last year,
NYU also allows submissions that can be viewed
or played electronically.
Its crucial to carefully consider just what needs
to be communicated in this introduction to your
future classmates. Youll want to think reflectively about your values and personality as well
as strategically about what makes you unique
with respect to other applicants. Naturally, youll
also want to communicate your enthusiasm
about meeting and working with your fellow
students, and perhaps include a comment about
how you would engage them that does not cover
the same ground as your first two essays. With
these concerns in mind, it might not come as a
surprise that, over the years, weve found that
the written word tends to be the most effective format for a high percentage of applicants.
There is still a great deal of room in which to be
creative; for instance, your essay might be the
opening to a chapter in an autobiography, or a
snapshot of a typical day.
While Chicago Booths blank pages essay
involving the use of PowerPoint may help get
the creative juices flowing, applicants applying
to both programs would be ill advised to fully
recycle material between the two essays (e.g.
submitting a PowerPoint presentation to Stern),
as this would likely be quite conspicuous.
Admissions Director
Q&A
In our ongoing mission to inform MBA applicants
about the admissions process, Clear Admit has
interviewed various admissions directors at the
leading business schools. Read on for our conversation with Isser Gallogly, executive director of MBA admissions at New York Universitys
Stern School of Business.
Gallogly has a firsthand understanding of the
34
MBA and its potential to change peoples lives.

I am on my third career, he once told us in an
interview. He worked in banking after college
and then returned to business school to obtain
an MBA as part of a career shift toward marketing. After almost a decade working for Unilever and LOral, he decided to move again into
education and academia. I know how much an
MBA has changed my life both personally and
professionally, and helping others on that journey seemed to me to be a very gratifying job
opportunity, he said.
In the fall 2010 interview that follows, he talks
about some of the changes Sterns new dean,
Peter Blair Henry, has already begun to implement at the school, as well as some of the
things he feels not all prospective applicants
know about Stern.
Clear Admit: Whats the single most exciting
development, change or event happening at
NYU Stern this coming year?
Isser Gallogly: The big news at NYU Stern this
year is our new dean, Peter Blair Henry, who began his deanship in January 2010. His vision for
the school is to develop global leaders with the
intellect and character to excel in a future that
will not resemble the past. Dean Henry recognizes that the problems of the 21st century require leaders who understand the links between
business and policy, the connections between
the financial economy and the real economy
and how to balance the quest for profit with the
public good. He wants Stern to develop leaders
who see the bigger picture, ask the right questions and consider it their personal responsibility
to inspire and serve those around them.
His first faculty appointment was Nobel Laureate Michael Spence, professor of economics
and chairman of the independent Commission
on Growth and Development, a global policy
group focused on strategies for producing rapid
and sustainable economic growth and reducing
poverty. Spence is best known for his work on
information economics in emerging markets and
the role of leadership in economic growth.
CA: What is the one area of your program that
you wish applicants knew more about?
IG: There are two big misconceptions. The first
is that Stern is a finance-only institution. The
second is that the community may not be collaborative. Both of these ideas are incorrect.
Of course, we are close to Wall Street and we

do have a strong finance program, and people
certainly come here to pursue careers in the
financial sector. But we also have a phenomenal
marketing program.
Within marketing we have a great entertainment
and media focus, and we also have expertise in
the area of luxury and retail. Our newest academic specialization is Luxury Marketing. On
the marketing front, not only will you get to
work with CPGs Colgate, Kraft, Unilever, etc.
but we also have a lot of marketing opportunities with luxury/retail, financial services and
pharmaceuticals. At Stern, marketing is much
broader in its range of industries.
And yet people dont know as much about a lot
of these things at Stern. We also have a wonderful program in entrepreneurship and social
enterprise. Really, the list goes on and on. I
think if people looked a little deeper, they would
see we are very strong across the board.
The second thing that people think when they
think of New York for right or wrong is that
it can be a very aggressive culture. I think the
surprise that people get when they experience
Stern is that the culture is very collaborative,
very diverse and very team-based.
We have one of the highest percentages of
women, we have people from all over the globe
and we have people who bring experience from
a range of industries, from investment banking
to entertainment to marketing. But as different as they all are, what these people all have
in common is that they respect one another and
work together.
So, to reiterate, we are much more than finance, and the culture here is incredibly collaborative. The students here are really down to
earth.
CA: Walk us through the life of an application
in your office from an operational standpoint.
What happens between the time an applicant
clicks submit and the time the committee offers a final decision? (e.g. how many reads
does it get, for how long is each application
read, who reads it, does the committee convene to discuss it as a group, etc.)
IG: We have three deadlines, but we employ
a rolling notification process, which makes us
Appendix |
unlike some other schools that have a round

