College advice: Dartmouth, Duke, or NYU Stern

After going through the whole college process, I received my fair share of acceptances and rejections, and I think I've narrowed down my choices to Duke, Dartmouth, or NYU Stern. I am interested in pursuing a career in IBanking or consulting, so I was wondering which college would provide me the best opportunity to achieve this. Is there a clear best in terms of education, recruiting, networking, or other factors? Of course, what makes my decision so tough is the fact that each college has a completely different environment. I've always heard that Duke has that big college feel, and not only great academics but a fun party scene as well. Dartmouth also follows the same idea of "Work hard, play hard", but I heard it has a much smaller, tightly-knit, almost like an exclusive-community feel. And then NYU Stern is in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of New York. I just wanted to know your thoughts on what I should do, advice, etc?

 

If this was the one of the few posts on here mentioning those schools, I'm sure there would be a lot to say. But its not. There has already been multiple and more than enough posts on WSO mentioning those same schools recently. They all mention the same goals of getting into Banking/Consulting/PE. Just spend some time reading through those. We really don't need to make this site College Confidential.

Otherwise the consensus is Dartmouth > Duke > NYU Stern. Ivy > Duke. Consulting opportunities/lifestyle/prestige at Duke > NYU Stern. But like many others have said, there are merits at each of them, and it boils down to what you want. Spend at least some time going through those before posting repetitive questions. Good luck.

 
Best Response

Dartmouth>Duke>Stern for me. Honestly you really can't go wrong as all will offer opportunities into banking/consulting. I'm not a huge fan of Stern for a few reason: It's expensive to live in the city, high competition into finance/consulting as in all the networking session you go to will be attended by everyone, fewer opportunities to do other stuff and gain a more well rounded education. Sure you'll learn finance well, but you don't need an undergrad degree in finance to get into finance or consulting.

Duke and Dartmouth both place really well into both finance/consulting. It just comes down to what you like more. Dartmouth will have a stronger name because it's an Ivy, but it has a specific type of preppy culture which you have to make sure your ok with. Some people seem to resent that. Duke has excellent placement as well as will probably be a lot of fun with good weather and good sports.

As I said earlier I'd throw out Stern and pick between Duke and Dartmouth. From there its up to you.

Congrats and Good Luck.

 

This message goes to WallStreetOasis. Is there a way that we can just put these prestige rankings (school and group and IB bank-wise) just so that we can put these threads to rest?

I know it won't be exact (because everyone has their own opinion) and isn't necessarily all that important, but the threads over the last few weeks have been populated with which group is better for PE opps or which school is more prestigious? These threads aren't the core of this website and I don't want WallStreetOasis to become like CollegeConfidential.

Thanks.

 

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