<p>I am applying to Duke this fall ED and I was just checking out the percentages of undergrads who are going onto Grad school or entering the workforce for the schools I am applying too. I know Duke has a great reputation, but how come only about 32% of Grads got a job within 6 months? On the contrary, some other schools I am looking at, such as Wake Forest - 60 % got a job and Univ of Miami - 72% and Carnegie Mellon - 98%. Is there something I am missing?</p>
<p>Can you post a link?</p>
<p>May I ask to which source you’re referring? </p>
<p>Here’s a statistic directly from Duke’s website:</p>
<p>[Statistics</a> & Reports | Duke Student Affairs](<a href=“Duke Student Affairs”>Duke Student Affairs)</p>
<p>This chart indicates that 38% of the Class of 2011 accepted a job, 24% are pursuing further education, 6% are pursuing other vocational avenues (internships, volunteering, etc.), and 5% are taking a gap year–all of which amounts to 73% occupied grads. </p>
<p>Only 15% were recorded as seeking employment; the remaining 12% were unsure.</p>
<p>@brownford I meant to put 38%, that was an error. I got the data from the same source: [Statistics</a> & Reports | Duke Student Affairs](<a href=“Duke Student Affairs”>Duke Student Affairs)</p>
<p>But I found on Wake’s website and was just told by an adcom at their Info Session that 60& successfully found a job. Also, if you go on College ******* you can find several schools (not as highly ranked) that have higher placement rates as well. This is what I don’t understand.</p>
<p>Lots of Duke kids go to med school</p>
<p>Are you comparing apples to apples? Do you know that the method used to obtain the 38% figure is similar to the method used to obtain the 60% figure at Wake Forest?</p>
<p>@noimagination Yes I am almost 100 percent sure that it is the same method. And also on College ******* it says % of grads getting a job within 6 months so if you go there and compare all the schools, it is apples to apples</p>
<p>Oh okay, that makes me feel much better happyman2. Thanks for your input. So you think some kind of Econ Degree from Duke with M&M certificate program would be okay?</p>
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<p>Uh, what?! That is crazy talk. You know that “most” is more than 50%, right? I don’t mean to pick on you happyman2 as you have good posts, but just had to point out the ridiculousness of this particular one. If anybody is expecting a six-figure salary right out of college, you will very likely be sorely disappointed. I would venture to guess that there is a VERY small percentage of individuals get a $100k starting salary with just a bachelors degree. What type of job gives that? I-banking perhaps with its bonuses in the heyday, but those days are now gone…The most competitive consulting firms in the world (MBB) don’t give >$100k starting and I can assure you that most Duke grads are NOT concentrated at MBB, so are taking even lower salaries than that. (Perhaps you have an anecdote of one person, but that doesn’t make it the norm).</p>
<p>Payscale says the average starting salary for a Duke grad is $54k, which is probably a bit inflated because it’s all self-reported data:
[PayScale</a> - Duke University School Salary, Average Salaries](<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/research/US/School=Duke_University/Salary]PayScale”>Duke University Salary | PayScale)</p>
<p>Note that from the same link, Payscale ranks Duke 8th in the country in ROI and 7th in mid-career salary (behind only Harvard, Princeton, CalTech, MIT, and Dartmouth), so obviously Duke grads are doing very well. No school has most its grads earning six figures because six-figure starting salaries don’t exist in mass.</p>
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<p>Yes, if you enjoy those disciplines and do well, that would set you up very nicely for a job. The M&M certificate program is viewed as relatively easy incidentally - much easier than econ. But perhaps employers don’t know that and if you enjoy the courses, it’s certainly worth it. A lot of sociology professors teach in the M&M program. Good luck.</p>
<p>^Sorry, the $54k figure I quoted above is actually the median, not the average. I just saw “typical” and assumed average. My point still stands, though, but just thought I’d point out that slight difference.</p>
<p>Would it help me out more in the job market if I major in Econ but also do a concentration in Finance?</p>
<p>“Either way, rest assured that a Duke education prepares you overcome even the most seemingly insurmountable obstacles that you are likely to encounter in your career.”</p>
<p>I’m not sure about that statement. A college degree prepares you to understand how to learn effectively, but obstacles that you encounter will commonly be overcome from past experiences in that environment.</p>
<p>@CaneFreak: keep in mind that you’ll be entering the job 4-5 years down the road depending on when you apply. While you can look at statistics and past years’ numbers to give you a general idea of how things are, no one can predict what the job market and the economy will look like when you are job hunting, especially in specific fields or for people with specific skill sets. Generally finance would be a nice concentration to have if you plan on going into banking but as the recent recession has taught most of us, not even banker are immune to the ravages of the economy and if you were a finance person looking for a job in 2009, you would probably have been hard pressed.</p>
