I am trying to decide which of these three schools to attend...
Rankings say Wharton, Columbia has the best location (NYC) and best career prospectives alongside with top ranking (2nd to Wharton) but my heart says Harvard even if it has fallen behind in rankings.

Any suggestions?

Thank you

Could you tell us more about yourself? it will help us to understand you and your requirement better....
Tell us your age, nationality, education, job experience, industry you work in, career progression and what you want to do after MBA....

I went through the same dilemma. for me Columbia clearly the best location by a long long way and that is crucial if you have 2 years of it. A great friend was accepted to both Columbia and Wharton and couldn't face 2 years in PA after visiting campus (he was based in NYC before). Harvard I think without a doubt is the most prestigious and at the end of the day you can't discount that. I decided on Columbia because I live in NYC and my wife works here and can't move. Otherwise, would have been HBS.... Hope that helps.

I'd say something similar to the above. All three school's are clearly very good, and for that reason very hard to separate on the basis of a few rankings points, so quality of life is bound to emerge as an important criterion for making your decision. I agree with sargasso in so far as saying that NYC is a location unlike any other, and if one already has ties there it seems the obvious choice. But I wouldn't discount places like Harvard and Wharton just because they're not in a city like New York. Boston is pretty cool. And as I know from having spent some time at Yale, located in fairly tiny, fairly sleepy, not especially cosmopolitan New Haven, and for that matter Oxford, even small-town schools have their advantages. Chief among these, I would say, is the closeness of the student body and academic community, whereas in NYC - as in London - it's easier to get a little bit lost, feel a little less rooted, a little more anonymous. That said, I think the transition from small town/campus university to big city is easier to make than the other way around.

ivy league as well !!!!!!!

I will go with Columbia...
Wharton is an excellent school but I've been told that it is very hard to live in Philly for two years.
As to Harvard, notwithstanding its prestige, somehow now Columbia has better reputation (look at rankings).
And the upside of living in NYC is something unique!

Good luck

I have the same problem..., I really don't know what would be better for me. I spend many weeks in New York every year 'cause of my job, and I do love that city! But I also think that it's not so smart to choose a school for its location, am I wrong?
I think that the right choice depends on several aspects. For this reason I'm going to visit all those B-schools, so I could speak with current students, professors and also feel the atmophere of each school. Here we are talking about those kind of choise that cannot be wrong (do you know how many k$ are we going to give to those schools? if we make the wrong choise they won't give us back our money!!!!).

Yes, and you have to remember that its not just the rankings, its the specific programme and academic specialists that you want to work with. By the time you're thinking about any postgraduate qualification its important that you are making a thoroughly informed choice, and part of this is knowing what kind of a department you want to be part of. Once you're taking about the top schools, there will still be big differences in the areas of specialism and research.

It depends on what you want to specialize in and do after you graduate:

Strategy, General Management, Consulting - Harvard
Private Equity, VC - Wharton
Economics, Financial Research, IB - Columbia

I'd just add: while one shouldn't choose a school solely on the basis of location, nor should one rule it out for the same reason. What's wrong with Philly, Pitch? I've only heard good things about the city - but then I've not been there personally. Anything you might be able to say about it would be very much appreciated.

All the three are excellent in education and academics. Maybe, you should think secondly the cost of living and the place which is near with your love ones. =)

There are some advantages to university's located in small, not very interesting places - you want have to deal with to many temptations(like in NY), and there for would be able to concentrate better on studying!

D.

You mean save the giving in to temptation until you've graduated and are a high-flying, big-earning businessman or woman? ;-)

Hmmmm. Nice idea....in theory.

Trust me... it doesn't matter what the rankings say... trust your heart... Harvard is ALWAYS the best. No school gets near them. Harvard is the only school that has truly penetrated its prestige into every nation of the earth. Havard is referenced in more movies than any other school (for example). It carries more weight than Wharton and Columbia combined.

Re. Harvard: check out Will Ferrell's speech to the graduating class of 2003 on youtube. Classic!

Trust me... it doesn't matter what the rankings say... trust your heart... Harvard is ALWAYS the best. No school gets near them. Harvard is the only school that has truly penetrated its prestige into every nation of the earth. Havard is referenced in more movies than any other school (for example). It carries more weight than Wharton and Columbia combined.

Wow....spoken like a cab driver!

Wow....spoken like a cab driver!

Yeah, there are always going to be MBA fanboys - sometimes I think people use these boards just to start fights.

It depends on what you want to specialize in and do after you graduate:

Strategy, General Management, Consulting - Harvard
Private Equity, VC - Wharton
Economics, Financial Research, IB - Columbia

I don't think the differences are so strict. You might also want to consider other factors such the entrepreneurial environment, the location, if there are specific Professors or courses that might help your career goals. Sometimes that helps a lot to understand more about the validity of your choice.