system. We do provide initial notification deadlines as to when we will get back to you, but
typically thats the latest possible date and we
try to get out our initial notifications as soon
as we have them. We recognize that this is an
anxious process, and we dont make people wait
unnecessarily.
Our process is holistic and individualistic. Everyone gets reviewed by the Admissions Committee and every application is reviewed more
than once, so its not just a single individuals
decision. And in some cases, the committee will
debate considerably. In every case we just try
to ensure that everyone gets a full and complete
review and is seen from more than one vantage
point.
One aspect I think is unique about our process
has to do with whos reviewing the applications.
In some schools, students, part-time help or
alumni are involved. But at NYU Stern all applications are reviewed by trained admissions
professionals who are part of our full-time team.
Occasionally we will bring in some help, but
even then these are people who have previously
been a part of our team.
The second point is that our interview process
is very different than at most schools. First
of all, the interview is required. Second, the
interview is by invitation only. We only do it if
we are serious about the applicant. About 25
to 30 percent of applicants are invited in for an
interview. This means that we are not going to
waste anyones time.
Almost all of those interviews happen in New
York City with one of our admissions professionals. I always tell people that if you are applying
to Stern, set aside the time and money to travel
to New York and interview. We take it very seriously.
The interview is not blind. The interview is 30
minutes long, and we are not going to waste
peoples time by asking them to tell us why they
want to go to business school. Weve already
asked that in the application. We want candidates to take it to the next level in the interview. At the same time, these interviews are
meant to be two-way conversations.
Our selectivity is about 14 to 15 percent, making us more selective than most other business
schools in the world. So, we want to make sure
that we are screening not only on paper but in

person as well. I think anyone who has done a
job interview has seen some wonderful resumes
and then been surprised during the interview
that the person was somewhat different than he
or she appeared on paper.
The interview benefits the applicant. The applicants typically like the opportunity to have 30
minutes speaking directly to a member of the
Admissions Committee. This is their chance to
present themselves in person.
Not only do we want to make sure that applicants are the right fit for us, we want to make
sure we are the right fit for them. When they
come to visit Stern as part of the interview they
can have lunch with a student, visit a class and
have a tour of the school. All this helps them
make an informed decision as to where to attend.
So our approach to the interview is unique and
a bit different but we think that this special
part of our process really does get us the best
possible talent.
Getting back to the application process as a
whole, people have three notification possibilities. There is the invitation for an interview, the
waitlist or denial of admission.
After a candidate goes through the interview,
we typically get back to them within three
weeks. We typically admit between 50 and 60
percent of those who were interviewed.
In terms of how we notify candidates of our
decisions, we do almost all of it with an online
status check. This allows applicants to see
where they are in our process 24/7. When an
applicants status changes, we also send them
an email.
When people are admitted we do try to have the
person who conducted the interview give them
a congratulatory call. Those are special calls to
make. Every once in a while, these calls catch
people by surprise, but for the most part we find
that candidates stay pretty much on top of their
online status they watch that pretty closely.
CA: How does your team approach the essay
portion of the application specifically? What are
you looking for as you read the essays? Are
there common mistakes that applicants should
try to avoid? One key thing they should keep in
36
mind as they sit down to write them?

IG: There are obviously a lot of dos and donts.
But one of the most important dos is to answer the question asked. In one of our essay
questions, we ask about applicants short-term
and long-term goals. But we find that a lot of
people do not explicitly state both a short- and
long-term goal. The question asks for this explicitly, so to answer it is an important thing.
Another piece of advice I would share is that
applicants should take their time to choose their
schools carefully and apply to only the schools
they would be thrilled to be admitted to. Then,
they should take the time to customize their
essays specifically to those schools and to the
questions they ask.
Also, please check your essays for spelling errors. Now, a typo is not an automatic disqualification, because we know people are human
and make mistakes. But lets just say this: It
certainly doesnt look good. When your essay is
only 500 words long, if one of those words is off,
its just not ideal.
When we are reading the essays, we are really
looking to make sure that people have thought
things through, have clear direction and have
passion. A lot of people are writing what they
think you want to hear. But what we really want
to hear is what they are dying to say.
People spend too much time thinking about how
to get into business school and not enough time
thinking, Is business school really right for me,
and how will it help my career both in the short
run and in the long run? Think about that first,
and then the essay is going to be really easy
because you will have done your homework.
Sometimes people just think, Im really not
happy doing what Im doing now and I might
be happier in this area so Ill just go to business
school. But the ones who are most successful
in business school and in life are the ones who
have taken good stock of who they are, what
they want and how business school will help
them achieve their goals and dreams.
Career Services Director

