Duke v Rice for Business

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>I am still undecided on college!</p>

<p>I am getting a pretty substantial scholarship from Rice to the tune of 80,000 dollars.
However, I am planning to go to business school after working following my college graduation.</p>

<p>Looking at job placement between Duke and Rice, Rice has a pretty meager placement through the top banking companies compared to Duke.</p>

<p>Are the opportunities that would be available to me through graduating from Duke worth the 80,000 dollars additional I would have to pay?</p>

2

<p>No...Rice is not as good for banking as Duke on the east coast (read NYC). there are banks in houston and dallas that hire rice people. but 80,000 dollars is not worth it. Duke has a better rep on east coast b/c more kids at duke are from the east and northeast. But i do know people from rice at jp morgan, deutsche bank, sachs, merrill lynch, etc. go to the rice career survey and you will see.</p>

3

<p>If I were you, the $80,000 is definitely not worth it--would it put you terribly in debt? Or is it just pocket change to you and money is not a huge issue?</p>

<p>Rice's reputation is strongest in the South, the most in Texas. In comparing Rice and Duke, most East Coast recruitment does not occur at Rice, rather at Duke, but that does not go to say Rice grads cannot get top internships either. Many top companies know Rice's name and associate that with an excellent reputation and education--it's not that Rice has meager placement at top companies as a reflection of its quality vs. Duke, but it's because those top companies simply flock to Duke as one of their target schools; Rice is not a target school like Duke or Georgetown are.</p>

<p>However, many Texas and Houston companies (50+ Fortune 500 Companies in Houston alone, mind you) love Rice grads and definitely recruit from Rice. At Rice, you will get lots more attention from companies in Texas than those in the Northeast, simply because of regional location--does that make sense? However, like westsidewolf1989 said, if you do wish to work in NYC and Wall Street, by all means go for it! You will find Rice grads there, just don't expect to see as many Rice grads as Wharton or Stern grads, for example.</p>

<p>A Rice degree will definitely not deter you from securing opportunities and options Northeast--but you need to be proactive and seek after those companies to hire you. They will definitely be interested if you're a good candidate, but you need to go present yourself and not assume they'll fly all the way down South to see prospective employees when they already can pick and choose from top Northeast schools.</p>

<p>I don't think Duke offers an infinitely better education in terms of business, but its major draw is that its a big recruitment/target school. I mean, if you look at Georgetown's MSB, its school definitely is not that great yet gets excellent recruitment just because of its location and Georgetown name prestige. </p>

<p>But, at the same time, I'm a little confused--are you asking about job placement AFTER going to business graduate school or BEFORE going to business graduate school? Because Rice does have very good placement at top business grad schools, and going to any of the top business grad schools (Harvard/Stanford/MIT/Northwestern, etc business grad schools) will get you very good job offers on their prestigious names and reputations alone.</p>

<p>It all really depends on how proactive you are as an individual and your own actions taken to be assertive and seize opportunities. You need to really reach out to alumni networks and use connections.</p>

4

<p>I think we're missing the point here. This isn't a question of whether $80,000 is worth the small possibility a slightly lesser chance of good job placement after school. Choosing a school because of the kind of job you want after school is, in my mind, a big mistake. Very few students graduate from college wanting to do the same thing they did going in. At which school are you going to enjoy your four years more? I could make a pretty strong case for Rice, but there are numerous threads already doing that.</p>

<p>Also, I feel the need to clarify something. You wouldn't be paying $80,000 less at Rice; you'd be paying $120,000 less at Rice, since Duke's sticker price including room and board and fees is about $10,000 more than Rice's. That is a really substantial amount of money for you to be concerned about something four or five years down the road (or seven or eight, if you're thinking after business school).</p>

<p>If there is absolutely no chance of you changing your mind about what you want to do during your four years at school, then it is worth noting that Rice does have lots of kids who go into i-banking after they graduate. They don't go to companies in New York, necessarily; they go to companies in Houston. They make more money, though, and they live in a city that costs much, much less to live in. Ultimately, the difference in opportunities that will be afforded you is not that great.</p>

5

<p>Another point is that Houston is full of multi-national companies and that Rice kids that get hired in Houston often transfer to other locations. Just because you get your first job there does not mean you stay there!</p>