Hi All! I was very fortunate to have been accepted to Duke (Master of Quantitative Management) and Dartmouth (Master of Engineering Management).
I want to work at one of the big-3 MBB upon graduation. The MQM program is new-this is its year of launch! This worries me a little as there is no history of employment and there is no assurance that consulting companies will target MQM students. However, I’m more inclined towards this program because it has a more rigorous analytical/quantitative curriculum (and I love that).
The MEM on the other hand has been going on for several years and has a well established reputation with top consulting firms. Dartmouth is also closer to Boston and NY-better job opportunities.
Should I worry that this MQM’s launch year?
Do you think that my chances of landing a consulting job at Dartmouth will be higher because MEM has been established for several years?
Do you think that my chances of landing a consulting job at Dartmouth because of its proximity to NY and Boston?
If you were in my shoes, and excluding any other factors (financials/campuses/location), what would you chose?
@A_TDK are these offered through the business schools at both universities? regarding their business schools Dartmouth(Tuck) is stronger than Duke (Fuqua). But for engineering Duke is stronger than Dartmouth.
@A_TDK hmm interesting…have you taken a look at the alumni outcomes of these programs? are they available somewhere online? or you could ask the schools if any info is available?
@Penn95 As I’ve mentioned, this is MQM’s year of launch. There is no alumni for this program. The MEM on the other hand has been well established for 25+ years, and the alumni have worked in a wide array of fields.
@A_TDK Oh sorry overlooked that part. Then I would say Dartmouth. Dartmouth in general has a higher tradition and connections will wall street and management consulting and the fact that the program has been established for that much longer makes it a safer bet.
@Penn95 thanks a lot for your insights! Do you truly believe that Dartmouth’s proximity to NY puts it in an advantage? Isn’t duke a renowned institute as well with an equal or even better reputation that Dartmouth?
@A_TDK i terms of reputation Dartmouth benefits a lot from being an Ivy, but Duke is ranked higher in most rankings i think.
Specifically in wall street, consulting they love the ivy League and specifically Dartmouth has a long tradition of being a wall street feeder school. However you would have practially comparable opportunities at Duke as well.
My reservation is that the program at Duke is just starting out, so it is a much riskier choice. Since as a whole there is not any substantial difference in reputation and in fact in business circles and the lay public domestically and internationally Dartmouth probably might have slight edge becauseof the ivy league tag, for me the risk is not be worth it.
For example if it was Harvard/Stanford vs Dartmouth and Harvard/Stanford had a pilot program i would seriously consider it and would probably go with Harvard/Stanford. But for Duke the risk is not worth it in my opinion.