<p>Hey guys, one of my mates won the Robertson as Australia's top-ranked applicant. However, he found out a couple of days ago that he has also been offered a place at Wharton with the Joseph Wharton Scholars program. JWS is a non financial program, whilst Robertson is a full ride. </p>
<p>He's interested in a career in finance/business for the long run, and looking for a position in investment banking straight out of college. </p>
<p>He doesn't have a CC account but was wondering how the two colleges compare in terms of their social and academic cultures, exit opportunities, resources/funding that undergrads can access for summers and research, etc. </p>
<p>Any advice would be appreciated!</p>
<p>You simply cannot beat a full ride to one of the world’s best universities. Robertson all the way.</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T959V using CC</p>
<p>The Robertson interview weekend has not occurred yet, so I don’t know how he was already informed. Additionally, Duke, as an undergraduate liberal arts school, is not the best place for recruiting. As a graduate school, of course. But if you want to be recruited by an investment firm directly following undergraduate, then go with Wharton. </p>
<p>That being said, if you’re a Robertson scholar at Duke, getting an MBA or law degree might be good option to consider, especially since your undergraduate would be free, you would have a great resume, and you’d be going to a name like Duke. </p>
<p>As far as comparing the two programs, both have extensive summer opportunities abroad, and the academic cultures are both intense. Duke has a greater research focus. But Wharton will have greater exit opportunities.</p>
<p>I don’t know what financial aid he received from Wharton, but here’s my recommendation. No grad school = Wharton. Grad school = Robertson.</p>
<p>Here’s the undergraduate business school rankings.
[Best</a> Undergraduate Business Schools 2012 - Businessweek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>Unless your friend is a multimillionaire, he’d be better served by going to Duke.</p>
<p>@hsb i really appreciate the post. Just to clarify: Australian robertson scholars are informed early. Also, I’ve heard lots of conflicting stuff about Duke’s recruiting; some saying that every major IB/consulting firm recruits from duke and a significant number are ultimately recruited, others saying that only one or two people get through to the top finance positions.</p>
<p>Finally, if one wants to progress in a finance career (in IB/PE/Consulting for example), isnt an MBA necessary?</p>
<p>@Gailforce: He’s well off, but 250k is still notable. Basically i think he’s worried that Duke may limit the postgraduation finance opportunities. </p>
<p>Does anyone have information about duke’s placement at IB/Consulting?</p>
<p>Duke grads usually do very well in the finance sector after college (several high profile wall street CEOs have either attended Duke or sent their kids to Duke which is something they probably wouldn’t do if Duke did not have a sterling reputation for finance). It’s no Wharton, but then again, no school in the country is. However, having said that, it is important to remember that your friend will be held in higher regard than the average Duke grad by virtue of having been awarded the Robertson. The scholarship increases the likelihood that he will land a great finance job after college. </p>
<p>Jamie Dimon, the current CEO of JP Morgan, sent two of his daughters to Duke.
John Mack, the former chairman of Morgan Stanley, attended Duke himself and sent two of his three children to Duke.
David Rubenstein, the founder of the Carlyle Group (a PE firm) attended Duke.
John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch, sent his daughter to Duke.
Robert K. Steel, former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs, graduated from Duke in 1973.
Alan Schwartz, former President and CEO of Bear Stearns, graduated from Duke in 1972.
Bart McDade, former CEO of Lehman Brothers (tasked with saving the firm), graduated from Duke. </p>
<p>As you can see, the list (which is not exhaustive by any means) is pretty impressive.</p>
<p>Are you aware that Robertson Scholars are personally selected by none other than Julian “The Wizard of Wall Street” Robertson? </p>
<p>Duke undergrads place VERY well into finance/banking. Perhaps hsb2341 is talking about a certain level that requires a business degree, but plenty of undergrads from “liberal arts” colleges go into these fields in droves. Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, etc. also don’t have undergraduate business schools. Going to Duke with a full-ride on top of the amazing opportunities the Robertson program offers (i.e. not just monetary) makes it a no brainer in my mind. He won’t be sacrificing anything and Duke is a target school for a huge number of banks. Wharton is clearly top-of-the line for recruiting in the industry, but a full ride to Duke with the amazing Robertson program opportunities should position your friend just as well for IB (not a “typical” Duke student, which would be no slouch to begin with) and allow him to save hundred of thousands of dollars (win win).</p>
<p>Check out this post by ennisthemenace comparing Duke’s investment banking analysts to Princeton and Columbia at Goldman Sachs, Barclays, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, and (spoiler: Duke does very well):
<a href=“Princeton vs Columbia vs Duke for economics/finance? - #8 by ennisthemenace - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>Princeton vs Columbia vs Duke for economics/finance? - #8 by ennisthemenace - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums;
And these are “normal” students at Duke, not only those given Robertson opportunities/pedigree.</p>
<p>Duke class of 2010 top employers:
<a href=“Duke Student Affairs”>Duke Student Affairs;
- Teach for America
- Goldman Sachs
- Morgan Stanley
- Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
- Accenture
- Google
- Deutsche Bank</p>
<p>2009:
- Teach for America
- Morgan Stanley
- Bank of America
- Goldman Sachs
- ExxonMobil
- The Boston Consulting Group
- Barclays Capital
- Microsoft</p>
<p>2008 (in midst of financial crisis):
- Teach for America
- Bank of America
- Goldman Sachs
- Deutsche Bank
- Accenture
- Merrill Lynch
- Microsoft
- Cisco</p>
<p>Duke is getting its fair share of numbers into top financial firms and is a major target.</p>
<p>If the price differential between Duke and Wharton is <$50,000 and you prefer Penn’s environment, go to Wharton. If you prefer Duke’s atmosphere or the delta in costs exceed $50,000, then choose Duke.</p>
<p>This is a post from last year but comments are still relevant comparing Duke and Penn</p>