Duke and Getting Into Top Business Graduate Schools

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
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<p>Ok, so I'm about 80-90% sure I'm going to Duke, 10-20% UChicago. But I was curious about Duke's stats on getting kids into top grad programs for business (Wharton, Tuck, Kellogg, etc.). Not that there is anything wrong or I am counting out Fuqua, but from what I understand it is traditional for one to attend a different university for graduate study. So I was wondering if anyone had any numbers or personal experience with graduate business acceptance and Duke.</p>

<p>For the record, I heard numbers on this kind of stuff are based on the idea that "X University has X% of students get into 1 of their top 3 graduate choices for X School"</p>

<p>Brown ik got 100% of students get into 1 of their top 3 graduate choices in business school last year, just for example.</p>

<p>One last aside, my interviewer was a grad student at Yale School of Management, and mentioned offhand that his girlfriend was at Columbia Business, so I'm thinkin its pretty high.</p>

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<p>

That’s not necessarily true. For example, Harvard’s top programs accepts many Harvard undergrads. I do not think top programs looks negatively towards its own undergrads. It’s just that people tend to want to branch out and build new networks. If you already have the keys of Duke alumni network, why not open more doors by getting the keys to another school’s network. There are quite a few Duke undergrad at Fuqua.</p>

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<p>Just to clarify, it’s virtually impossible to go to b-school immediately following your undergrad education. They won’t accept you, no matter which school you’re from. What matters a TON for b-school is work experience. Usually you need 3-4 years post-UG of solid experience before applying to business school. Now, obviously, going to a school like Duke helps get you better job opportunities, which then help you get into better schools (for instance, Duke’s i-banking placement on Wall Street is phenomenal).</p>

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<p>[Prebusiness</a> Advising Office (PBAO)](<a href=“http://prebusiness.duke.edu/]Prebusiness”>http://prebusiness.duke.edu/)</p>

<p>That site contains a lot of information which might be useful to you in terms of what kind of preparation Duke suggests for its students. I looked around a bit and couldn’t really find the percentages you’re looking for. It’s difficult to really compile solid information about graduates who go onto business school because, as stated above, you need 3-5 years work experience to get into a great program, and by then the career center/Duke aren’t really surveying students to get that sort of information.</p>

<p>That said, I just graduate in 2009 and know a few students who were accepted into Harvard’s 2+2 program (work for 2 years then guaranteed acceptance to their business school), and knew a few Fuqua students who had graduated from Duke a few years before beginning their b-school tenures. I’m sure many of my friends have plans to go onto schools like Kellogg, Tuck, Yale SOM, Wharton, HBS, etc because Duke students are generally ambitious like so. </p>

<p>The benefit of going to a school like Duke is, as mentioned, the opportunities you’re going to have outside of the classroom which will benefit you greatly in your full-time job search. “Do well in Econ (or even a Liberal Arts) major–>land a great i-banking or consulting internship after your junior year–>land great job offer post grad in investment banking/hedge funds/consulting” is a path MANY of my fellow graduates took, and even in one of the HARDEST years to find a job, employers were still coming to Duke’s campus to recruit. In my graduating class I knew people at BCG, Goldman, McKinsey, Merrill Lynch, PWC, BlackRock, and a few other smaller hedge firms which were still doing relatively well in this economy. Of course, they all plan on going back to business school. Naturally, going to a school like Duke which is a heavy recruiting school for a lot of top firms will benefit you greatly in getting into a top business school.</p>

<p>That said, these schools are also going to demand that you have a very high GMAT as well. If you can get a degree from Duke, land a great job offer, gain solid experience you can really talk about and reflect on in your essays, and get that 700+ on the GMAT, you’ll be in EXCELLENT shape for getting into a top program.</p>

<p>I’m sure some of the older alums on the board can give you some more solid stories about graduates from their classes.</p>