Columbia gives you an access to a great network, e...

Columbia gives you an access to a great network, excellent professors, smart classmates, professional opportunities, and even Grade Non-Disclosure. There are two things that make Columbia stand out: New York City and finance classes/opportunities. I chose Columbia because it was a top 10 school and I wanted to live in NY mainly for personal reasons.

There are a few other things that make Columbia excellent:
(1) A surprising level of community, especially for a "city school." (2) NYC. I really only thought about this from a personal perspective coming in but it is a helpful resource since every industry and almost every big company has offices in NY you can find time to meet with people from any industry or company you might be interested in without having to plan your whole day or week around it. I just don't see those kind of things being possible outside of NY.

There are some downsides to Columbia though.
(1) Business school is expensive and NYC is expensive, put them together and you end up paying a painful amount of money. (2)
It is generally understood that our marketing professors aren t very good. My core marketing class was painful and electives were generally taught by mediocre visiting professors pretty disappointing when you see the industry legends teaching the finance courses.
(3) The facilities are, for lack of a better word, poor.