<p>I find out if I'm a Robertsons scholar about a week before I actually have to pick a college. So, hypothetically, which should I pick? </p>
<p>The Robertsons Scholarship--Free tuition (at Duke, in my case), Summer experiences for free again, and design my own social projects in Durham, the USA, and around the world. And some more study abroad. All for free. I don't really like Duke as much as Wharton, but I mean...all of the benefits are pretty cool. </p>
<p>Wharton- It sounds really really exciting to get a business education. And it's Wharton. It's just something I've dreamt about for a long long time. Plus I love econ, so I'm planning on majoring in Econ too. I also got BFS and JWS invitations, if that means anything...I'm not sure, to be honest. </p>
<p>I'm so lucky to even hypothetically consider this, but I just need a bit of input from you all. Thanks!</p>
<p>I say wait and see. The JWS thing is a lot of fun but I’m not going to lie to you - it’s a recruitment tool to raise yield for kids they really want. You can join JWS later, the application process is a joke. Only difference is you’re not family from the get-go and miss the fnce103 class and the NY trip.</p>
<p>For now, Wharton >>>>Duke. If you get the scholarship, come back to forums, post more relevant interests / ambitions /plans and we’ll discuss some more.</p>
<p>Study abroad is generally free anyways. Most of the opportunities are the same across both schools too. Its mostly a money issue and for that, you’d have to consider how much more you’re going to pay if you chose Wharton. Consider how much fa you’re receiving and then make the decision.</p>
<p>@ Beedle, not sure how your family’s financial situation is but also consider what fields you want to pursue. Wharton’s alum network and reputation will give you a clear advantage competing for jobs on Wall Street or in finance in general that yes, may be worth the 200k considering your future earnings potential. Though, I agree with necro, wait and see if you get the scholarship first.</p>
<p>Anyone who tells you that Penn/Wharton is clearly better than being a Robertson Scholar at Duke doesn’t know what he is talking about. At the very least, the “Robertson” part eliminates any prestige difference, and that’s without even considering the financial aspect.</p>
<p>I like Penn a whole lot more than Duke, but you would be absolutely, completely nuts to turn down a Robertson to go to Wharton at full pay.</p>
<p>And, by the way, if you really like Wharton 10,000x more than Duke, you don’t know what you’re talking about, either. There’s nothing about Penn and Duke that supports that kind of difference.</p>
<p>Thanks!
I also got into Harvard…so would you say the same thing for Harvard as well?</p>
<p>Also, if I don’t get the Robertsons…I have to choose between harvard and wharton. I’m leaning wharton, but does it justify the $200k price tag?
(Harvard would cost $200k too)–the other options that don’t cost that much are, essentially the honors program at Ohio State.</p>
<p>My opinion? I love Harvard a lot (despite having turned it down twice), but there’s no way it (or any other college) is worth $200,000 more than Duke + Robertson, presuming that you liked Duke enough to apply in the first place. Very few people who are accepted to Harvard turn Harvard down, other than to attend Yale, Princeton, or Stanford (or maybe maybe Wharton), but among those very few people each year are several of the Robertson Scholars. On the other hand, Harvard is probably the only college that ever gets more than one or two people who have turned down a Robertson. For someone who would get substantial aid at both colleges, it would be a coin-flip kind of decision. </p>
<p>Harvard or Wharton vs. Ohio State honors? People will debate that endlessly here, but I would go with Harvard or Wharton.</p>
<p>Same issue here too.
Duke Robertson finalist. Or Wharton? I got into MIT, but that’s out of the question, as I’m not too interested.
I like Wharton better so I have no idea what to do.</p>
<p>Again, it depends on individual goals here people. If you want to make it big in the financial world, the Wharton network and name will help you alot more. Not saying that Duke wouldn’t get you far, its just that the difference is magnified at higher levels. Note that I’m talking actual finance jobs, not management jobs in financial institutions (the CEO of goldman is not the highest paid financier, he isn’t even a financier, there are hedge fund partners who rake in a billion/year in a good year). How far you want to go is up to you. If you intend to leverage that network and move up etc then it may be worth the 200k.</p>
<p>@ JHS, its not about the prestige difference. Its about the network. Wharton has a clear finance focus and will get you much farther than peers in financial services as a result.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Beedle, but I’m looking at finance with a good balance of the liberal arts and pure business skills (one of the reasons I decided to not pick MIT sloan) </p>
<p>In finance, wharton is king. But, the robertsons is something too…isn’t it?</p>
<p>@ disgradius: What about the Robertson network though? I know atleast for us New Zealanders Julian really cares about where we go after we graduate and surely he was one of the best hedge fund managers and should have plenty of contacts?</p>
<p>@ Raven, I’m not saying Robertson doesn’t have a strong network. It’s just that once you’re past the gruntwork and start trying to ‘make rain’ (landing deals) the much larger and finance-focused wharton network will help out alot more. If OP wants to make it to PMD at goldman or something, I would recommend forking out that extra 200k. If he just wants to do an ibanking stint for 2 years then change out into other industries then it’s probably not worth it (unless he’s fairly affluent). I will say that it seems Duke’s culture is very different from what I’ve heard from my friends there. Just consider carefully your own goals and then decide what will be best to get you there.</p>
<p>What’s Duke culture like compared to Penn? I was told to read ‘I Am Charlotte Simmons’ and it was based on Duke, Penn, and Stanford. I haven’t even gotten half way but so far I’m not loving the culture – but then again that type of culture will be prevalent anywhere.</p>
<p>Depends on major, what industry you want to work in after graduation and who you hang with etc. Penn, I imagine would feel more urban in general. There’s a few ‘prominent’ personality types on campus. The really pre-prof ibank type, the sit and look at the stars intellectual (if you know where to look), etc. In general though, the ‘engineering’ culture (those in it will know what I mean) is not as prominent, many of them are more reclusive and penn’s focus is towards finance/med anyways. From what my friends have said, Duke is more engineer friendly lol~.</p>