Q&A
To supplement our series of Admissions Direc-
tor Q&A interviews, Clear Admit has launched

a series of Q&A sessions with Career Services
directors at many of the leading MBA programs.
We hope these interviews will help you learn
what to expect from the recruiting process
when you get to campus, understand the relative strengths of each schools career services
centers, get to know a little about the directors
themselves and think about what you can do
before you even apply to ensure you have the
most successful job search possible.
In winter 2011, we connected with Pamela Mittman, assistant dean of career services and leadership development at NYU Stern. An alumna of
Sterns full-time MBA program, Mittman brings
both a student and an alumni perspective to the
role. Before joining Stern as an administrator
more than 10 years ago, she worked in consulting and financial services. In her current role,
she oversees the recruiting process for all Stern
MBA students.
Clear Admit: How do you view your role as
Career Services Director? Is it to administer
workshops? Counsel students? Counsel companies? Manage the entire office and oversee its
various functions? All of the above?
Pamela Mittman: During my tenure in the department, Ive counseled students through two
recessions and recoveries the dot-com boom
and bust and the most recent financial crisis.
As a result, weve been able to adjust and apply lessons learned from 2001 to the present
market situation. For example, we opened a
Career Center for Working Professionals in 2003
in order to provide lifelong career services to
alumni, so we had a career support system set
up during this downturn.
Our department focuses on providing the best
available resources and expertise to our students to ensure they make successful career
transitions. We are particularly proud of our
high staff-to-student ratio about 1 to 25 for
the first-year MBA class, not including secondyear students who serve as career coaches and
mentors.
My group includes seasoned career counselors,
who partner with students, as well as relationship managers, who align with companies according to their industry expertise. All of our
full-time students go through our two-year Career Development Program, which ranges from
lectures to industry-specific workshops, panels,
Appendix |
one-on-one mock interviews and career counseling. Each student benefits from a customized
career search based on his or her goals.
Because were in the heart of Greenwich Village
in New York City, our community has unparalleled access to Wall Street and the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies in fields such as
marketing, entertainment, media, technology
and luxury retail, among others.
Whats particularly rewarding is that our students have nominated several members of our
team as Administrator of the Year every year for
more than seven years. Its a great testament
to the support we provide.
CA: Now, about your team. How many placement professionals do you have? Is this a
relatively constant figure? If not, how has it
changed in recent years? How might it change
in the near future?
PM: We have one of the highest staff-to-student
ratios among top business schools. My group
partners closely with students and alumni, as I
mentioned earlier, as well as with companies.
The Relationship Managers partner closely with
our existing company partners, while also developing new relationships. We organize the relationships by industry in order to leverage the
relevant and deep expertise of our staff, based
on their prior professional backgrounds.
CA: Can you provide prospective applicants
with an overview of the recruitment process at
Stern? When does it start? How does it unfold?
PM: Our two-year Career Development Program
begins once a student accepts admittance into
our program. They have access to resources
even before they step foot on campus through
our Admitted Student website. During our PreTerm Orientation, before classes begin, students
complete a career self-assessment, as well as
engage in presentations by our staff and alumni
on target industries and functions. We offer
a full range of career support services, from
resume-building to structured workshops on
networking and mock interviewing.
First-year MBA students attend corporate presentations beginning in October of their first
semester, hearing firsthand from companies
about the firm and functions and conducting informational interviews. They apply for summer
internship interview slots in early December, and
the formal interview process begins the following January and February. They also have continual access to job postings, which are particularly valuable for fields such as entertainment
and non-profits that do more just-in-time hiring.
Typically, 99 percent of our students secure a
summer internship, which provides an opportunity to confirm their interest in a firm while
the company does the same on their end. On
average, more than 60 percent of our students
return from summer with offers. If a student is
still seeking, he or she can apply for additional
interviews in September and take advantage of
the on-campus interview process for secondyear students, which takes place in October
and November. As graduates, each alumnus is
eligible for life-long career support through our
Career Center for Working Professionals.
CA: How has the economy impacted recruitment at Stern? How have you and your staff
remained flexible or adapted in order to help
students navigate a more challenging job market? Have you encouraged flexibility on the part
of students themselves?
PM: Considering the challenging economic climate, NYU Stern faired well among top business
schools on placement in 2009, during the heart
of the crisis, ranking 3rd in placement rates
three months after graduation. We experienced
continued growth as the economy improved,
with an offer rate of 90 percent three months
out for our 2010 graduates. This year, weve
seen a 33 percent uptick in job postings for
investment banking alone, an early indicator of
market demand.
As a school in the center of New York City with
a strong finance and economics faculty, the
crisis was an incredible teachable moment for
our students. During its height, 33 Stern faculty authored 18 white papers that assessed the
causes of the crisis and proposed policy solutions, which influenced the financial reforms
that came out of Washington. Their ideas were
published in a book, Restoring Financial Stability, which they used as the basis of a six-week
course they taught for MBA students. The
course was oversubscribed within the first few
hours, with 450 students registering.
We brought to bear the full support of our community, engaging our alumni, our boards and
friends of the school. We also benefited from
our core status with a number of firms. But
weve also made a significant investment in
38
diversifying and building relationships across

