<p>So I visited both Princeton and Duke, and am torn between the two. I thought they both were great schools with a great campus and atmosphere. However, I saw Duke ED for Pratt had an acceptance rate of 36% vs Princeton's SCEA rate of 18%. Which one should I apply to with these stats? Is Princeton well worth the extra risk given their excellent operations research program over Duke Finance? Thanks in advance!:</p>
<p>GPA:3.8UW 4.34W</p>
<p>Class Rank: 3/300</p>
<p>Senior Year Courses: AP European History, AP Chinese, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science A, Math course at Princeton University</p>
<p>SAT II: Physics: 800 Math Level 2: 800 US History: 760</p>
<p>Awards:
-National AP Scholar
-At least National Merit Commended award</p>
<p>ECs: Governor's School summer program where I had a research paper published
-Comp sci summer program at an ivy league institution
- 4th in state and 3rd in region awards for Science Olympiad
- FBLA member where I got a state award
-volunteered at a cultural organization's summer camp for 70 hours
- tutored kids at the library for 30 hours
-Science and Engineering Club member
- tennis team member</p>
<p>I think you have to keep in mind that those stats are way skewed. Many of the people who apply ED and SCEA have already been recruited for athletics, or some other program that would virtually guarantee their acceptances. What I am saying is, Duke’s ED acceptance rate might be higher than Princeton’s EA acceptance rate if they have more people in special programs that applied early (like being recruited for athletics). So, you should not base your decision on that. What you should base your decision on is whether you want to bind your acceptance or not. If not, go with Princeton. If so, go with Duke. However, keep in mind that the school is able to charge you more if you apply Early Decision because they know that you are going to attend if the school accepts you. Legally, they cannot force you to go to a school that you absolutely cannot afford, but that does not mean they can’t subtract a couple thousand dollars from your financial aid package because they know you will be attending no matter what.</p>
<p>If you think you have a chance at getting into Princeton / other schools, why would you apply ED and possibly be forced to go to Duke? Your stats are fine; just work hard on essays.</p>
<p>Definitely helpful! Though I favor Princeton more, I’d be very happy to attend either school. Though ED stats are quite misleading, Princeton is still probably tougher to get into than Duke, does Princeton’s Engineering program hold a lot over Duke Engineering to make it worth it?</p>
<p>your gpa is a little on the low side(someone correct me if im wrong), but i think overall you should be fine for either school. i think you have a decent shot at princeton if you apply ed.</p>
<p>^^ Although his/her gpa may seem low, he/she is ranked 3/300 so the school obviously has a pretty tough grading standard. In this case, the gpa is fine.</p>
<p>I don’t know what your goal is (i.e., the operations research thing). But I think Princeton’s finance certificate plus any concentration is very good. Princeton is one of the only schools in which you can concentrate in anything but still get a hedge fund job out of college. I don’t think this is true for Duke. What I am going to try at Princeton if admitted will be either Woodrow Wilson + Finance certificate / Economics + Finance certificate. But as I said, no finance certificate is required to progress into the hedge fund world. (or any institutional asset management) Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, graduated from Princeton with an engineering degree and joined D.E. Shaw for a while doing the type of stuff you want to do.</p>
<p>I am applying to Duke and Wharton for the regular round if I do not get in Princeton. As you can see, I definitely believe that Princeton has an advantage over even Wharton, unless you’re applying to a dual degree program like Huntsman. The fact that someone from classics, or from English literature can go directly into Bridgewater says a lot about Princeton’s prestige. </p>
<p>Your score is within the range of consideration so I think if you apply to both Princeton and Duke you’d be looked at equally no matter what. (i.e. pass the initial winnowing) But I can’t comment on your ECs.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m hoping my class rank outweighs my gpa. @nespresso definitely true, all of Princeton’s programs are amazing. And it sounds like your choice of programs is an excellent choice. But just wondering guys, how does Duke’s finance program with another major in computer science compare to Princeton’s programs when it comes to job prospects? Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Without failing grades, you shouldn’t worry about not getting into a hedge fund after Princeton. Duke I don’t know - but I think it’ll get you in an investment bank IT department. </p>
<p>But I think it’s a lot better to start from buy-side because buy/sell side have totally different priorities.</p>
This is the biggest load of BS I’ve heard in my life. Only a select few Princetonians each year will get jobs at an elite Hedge Fund or a PE firm right out of undergrad if any at all. Blackstone and Silver Lake recruit almost exclusively at Harvard and Wharton at the Analyst level and not at Princeton. You will need sky high grades, connections, charisma, and a good deal of luck to land the type of job you describe as being an god-given right for the run-of-the-mill graduate from Old Nassau.</p>
<p>As for the sell-side, almost every US bulge bracket bank and multinational i-bank recruits at Duke as its considered a core target school. The same applies to Princeton I’m sure though I’m not as familiar with the school. Banks hire from like RIT and Baruch for their IT departments, not a top 10 school like Duke.</p>
<p>You are sacrificing a bit by choosing Duke or Princeton over Wharton though in my opinion. However, someone with strong grades and interview skills can get an elite job from any of these places.</p>
<p>@goldenboy, from the link, it definitely seem top companies recruit from Duke. But for what jobs do Duke grads usually go to? Is it true that the top companies hire from both Duke and Princeton, but Princeton grads are hired to higher level jobs than Duke grads?</p>
<p>All of those companies recruit undergraduate colleges that they visit for the “Analyst” position. Duke grads who are hired will be working in the same entry level role alongside that graduates from Princeton, Stanford, Williams, Notre Dame, UVA, Michigan, UNC, etc. who are hired by a particular firm.</p>
<p>You have to work your way up the ladder whether you start at Harvard or San Jose State. The biggest difference is that more Harvard alums are given access to climb the ladder in the first place compared to SJSU grads.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in finance, Princeton all the way. I-banking and top firms recruit heavily and almost exclusively from Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Wharton, and to a lesser extent MIT and Williams. It’ll be very difficult to get in from a non HYPSM level school, let alone a lower tier Ivy or top school like Duke. Plus, Princeton’s econ and orfe depts are top notch.</p>
<p>I think 35-40% of Princeton grads work in the finance sector, more than H and Y which are 25-30%.</p>
<p>And yes the flexibility in what you study and your ability to work in finance post-Pton is certainly true. Tons of ppl major in whatever and then go into i-banking, consulting, etc.</p>
<p>Greatly helps with my decision, thanks! Btw, what’s the % for Duke and CMU, decillion? Fellow CC’ers, I’d greatly appreciate it if you could compare my chances for both Duke Engineering’s and Princeton Engineering’s early application round</p>
<p>Academic reputation isn’t highly correlated with ibanking recruitment. IBanks recruit extensively at about 17 target schools/programs: the 8 Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Northwestern, UChicago, Georgetown, UVA McIntire, Michigan Ross, Notre Dame Mendoza, and Berkeley Haas.</p>
<p>Other highly regarded schools like Caltech, Johns Hopkins, Wash U, Rice, and Emory are almost not even looked at by bulge bracket firms. A lot of this has to do with the fact that none of these universities have highly ranked MBA program so their alumni network in consulting/finance is weak. Also, there are more Cornell grads on Wall Street than Stanford grads for instance; this might be attributed to self-selection but its worth noting.</p>
<p>The fact that Princeton undergrads seem to gravitate towards finance more than some of their peer schools might make up for the fact that it doesn’t have a highly ranked MBA programs with regards to alumni network potency and size but I’m not sure.</p>