<p>Well, now that most college decisions are currently out, I am beginning to think about which school would be best to attend. So, given the info below, what school do you think would be best for me to spend my four UG years.</p>
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<li><p>Currently, my goal is to become an Ibanker. However, I am not set on this. For most my life, I was hardset on medicine. However, after talking a chem and bio class at a local university, I found out I wasn't as naturally gifted in chem as I thought. I am not sure I could handle labs as my skillz there really suck. Yet, I LOVE econ and am fairly good at it. Nothing is really set in stone though.</p></li>
<li><p>I feel most comfortable in a small, safe (affluent?) town. However, Wharton was bearable when I visited. </p></li>
<li><p>I absolutely hate grade deflation. I dont wanna spend nights locked up in my room stressing about possibly dropping below a B in a class because of some messed up curve. I'm fine with some B's. However, if I spend every hour of the day studying and can't pull off mostly A's, I dont wanna go to that school.</p></li>
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<li><p>If you’re set on i-banking, Wharton has a slight edge over Duke (in terms of landing you into top firms). If you’re at all uncertain about your future, I’d recommend Duke. That is, if you think a year of taste-testing classes (a few science courses, a few econ courses) would be better for your future, then Duke’s the way to go. Its econ program isn’t well-known in itself, but most people who major in econ here go into business. Harvard and Wharton supposedly constitute the “Tier 1” of on-campus recruiting for ibanking, but Duke is usually ranked in “Tier 2.” Check out the investment banking forum of CC for more info on this.</p></li>
<li><p>If that’s a really big deal to you, then Duke might not be right for you. Durham has never bothered me, but then again, that’s because people here rarely venture into Durham apart from the small strip of restaurants and clubs that line East Campus (9th Street, Main Street). If being able to wander out of campus is important to you, then Dartmouth might be better (though I don’t know where you’d wander to in that case).</p></li>
<li><p>For either Econ or Pre-Med classes at Duke, you’ll probably find yourself studying quite a bit for the introductory (mostly first-year) classes if you want to get anything higher than a B-. After that, classes get smaller and much more learning-focused (rather than grade-focused). Those classes are much less stressful, and as long as you’re interested in the material, getting good (B+ and above) shouldn’t be too difficult. This differs alot by department, though. I think that’s the case with Econ, but I’m not so sure about the Pre-Med classes.</p></li>
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<p>1) If you’re set on becoming an IBanker, then LSM has an edge. The Wharton culture is kind of what turned me off from Penn, to be honest. If you want a typical collegiate experience where you explore a lot of “pure” disciplines to find out what you want to do, Duke wins. In terms of job placements, Duke = Penn. I agree with knat on Wharton being “Tier 1” and Duke being “Tier 2” for top finance firm placement (meaning that there really isn’t a significant difference haha).</p>
<p>2) If you felt safe in Philly, Durham is not going to be a problem haha. I actually quite love Durham’s restaurant scene.</p>
<p>3) Duke is not easy, but it’s not impossible. You’ll need to work, but the thing I love about Duke is that the student body doesn’t lock itself up and study. There’s a really good balance here. :)</p>