Cornell's business school is very good probably punches above its reputational weight. It doesn't have a bad reputation but I'm always amazed at how people that are looking at Columbia, Dartmouth, UVA, UNC, etc., are not also looking at Cornell. Among people who know about business school it's got a great reputation; but, among the general public, it's kind of oddly under-thought of, if that makes snese.

As far as it's accelerated program, I don't really have enough familiarity with it to say one way or another. But, I can give you some general thoughts:

- An accelerated program does not give you quite as much time to get to know and network with your classmates. This may not seem like such a big deal, but it can matter down the road when you're networking, etc. Don't get me wrong: you'll still make lots of friends and connections but you are losing a little bit.

- Your work experience will matter more when you go onto the job market than it did if you had gone to a 2-year program. If you are using an MBA as a transition tool or trying to kick your career up a notch then a 2-year is probably your best bet.

- An accelerated program is probably going to be more geared towards advanced general business skills (finance, accounting, etc.). What you are losing a bit of, I suspect, is more technical training that you often get in your second year. So, if you currently in marketing but want to be an investment banker, not having that extra year to take advanced courses in finance is leaving a lot of useful training on the table. On the other han,d if you're alread in finance and just want to get your ticket stamped, then a one-year might make more sense. Just understand that in a traditional two-year, the techincal hard-core stuff in ANY field is usually during your second year.

- Finally, as my Cornell alum wife would say, why be in Ithaca for only one hockey season? I mean, are you crazy?

Please let me know how else I can help you--

Paxton