industries, building strong ties with firms in
entertainment and media and luxury retail, for
example, to match the interests of our students.
And we continue to do so.
CA: How does your team counsel students regarding the interview? Is there a formal mock
interview process? How are interview schedules
administered? Is there an established policy regarding how closed and open interviews should
be conducted? What facilities are available for
interviews?
PM: All first-year MBAs complete individual
behavioral and technical mocks delivered by
trained professionals, with personal feedback
and a customized development plan.
Regarding policies, we offer companies an unlimited number of spots to interview on campus
based on their business needs. We do require
that companies keep offers open while the
interview process is underway, so students can
review and assess all of the opportunities they
may receive.
CA: What kind of role do alumni play in Sterns
recruiting process? How integral are they to
your offices success? Is alumni participation a
major part of your placement platform?
PM: NYU Stern boasts more than 85,000 alumni

in 100 countries. The majority of our students
aspire to stay in the New York metro area right
after graduation, benefiting from immediate access to 40,000 alums as mentors. Our alums
are also actively engaged in the recruitment efforts underway at firms.
CA: Do you have any advice for prospective
applicants in terms of what they might do in advance of the MBA program to be better prepared
for the job search process? In your experience,
do you find that students who have done X, Y or
Z before arriving on campus have a more successful experience with career services and the
job search as a whole?
PM: Starting with our application for admission,
we ask students to articulate their short- and
long-term career goals. My best piece of advice
for students is to build a personal and professional network well before you apply but especially during the MBA program. Build relationships and learn firsthand from individuals who
can provide you with valuable insight into an
industry or function before youre seeking a job.
Then, when you get to Stern, participate in our
career treks that span as far as Asia, engage in
student industry conferences and continue to
invest in your network, which will pay dividends
both in the short and long term.
Further Resources |
10
Further Resources
Publications
The NYU Stern Alumni Affairs office puts out
a monthly e-newsletter, STERN@alumni, that
keeps aims to build community among Sterns
graduates and keep them up to date on alumni
activities and initiatives. The school also mails
out hard copies of STERNbusiness, which highlights faculty research, alumni accomplishments
and the schools interaction with the city of New
York, each fall and spring. Current and past issues of all three of these publications are available through the NYU Stern website.
The Stern Opportunity is the schools very active student-run newspaper. Reporting on issues pertaining to the Stern MBA program, the
undergraduate program and the university at
large, the Opportunity is published every other
week throughout the school year and is available both in print and online.
NYU Stern Research

