Is Duke a target or semi-target? Emory?

I'm interested in going into I-Banking. Both Emory and Duke are fairly close to me.

  1. Are these schools target or semi-target?

  2. I am assuming Duke is a target, and Emory is a semi-target.

  3. Anyone here a Duke/Emory student/alum?

4.How hard is it to get into Duke/Emory if you have a 4.0 GPA from high school and a 1400ish SAT?

  1. Would there be any other Ivy-level schools I could get into with those scores?

  2. Would you major in business or econ?

Lots of questions, I know. Thanks!

 
  1. Duke is a target (I think)
  2. 4.0 (I assume its uncurved) is good for both schools but 1400 is a bit lower than Duke's average (1490) for last year. But if you live in NC or SC you will have an easier time getting into Duke (they give preference to those students). You'll be competitive at both schools and with good EC's and essays you can get into both. P.S. Duke has no undergrad business program so you'd have to major in econ.

    http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/duke-university

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/emory

So what do you do? -I work for an investment banking firm. Oh okay; you are like my brother, he works for Edward Jones. -No, a college degree is required in my profession

Reality hits you hard, bro...
 
  1. Are these schools target or semi-target? -Duke = Target -Emory = Semi Target

  2. Anyone here a Duke/Emory student/alum? -Duke Alumnus

4.How hard is it to get into Duke/Emory if you have a 4.0 GPA from high school and a 1400ish SAT? -Get a higher SAT, some extracurriculars, and write some good essays -When I got into Duke, everyone at Duke (broadly speaking) had a ridiculously high GPA from HS, took a bunch of APs, hada high SAT (there were 3 perfect SAT score kids in my freshman dorm), and plenty of out of school activities etc. -I'm currently a direct promote associate, therefore things have only gotten harder since I got into Duke.

  1. Would there be any other Ivy-level schools I could get into with those scores? -Its always possible that you could get in, not probably, but possible.

  2. Would you major in business or econ? -Duke doesn't have a business Ugrad degree, just Econ.

Finally, learn how to number.

--There are stupid questions, so think first.
 

4.0 and 1400? You should be well positioned for ANY top school including Harvard or Princeton. I would say you have a good shot at Columbia or NYU Stern.. Personally, I would minor in business. If IBanking is what u want, then go to school in NYC. You will really know if thats what u want if u live here.

 
smoke a blunt:
4.0 and 1400? You should be well positioned for ANY top school including Harvard or Princeton. I would say you have a good shot at Columbia or NYU Stern.. Personally, I would minor in business. If IBanking is what u want, then go to school in NYC. You will really know if thats what u want if u live here.

This might've been the case 10 years ago, but not anymore, especially not for next year, which is slated to be the most competitive year ever. You're gonna need to accept the fact that you're probably not gonna get into harvard and princeton with a 1400, and even duke is not guaranteed. The average SAT score at Emory is around 1400, so you have a great shot there. The admissions game is so much more than #'s though- extracurriculars, essays, minority status, athletic ability, and many more components factor in. Good luck

Also, yes Duke is a target. Emory is not as much of a target as Duke is.

 

1400 SAT really is not fantastic for the "target" schools. unless u got 700/700 exactly, im guessing u slipped up and got 650-690 in one of the two (most likely Verbal). This doesnt look great, since most kids going to these schools have low to mid 700s in both. i thought i was hot shit getting 1470 on my SATs and cruised my way into Northwestern (easier to get into than Duke), only to find that was an average test score among my peers (not including School of Communications kids), and many people i knew had 1500+.

some people might say SAT/ACT scores are not that important after u get into college, but it truly is something that stays with you forever. even your gpa/class rank fade away (unless your valedictorian) since every high school has varying difficulty, but your SAT score is something that will come up in conversation among family members and close friends for the rest of your life, and it stays on your resume when youre applying for jobs.

i took the ACT and SAT three times each before i got an acceptable score, maybe you should too. its nothing you cant master with a lot of practice tests, the questions are pretty repetitive, especially math.

 

errr...this IS 1400/1600 rite? If so, it's an okay score, slightly subpar I'd say but nothing crippling. If this is on the 2400 scale, then you're screwed.

What race and income level are you? If you're an Asian male, then my advice is good luck, the odds are against you, unless you're from an unusually well-regarded high school.

