I’m completely at a loss regarding how I should rank these schools. Ideally, I would like to end up working in financial services.
This is my preliminary preference ranking.
Duke
Cornell
Dartmouth
Georgetown
Berkley
I’m aware that Georgetown does very well with placement on Wall Street but I’m concerned that it’s not quite in the same tier as my top 3 choices. Duke, while not an Ivy, seems to have the most prestige behind its name. That’s certainly not the deciding factor for me but it is definitely a consideration I must make given how vain Wall Street can be.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again, I am at a complete loss.
Between Duke or Dartmouth, go with personal preference. Both schools will place excellently on Wall Street so go to the school you’d rather be at for other reasons. Personally, I’d pick Duke because I love DI sports and the weather in MUCH better than at Dartmouth.
Dartmouth is not better than Duke for Wall Street recruitment. They are essentially equal with Duke maybe having a slight edge. Duke also has better weather, D1 sports (including an amazing basketball team), better location, and stronger academics in general.
Your post is unclear… have you been admitted to these schools and need help deciding… or are you trying to determine to where you will apply in the future? If you are applying in the future, it is really silly to come up with a precise ranking.
Does that factor in how many people are in those respective business programs? Obviously Stern places more people into BB firms than any of my schools but that’s simply because NYU is a huge school.
Duke, Dartmouth and Georgetown have top-notch placement. Duke and Dartmouth have the edge over Georgetown (Cornell AEM is also decent).
If you end up choosing to do something other than finance, Duke and Cornell may have stronger programs than Dartmouth (by virtue of their size and resources).
@PaulDirac I’ve decided to go to with UPenn- a school I excluded from this list because they did not offer me enough financial aid. Would you say the difference between Wharton and the other schools on my list is worth taking student loans for? Also, isn’t Dartmouth generally considered better than Cornell?
@Musktard Why Penn? Most of the classes at Penn are graded on a normal curve so only a select few can get As while the rest get B’s C’s and even D’s. The curve works so that if the median for a test is a 95 and the standard deviation is 1.5 points, a 93 can be curved down to a B or C. This basically creates a hyper-competitive cutthroat atmosphere and you will be taking loans out to pay for it.
Dartmouth on the other hand is #1 for undergraduate teaching so you will be getting the best education. I assume they also gave you enough financial aid that it will be affordable without taking loans. If you’re not convinced, just go to Dimensions to see what it has to offer. There is no way that Penn (non-Wharton) is worth going into debt over compared to some of the schools you have the option of going to.
And to answer your question, Dartmouth is easily considered better than Cornell.
One thing to note about Dartmouth is that most students join fraternities or sororities, so that they are likely the focus of social life. It may be an issue if you do not want to join one.
@Oberyn To be clear, I would be going to Wharton. Thanks for sharing the information about UPenn’s grading curve. Honestly, I think I would prefer a competitive environment to an unambitious one. That being said, Dartmouth is far from unambitious. I guess I’m just drawn to the Wharton name. While Dartmouth is clearly an excellent school by any measure, I believe that Wharton’s reputation could give me a leg up, especially in an industry as vain as finance. I suppose this comes down to whether or not Wharton’s prestige is really worth the money. I don’t think the quality of education varies drastically between the two institutions.
@musktard
You said, “Obviously Stern places more people into BB firms than any of my schools but that’s simply because NYU is a huge school.”
Stern places more because NYU is a humongous school?
Do you know about the recruiting jam for Wall Street?
Did you know about the Tiers of schools and how Wall Street comps ESTABLISH certain number of seats assigned for each schools (and/or business schools)?
Size may be of your personal relevance and importance. Do not assume.
When you are recruiting in your junior/senior year, go to an interview. Over the past 50+ interviews I have done, I have never seen anyone more prepped than Sternies–prob the reason for Stern rep on the street, and I want you to see that
This post was heavily edited to take out snarky, demeaning and unneeded statements that added nothing to making the point. Just so others can understand the context of Musktard’s reply. - Fallenchemist
@tsh1226 Please calm down. 70-80% of Stern students are majoring in finance. If firms like Goldman Sachs have a quota for the number of Sternies they can accept each year, that means I’m competing with hundreds of people with a resume extremely similar to mine. On the other hand, I could go to a school with better name recognition (such as Wharton) where there are less finance majors. I would be competing with less students for more (or an equal number of) spots. Granted, I believe the competition at Wharton may be a little more difficult than the competition at Stern but I truly believe I would have an easier time differentiating myself as a Wharton student. I asked a similar question about my school selection on Wall Street Oasis and almost everyone told me to avoid Stern for reasons such as the one I listed above. I’m not saying their advice was correct but I would appreciate it if you explained your point of view without immediately devolving to unnecessary aggressive behaviour. I spent a good amount of time researching all of the schools I was admitted to and this was one of the troubling links I found regarding Stern: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/practically-no-recruiting-nyu
Stern is clearly an excellent school for business. However, I sincerely do not believe it stands up to a school like Wharton when it comes to recruitment (hence my earlier statement). You are free to disagree with that and I respect your opinion. That does not, however, give you license to be unnecessarily aggressive, especially when your tangent has little to do with the thread you’re posting in. If you’re a Stern student, shame on you for representing your school like this. I may not know about school tiers (hence me asking in this thread) but at least I know how to treat people respectfully.