Hello, I am living in Hong Kong and want to do my MBA in New York City. I would like to be able to work in the USA after graduation.

I saw that Cornell is now offering a 1-year MBA in NYC, specifically for people with technical backgrounds (I already have a Master in Engineering.)

Does anybody have any ideas about how this compares to the other MBA programs in the city? I know there are the following:

New York University (Stern)
Columbia
CUNY (Zicklin)

I am not sure I will be qualified to go to either New York University or Columbia (I'm also not sure if I can afford these, without scholarships.)

And compared to these other programs, Cornell's 1 year format is attractive from budgetary and time commitment standpoints.

What about other aspects? I'm really interested in hearing about post-MBA career options for the Cornell program, especially since it's just starting.

It's really going to depend on your career goals. A one-year program is great if you know exactly what you want to do when you get out - and if your goal does not include a drastic shift from where you are now.

In terms of post-MBA careers, Cornell is certainly comparable to Stern and Columbia. I wouldn't worry about the relative newness of the location; Cornell already has strong recruiting connections on Wall Street and in the wider metropolitan area.

The fact is that most people benefit a lot more from a two-year program - the immersive experience, along with robust internship and international experience components all help move a career along dramatically.

But like I said it will ultimately depend on your expectations and goals.

Ok, thanks for that.

I think I will have to stay open to two-year programs. Even though they are more expensive, I don't really have much experience in finance, and that's the field that I want to switch into. So it sounds like a two-year MBA would most likely be better for me.

Could a masters in finance be a credible one year option for this candidate? If they don't have much experience in finance, perhaps they might be aiming for a functional role rather than an managerial role? Looking at http://www.best-masters.com/ranking-master-financial-markets.html I wonder about Berkeley, Boston, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Michigan, Stanford, Texas A&M...

I was just looking at Rochester Simon's MS in Finance - that one is in New York City. Although they generally look for candidates who are already working in finance, the admissions page says they're open to those who want to broaden their finance knowledge. Good school, with a strong focus on quant.

Thank you for pointing this program out. I think I have decided to do a two-year MBA, and now it just remains to see if I can get into Stern or Columbia.

The Simon school won't sponsor visas for the NYC MSF, but it's a good programme. If they want to work in finance, then a two year programme with an internship is the way to go.

I don't know this candidate's background, but since their targeted schools are selective, the odds are against most candidates who apply to Stern and Columbia getting into either. So schools like Baruch, Pace, St John's, Fordham are also worth looking at.