 

I went to Duke, and I was an Asian male from a non-exceptional high school. The factors that will make you and break you are the extracurriculars and essay. Keep in mind that Duke also gives HUGE preference to early decision kids.

 

I'm also an Asian male from an unexceptional high school who got admitted into Duke and a few other Ivies.

Metalasian is correct that what makes or breaks you are your extracurrics and essay. Relative to other Asian males tho, I would say your SAT is at a disadvantage.

Ignore average figures also. As an Asian, the expectations for you are much higher when the adcoms are deciding on you.

Apply everywhere to quality schools. The application fee is small relative to the worth of having options. I think getting into good colleges is fundamentally similar to doing recruiting. No matter how good you are, there is still a fundamental element of luck(whether good or bad) in how you do.

 

Schools:

Every single Ivy(maybe excepting Brown since I think a good public like UMich or UVA is better for recruiting than they are)+ MIT, Stanford, Caltech, etc.

Every single school where recruiting occurs:

UMich, UVA, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, Williams, Amherst, Stern, Duke, etc.

It would help a lot in your budget if you apply early to a school that does rolling like UMich so that if you get accepted, you'll have a "guarantee" on a place to go as well as knowing what your options are before deciding to or not to apply to another school(Ex: I was from Michigan so I applied to UMich, found out early that I was in, and so didn't bother applying to the UC's or UVA, etc.)

 

I am not Asian, I am Caucasian. Not sure where the whole Asian thing came from...

The 1400 is on a 1600 scale, so probably relative to a 2000-2200 on a 2400 scale.

NYC is somewhere I've always wanted to live. I think it would be great, so the lifestyle at NYU wouldn't be a problem I don't think.

 
jbz:
I am not Asian, I am Caucasian. Not sure where the whole Asian thing came from...

The 1400 is on a 1600 scale, so probably relative to a 2000-2200 on a 2400 scale.

NYC is somewhere I've always wanted to live. I think it would be great, so the lifestyle at NYU wouldn't be a problem I don't think.

The Asian thing probably came up because there are numerous Asian bankers on this board and on wall street. They incorrectly just assumed you were Asian as well.

As for your questions: Duke is a target. Emory, not so much. Emory is still a decent school.

FYI, I do not attend Duke, but was accepted there. (I'm not much older than you so the scores haven't changed by much.) Comparatively, your GPA is not a really major factor for the decision makers; so many people get 4.0s in high school that grade point averages are, for the most part, meaningless. What will set you apart are your extracurriculars and SATs. A 1400 is honestly not very high for Duke. It'll get you far in other places and you'll have a shot at Duke, but don't expect many Duke students to have a 1400 SAT. In regards to extracurricular, make sure that you have quality over quantity. If there's nothing special about your out-of-school activities, than this will likely be a meaningless point for the admissions staff. Getting leadership positions in random school activities, in my opinion, is not a big deal at all. If you clearly show entrepreneurship and a dedicated passion to an activity that is within the context of your planned major, than you'll probably get in without the perfect scores.

I think you have a chance at going to Duke, but it's really impossible to tell with only your GPA and SAT.

 

next year is always the most competitive year... and i'm sure you'll hear some stupid statisic about how you made it into the elite 1% of people who got into your school.

that crap doesn't matter. start figuring out your story and what you want to do. "i've always wanted to be in nyc" isn't going to get you a final round interview.

 

Man, just apply to every ivy and every other top school,nyu stern, stanford,,, You are well positioned as I said earlier. Decide when u have an offer or offers. Do apply to schools that u think u cant get into as well cuz u never know. I had a 1260 and a high shool average of 95 and I got into Columbia, Stern, u of chicago and wait listed at stanford which eventually didnt happen, I did attend columbia and it was good enuf. This is over a decade though so things may have changed. NON-MINORITY btw

 
smoke a blunt:
Man, just apply to every ivy and every other top school,nyu stern, stanford,,, You are well positioned as I said earlier. Decide when u have an offer or offers. Do apply to schools that u think u cant get into as well cuz u never know. I had a 1260 and a high shool average of 95 and I got into Columbia, Stern, u of chicago and wait listed at stanford which eventually didnt happen, I did attend columbia and it was good enuf. This is over a decade though so things may have changed. NON-MINORITY btw

recruited athlete?

 

10 years ago and today's college process are like comparing living conditions in USA and a 3rd world country. Every year getting into college gets harder and harder, and a 1260 in today's age will probably land you a low-tier or instate state school.

