Georgetown v. Chicago v. Williams v. Cornell (and Duke)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgetown University
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<h2>Ignore the post history, using a friend's account. </h2>

<p>Obviously very different schools. I'm going to post this to each forum and see what I get. Econ major at all schools. Money is roughly the same at all schools, though Chicago has offered me 5k more a year than the second lowest school. Georgetown costs the most out of pocket. I'm also considering Duke, but Cornell and Duke seem to be practically equivalent to me so I'll figure out which one to knock out.</p>

<p>Georgetown:
Pros: in DC, closest school to home, great for political connections, best school for big sports on my list, seems the most "fun"
Cons: weakest academic school on my list -- lowest ranked and seems to have a heavy professional tilt, least amount of aid (not by much), too similar demographically to my high school (wealthy and white), least "typical" college campus, feels like a place where people of slightly above intelligence who want to run Wall Street go to school, seems pretty average if I decide to not go political or corporate</p>

<p>Chicago
Pros: in a major city, renowned for econ program, environment of really smart people, fairly diverse, arguably the most prestigious school on my list, best financial aid package (not by much), nice law school placement, probably least obnoxious in terms of party scene of all my schools
Cons: life of the mind -- I think I'm less of an intellectual and more practical, very "Ivory Tower" curriculum, econ program seems insanely difficult, (by far) lowest earning potential of all my schools, super far from home (I live in the suburbs of Philly), grade inflation (will it keep me out of top law schools?)</p>

<p>Williams:
Pros: tutorials, quintessential college experience, appropriate balance of smart and sporty, arguably the most integratedly diverse school on my list, I can only go here for undergrad (I want to go to law school), not exactly a "research university"
Cons: tutorials, super small, in the middle of nowhere, binge-drinking culture, read an article about faculty not being supportive of athletic types (it's possible that I could walk on), </p>

<p>Cornell
Pros: Ivy League, AEM is a really cool both for law school preparation and making tons of cash right out of college doing banking
Cons: I don't think there's anything particularly exceptional about it (hopefully it'll change when I visit). Binge-drinking, overwhelming fraternity/sorority scene (everyone I know who goes to Cornell has gone Greek)</p>

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<p>I would caution you against saying Georgetown is the weakest academic school on your list…lowest rank yes, but if you want to go by rankings for just academic quality i suggest using this measure: <a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/high-school-counselor”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/high-school-counselor&lt;/a&gt;
^asks specifically and solely about the “undergraduate education quality”</p>

<p>Or, look at Princeton Review’s academic quality ratings…Georgetown is a 94 (Duke 90, Cornell 88, Chicago 95)</p>

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<p>Njhoya - this is the biggest crock ranking as how the heck would a high school GC have any clue about the quality of undergrad education. They understand the admission process certainly but have neither the experience nor exposure to anything that comes after that! It’s completely irrelevant what their personal opinion is - why not poll gas station attendants and ask them?</p>

<p>Dc2013 any of these schools would get you into law school, and a good one, if you do well. Choose the one that suits you for location, size and culture. I can only say that I have a sibling who is a varsity athlete at williams and there is no issue about supporting athletic types - it’s 40% of the student body so it’s not like they have a choice! You do have to be pretty disciplined, though, to do both the sport and keep up with the academics as most of these students do. I don’t know about the binge drinking either but I’m not there. </p>

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<p>@‌Faster321</p>

<p>Njhoya - this is the biggest crock ranking as how the heck would a high school GC have any clue about the quality of undergrad education. They understand the admission process certainly but have neither the experience nor exposure to anything that comes after that! It’s completely irrelevant what their personal opinion is - why not poll gas station attendants and ask them?</p>

<p>Guidance counselors are basing their ranking primarily on their knowledge of their students who matriculated at various schools, as well as the feedback they receive from those students after the fact. </p>

<p>While it’s true that this is not a measure of the instruction being provided by the professors at these schools, it is also the case that a great deal of learning comes from peers, and educational outcomes are often as much about inputs (the students) as they are about the particulars of the instruction or curriculum being offered. So while guidance counselors may not be pedagogues or otherwise positioned to gauge a school’s instructional approach (read a school’s accreditation report from Middle States, SACS, etc. if you want that), I think they do have a better vantage point than your average gas station attendant.</p>

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<p>For Econ major, no better choice than Chicago.</p>

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<p>Go to Cornell or Duke-best balance of good Economics opportunities, campus life, job recruiting, social life, etc. It appears that GU is too insular and Chicago doesn’t jive with the type of student body you are looking for.</p>

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<p>^^I don’t know, Cornell is kinda in the boonies in upstate NY; GU is in the best sec of the city and lots of opps for networking and internships; Chicago is too cold unless that’s where you want to be</p>

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<p>To address the original post a bit:</p>

<p>While there’s certainly some truth to the “wealthy and white” stereotype at Georgetown, in my experience it’s just as true for each of the other schools on this list. I’m also not entirely certain how Georgetown is the “least ‘typical’ college campus” of these… Duke has two campuses that are a mile and a half apart! Is that ‘typical’?</p>

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<p>Again, I understand where this stereotype comes from, but there are all sorts of people at Georgetown (and each of the other schools) who are intent on pursuing all manner of different careers. Plenty of Wall Streeters, plenty of lawyers (my wife included), lots of budding diplomats and think tankers and doctors and political operatives and international development/health professionals and everything in between. I would caution against letting stereotypes be overly influential in your decision-making process.</p>