<p>@happyman2 Great read, thanks for posting</p>
<p>Okay, I just wanted to address a few things. To the person who said “Most Dukies are making over $100K out of college”, I’m not sure what world you’re living in or where you get your information from. While there may be a select few (<1%) of Duke and other Ivy league/ top college graduates that are making six-figures, this is no where near or even close to the norm. I will say that I do know a few people, not Dukies, that were offered 100-150K to work for top consulting firms and in IB for Goldman Sachs, but these are outliers. </p>
<p>Most Duke students I know are still faring better than most other graduates, pulling in $45000-$65000 annual salary.On the other foot, I know a handful of Duke graduates who are scrounging for jobs and taking unpaid internships. </p>
<p>Looking at that Payscale site, the only reason that Ivy leagues and top schools have the best salaries and job offers, is because of the alumni network and social value that is connected to the Duke, Princeton, Harvard, “insert Ivy league/ Top school” name. While there may be a small percentage of students who come from middle-class backgrounds, most of the students at these elite schools are entitled and come from privileged lifestyles. Not to mention that probably a quarter of the student body (if not more) are legacies. It’s not that these students are smarter than someone who goes to a top public university or second-tier university. These students have a lot more resources growing up and are able to follow in the footsteps of their parents. Going to Duke is not an opportunity, it’s a privilege… as is getting accepted and attending any other big name school.</p>
<p>If you do not have a strong network, then don’t expect to advance to get a job too easily. It’s more about who you know, not what you know and that is evident at DUKE. I’m not saying that there aren’t brilliant kids, but these students for the most part have their life written out for them.</p>
<p>1)I didn’t come from a super wealthy background
2)I’m making more than 100K out of college
3)Go Duke!</p>
<p>The fact that you have to exploit that on a forum is representative of the pompous attitude that Duke students exhibit in their daily lives. </p>
<p>UNC runs Tobacco Road.</p>
<p>lol you mad, bro? You sound mad. I could name at least 20 classmates off the the top of my head who have made more than 100K coming out of college. I don’t know where your “select few (<1%)” number comes from. The super wealthy tend to go into non-profit type of organizations such as Teach For America. I guess your prestigious UNC education allows you to make inferences on schools you don’t attend.</p>
<p>BruinsJEW, many of your individual statements are true, but I respectfully disagree with your conclusions. I also apologize if I misconstrue your statements, seeing as they’re directed at a missing comment.</p>
<p>First of all, I think it’s grossly unfair that you’re stereotyping Duke as a university predominated by the privileged rich. As the son of a widowed immigrant from China, I’d like to say that Duke is actually more affordable for my family than UNC, and that I was accepted, like many other students, because of what I had achieved in school. My family’s wealth (or lack thereof) was completely irrelevant. Duke is in every way an opportunity for me, because college here is more affordable than anywhere else, and the faculty are among the best in the world. There are many reasons why I chose Duke over top public and second-tier unis, and I think that there are many like me who also chose Duke for the same reasons.</p>
<p>Also, statistics: [Duke</a> Financial Aid: Award Statistics](<a href=“http://dukefinancialaid.duke.edu/undergraduate/stats/index.html]Duke”>http://dukefinancialaid.duke.edu/undergraduate/stats/index.html)</p>
<p>It’s true that most Duke students do not make more than 100k out of college, but their median salaries are among the highest out of any college. Similarly, every college has its share of graduates who are “scrounging for jobs and taking unpaid internships”. I think it’s unnecessary for you to denigrate Duke for not guaranteeing every graduates a job when it’s already one of the best in its criteria.</p>
<p>Networking is definitely one of the bigger advantages of going to a good college, but again, this applies to every university. Thus, the assertion that it’s unfair in Duke’s case is contingent on your assumption that the majority of Duke students come from old money, which is not true unless by small percentage you mean >50%.</p>
<p>Additionally, only about 15% of Duke students are legacy: [DAA</a> puts special emphasis on legacy students | The Chronicle](<a href=“http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/daa-puts-special-emphasis-legacy-students]DAA”>http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/daa-puts-special-emphasis-legacy-students)</p>
<p>Sorry for typos or egregious syntax errors, I wrote this overnight.</p>