Centers & Institutes
Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Dedicated to nurturing entrepreneurship, new venture creation and innovation at
Stern by supporting entrepreneurship-related
research and cocurricular programs.
Center for Digital Economy Research (CeDER):
Promotes research into the uses of information technology in business, particularly with
regards to electronic commerce and electronic
markets.
Center for Japan-U.S. Business and Economic
Studies: Provides information and endorses
research into the Japanese economy, U.S.Japan economic relations and issues affecting
the broader East Asian economy.
Glucksman Institute for Research in Securities
Markets: Supports faculty and student research into financial instruments and markets.
NYU Pollack Center for Law and Business: Encourages education and research into topics at
the intersection of law, finance, and economics.
Salomon Center for the Study of Financial Institutions: Enhances Sterns research efforts in
the area of financial economics, especially with
regards to the study of financial institutions.
Vincent C. Ross Institute of Accounting Research: Advances accounting principles and
practices through the exchange of ideas about
accounting and related disciplines.
Volatility Institute: Advocates research into
risks in financial markets and relevant topics in financial econometrics, with a focus on
building sustainable practices in the wake of
the recent financial crisis.
Contact Information
MBA Admissions
Executive Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions:
Isser Gallogly
(212) 998-0600
sternmba@stern.nyu.edu
Graduate Financial Aid
Senior Director of MBA Admissions and Financial
Aid: Paula Steisel Goldfarb
(212) 998-0790
fin-aid@stern.nyu.edu
Deans Office
Dean: Peter Blair Henry
(212) 998-0993
deans@stern.nyu.edu
Office of Career Development
Assistant Dean of Career Services and Leadership Development: Pamela Bierman Mittman
(212) 998-0610
pmittman@stern.nyu.edu
MBA Student Activities
students@stern.nyu.edu
40
MBA Graduate Ambassadors

(212) 998-0616
mbaga@stern.nyu.edu
Alumni Affairs
alumni@stern.nyu.edu
Mailing Address
NYU Stern School of Business
Henry Kaufman Management Center
44 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012
sternmba@stern.nyu.edu
(212) 998-0100

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New York University,

About This Guide

Introduction to NYU Stern

Brief History of the MBA .

NYU Stern History .

Doing Business In.... . . . . . . . . . 13

Life at NYU Stern

The City of New York. . . . . . . . . . 15

Life After NYU Stern

Office of Career Development .

Financing the NYU Stern MBA

Tuition & Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . 28

The Langone Part-Time MBA

Essay Topic Analysis .

Admissions Director Q&A . . . . . . . . . 34

1 | Clear Admit School Guide: NYU Stern School of Business

Introduction to NYU Stern

Brief History of the MBA

trys economic recovery. The unprecedented

NYU Stern History

Introduction to NYU Stern |

Figure 1.1 Notable Developments in MBA History

NYU Stern School of Business

Business schools are established in the U.S. to

The NYU School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance is established in 1900.

Association of Collegiate Schools of Business is

In 1916, the NYU Graduate School of Business

On-campus recruiting by industry rises.

The research and training conducted by business

World War II sharply increases demand for trained

Most professors now hold Ph.D.s in business, and

MBA starting salaries rise 5-10% per year at some

By 1936, women make up 15% of the business

Students from almost every state and 36 countries

In 1988, Leonard N. Stern donates $30 million to

Business schools focus on leadership, ethics and

A donation from Dr. Henry Kaufman in 1998

High-profile corporate scandals prompt calls for

Sterns centennial fundraising campaign raises over

3 | Clear Admit School Guide: NYU Stern School of Business

At the beginning of the new millenium, Sterns

Introduction to NYU Stern |

Figure 1.3 Undergraduate Majors

Figure 1.5 Minority Students

pre-MBA fields such as business, economics,

5 | Clear Admit School Guide: NYU Stern School of Business

Management Communication as well as Collaboration, Conflict & Negotiation. Some students in

Students per class

Blocks per class

Students per block

Students per study group

their own study groups for each course.

7 | Clear Admit School Guide: NYU Stern School of Business

Figure 2.3 NYU Stern Core Curriculum

Figure 2.4 Specializations at NYU Stern

nine credits from selected Finance department

9 | Clear Admit School Guide: NYU Stern School of Business

Figure 2.5 Course Type as Percentage of Credits Required to Graduate

exemption exam, equivalent to a final exam,

11 | Clear Admit School Guide: NYU Stern School of Business

whether employees feel comfortable pointing

Academy of Management Journal, the Academy

The study abroad application process, which

Figure 3.1 International Exchange Partners