<p>I’m certain you could succeed and achieve your goals at any of these schools. The question is: where would you most enjoy being as you’re going about these things?</p>

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<p>IMO, you have better chance to do banking out of Georgetown (over both Duke and Cornell) - for what it is worth. Btw, wanting to make cash is not a good reason to do banking (it’s cliche bc its true).</p>

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<p>Can you offer some evidence or at least an anecdote for your comment above?</p>

<p>For the record, I did say “IMO” which stands for “in my opinion,” which is based on my experience and observations (from working in banking).</p>

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<p>Have you visited the schools? If so, you might prefer the “feel” of one over the other. When my daughter visited Duke after being admitted she did not like it at all. She chose Georgetown over a number of other highly ranked schools because she liked being there - in the town of Georgetown and on campus. It felt right to her. She is not studying business, however, I hear the business school at Georgetown is excellent. Duke is excellent too. My husband who works for a well known asset management company encouraged her choice of Georgetown over Duke - his company hires from both schools and in his mind any difference in ranking or hiring potential after graduation is negligible. We are from the west coast and it is possible that easterners feel differently about the prestige factor. If you do choose Georgetown, you will have an excellent education, so I don’t understand the comment that it is the “weakest academic school”. My daughter’s boyfriend is finishing up at Northwestern and may do post bac work at Georgetown where he was just admitted. He prefers to visit her as the experience of being in DC is more fun for both of them. Sorry, off topic, but to sum it up, Georgetown is a positive undergraduate experience and I am happy she chose to attend. Good luck with your choice - even though this is a good “problem” to have, it can still be difficult to choose. Hope you don’t go to the final day like my D did… it was hard on her and she was tearful when she chose Georgetown around 3 on the final day. And by the way, her 2nd place school was Claremont McKenna which was my personal fav - not a big headliner, but a wonderful school none the less. </p>

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<p>I’m not sure what to say here… how does the above provide sufficient evidence to support your claim (quoted below for everyone’s reference) when no comparative evidence is provided:</p>

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You simply listed individuals (successful ones no question) who graduated from Duke who happen to also work in finance. You did not even bother to acknowledge the fact that you bucket commercial finance, consulting, private equity, hedge fund, asset management, sales & trading, and venture capital under this umbrella term “banking and finance.” How does your list prove your assertion “Georgetown doesn’t come close to beating Duke as far as banking is concerned”?</p>

<p>It’s clear that you either go to Duke or hope to one day, but know that in the real world (away from internet forums where you are completely anonymous), you should be ready to back up the claims that you make.</p>

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<p>Also to provide some evidence of my own:</p>

<p><a href=“What banker careers REALLY look like: The DATA | Wall Street Oasis”>http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/what-banker-careers-really-look-like-the-data&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Here are the statements that I have made and I quote:

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<p>and here’s what you have said and I quote:

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<p>Can you please let me know who is being “entirely spurious” here?</p>

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<p>If data compiled from a verified member from a pretty well known Wall Street forum cannot be regarded as some form evidence (no one saying it is absolute), then I’m not sure if you are willing to accept anything less than an actual physical count done by yourself. Candidly what I provided is as good as it gets (other than a commissioned study). If you were really familiar with the industry (as you are trying to pass off as being), you would know that.</p>

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<p>FWIW, I used to be in the industry and those results do not look right from my framework, I think he has a skewed sample. Different firms tend to have some of their own “pet” schools, there are some variations. That would not look like the distribution of schools from my firm, at the time, from what I saw. Which is one you’ve heard of.</p>

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<p>Supernova123 is on a couple of these forums attempting to refute any notion that Georgetown is an elite university. Seems like someone with a chip on his/her shoulder with respect to GU.</p>

<p>These are all great schools that will provide a top notch education, assuming you do the work and take advantage of the various schools resources. Ultimately, it comes down to fit and feel, and perhaps financial aid. </p>

<p>This is a really nice problem to have.</p>

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<p>This whole back and forth with Supernova123 is becoming a complete d**k measuring contest (excuse my french). </p>

<p>Supernova123 - if you want to continue this conversation, I’m happy to do so via PM as the discussion we have been having here is neither constructive nor helpful to the rest of the CC community.</p>

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<p>Good problems. </p>

<p>I would be looking at Chicago and Williams, and I’d probably choose Chicago. IMO Cornell should not even be a consideration.</p>

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<p>Having spent time at two bulge bracket investment banks, one now defunct, unequivocally saying Georgetown ranks above Cornell or Duke in wall street recruiting is very much an opinion. I interviewed for many summer classes and Georgetown was not on our first tier list, though their alumni are very supportive. NYC is Cornell’s best market and they have a very strong alumni base. The only investment bank with a heavy contingent of Georgetown grads in the recent classes is Barclays, and no one considers them a peer. At the elite boutiques, private equity groups, none of these schools offer a great shot though Leonerd Green & Partners have recently made a name for themselves and were founded by a Cornell alum. Frankly, the reason why Cornell grads make it into top hedge funds from undergrad is not from their business program but from the engineering school. Sciences are simply not Georgetown’s forte. Duke is top tier for consulting hiring slugging it out with MIT, Harvard, Chicago. Clearly Chicago, Cornell, and Duke have far better grad programs. I am a Georgetown Law alum and they certainly run DC, but you get into Boston, San Fransisco and NYC and they are just fine school. Perhaps its a Yankee mentality, but it certainly exists. </p>