I am really happy to have gotten into both UC Berkeley, and Duke. I threw Dartmouth in because that’s another school I’d like to go to if I get in. I am instate for UC, so the cheap tuition is something to consider. I want to study economics currently but also want to keep my options open to explore other interests.
I’d like to know how these schools compare in academics, prestige, student experience, etc.
Thanks.
How much math do you want in your economics courses?
Moderate math (single variable calculus): UCB (with ECON 100A/100B/140), Dartmouth
High math (multivariable calculus): UCB (with ECON 101A/101B/141), Duke
High math is preferable for students who want to do PhD study in economics. Such students should also take additional math and statistics courses beyond those for the economics major.
Note, however, the UCB economics major requires a 3.0 GPA in its prerequisites to declare.
I likely want to go into business and finance after college, not focused in academia.
I’d pick between Duke and Dartmouth. The classes at Berkeley are simply too large for my liking although Haas is very well regarded. The in-state tuition definitely complicates things. I can’t comment on your financial situation but if you can afford to go to one of the private schools you should.
I’d pick Duke over Dartmouth simply because it’s more well-rounded in my opinion. The social scene at Dartmouth is reputed to be very Greek centric and its location is pretty rural. Also, if we’re being brutally honest I am of the opinion that Dartmouth’s best days are behind it. It’s been getting a lot of bad publicity. It’s not ranked in the top 10 anymore and it recently experienced a massive decline in applications. Research universities in urban areas are all the rage these days (Penn, Chicago and Northwestern are reaping the benefits). Duke is a much better research university than Dartmouth is. I don’t think that a school’s research prowess is particularly relevant to an undergraduate econ major but it does play a role in how a university is perceived. When a Duke professor wins a Nobel Prize (this happened last year), the school gets a massive amount of positive press and it rises in the esteem of prospective employers. Better rankings translate to more donations which translate to more opportunities for undergraduate students.
I don’t mean to disparage Dartmouth or be a Duke “homer”. I genuinely believe that it is the one Ivy that is pretty precariously placed at the moment (Brown has some financial hurdles to overcome but the other Ivies are well positioned). That’s not to say that it isn’t a great school. In fact, 20 years ago it probably had the best alumni network on Wall Street outside of a handful of schools like Harvard and Princeton. Finance is still its core strength but I think Duke’s placement might actually be marginally better these days. Duke graduates earn $10,000 more than Dartmouth grads at the beginning of their careers according to data from the federal government (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?182670-Dartmouth-College and https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?198419-Duke-University).
The economics departments of these schools have been an analyzed based on faculty publishing, should this be of interest to you:
As an interpretation, particularly since the data does not appear to be adjusted for department size, all of your choices would seem to be exceptionally strong in econ.
(“US Economics Departments,” IDEAS.)
Thanks 
Best schools for investment banking (according to data from Linkedin.com)
https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/edu/rankings/us/undergraduate-investment-banking
Duke - 4th
Dartmouth - 10th
Berkeley - 23rd
Best schools for finance professionals (according to data from Linked.com)
https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/edu/rankings/us/undergraduate-finance
Duke - 7th
Dartmouth - 10th
UCB - not in the top 25
I don’t think this takes into account the west coast opportunities that I favor, and I think that data is skewed considering that those schools focus more heavily on those wall street finance and east coast jobs, while Berkeley is a large school that has a broader focus. This is valuable insight however, thank you
I was under the impression that you wanted to go into investment banking. Clearly I’ve mistaken you for someone else!
Having said that, regardless of what field you’d like to enter it’s worth noting that Duke alums make $15,000 more than Berkeley alums on average at the beginning of their careers (according to data compiled by the federal government).
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?110635-University-of-California-Berkeley
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?198419-Duke-University