But a 1400/1600 still gives you a shot but assuming that you're entering your senior year, I'd study all summer for the SAT's again to take in the fall. 1400 is a little below average in the top schools like Duke, so definitely get that higher and make nice w/ your teachers and put effort into the essay. other than that, there's nothing else you can do at this point. gl

 

A buddy of mine had a 35/36 on his ACT. 4.0 GPA. Numerous extracurriculars (captain of two sports teams) and was a very very well rounded candidate.

He STILL didn't get into Duke. Being white gives you a huge disadvantage, especially at Duke.

As mentioned before, look at schools like Michigan (that's where he ended up going instead) and Virginia as well. I certainly would not rely on being admitted to Duke (I don't know much about Emory).

 

Not worth the x-fere. schools network is nearly as alive as a guy in a coma... barely breathing. But seriously doesn't give you much to work with outside of the few pump and dump BB IB programs that target and SunTrust. Outside of that good luck- better make some friends in industry cause they are more likely to help than the alums.

In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash
 

my high school didn't actually calculate a GPA, but in my experience it's pretty meaningless, because school quality varies so much. A B+ average at a top nyc private school is much harder to achieve than a 4.0 at some public schools. And the SAT scores reflect that.

My advice is to apply to a bunch of schools. I applied to 12....duke, stanford, mit, all the ivies (except cornell), northwestern.... do they still have the common app?

 

Do you have the choice of taking Applied Economics? If so take that...coursework is less theoretical and more practical. Econ will help you somewhat....its better than coming from something completely irrelevant..and the more you know the better.

Keep it together and you will go far..
 

I'm speaking generally here, but the only undergrad schools where you can "safely" major in absolutely anything you want are HYPS.

Does that mean you won't get a BB job coming from Duke as an English major? Absolutely not, but it'll certainly be more of an uphill battle for you than it'll be for the art history major from Harvard.

 

[quote=tctc33]Well, that chick from Duke felt the need to complain that too many of her classmates were headed to Wall Street, so it can't be too much of a non-target.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/how-elite-colleges-still-feed-wa…]

I love how this lady writes out a tirade on Wall Street and how disillusioned college students are, and then chooses to become a Management Consultant. As if the interview process, pedigree, desired skills (networking, ability to think on your feet), salary, and exit opportunities aren't exactly the same...

 

Duke is definitely a target (in terms of the firms that go for OCR and the number of kids they send each year).

Honestly, the Econ coursework sucks until you get into the finance electives (which are pretty fun), but that's only like 4 classes.

If you want to go with the unrelated major, that's fine. Just make sure your extra-curriculars show your interest in finance still. Most important thing is to keep that GPA high.

 
dukekid12:
Thanks all. What about doing the new finance minor, and pairing that with a more liberal arts focused major?

You should be fine with that. Make sure you participate in the numerous finance competitions that are run each semester..

 

I was a summer at a bb this year and we had one or two from each of those schools, but personally I'd got duke or UVA. Any of them are great though. Congrats on getting in.

 
Bateman196:

How much better is recruiting at Duke than UVA?

UVA is actually approached by a larger variety of firms. Proximity to New York and a formal finance education means that UVA might be more appealing to boutiques.

I'd personally take Duke though. Its placement into bulges is top notch and there is also strong consulting opportunities from MBB to back that up.

 

Bateman196, I go to UNC, so I'll try to shed some light on the recruiting here. All the major firms (not the smaller boutiques like Blackstone, Greenhill etc) come here, but it's definitely not on the same level as Duke. That being said, getting a 3.8+ at UNC would put you in position to get a BB job. If money is an issue, I would go to UNC.

 

Yeah I've pretty much ruled UNC out. I'm looking at Duke econ and UVA. I just can't decide whether the slight recruiting advantage at Duke is worth sacrificing the much better social atmosphere at UVA

 

UVA students actually get worked pretty hard from classes, or so ive heard. Also if you have ever used the case study method its freaking terrible. Its all BS and half the class discussions/comments dont really add anything to the topic at hand. I couldn't imagine spending two years only looking at case studies. I could just be making up rumors though so I'd double check what i wrote.

 

yeah, semi-target. also, wait and see if GS and MS are still recruiting from emory during a downturn before you judge - for all you know, they might pull their recruiting from certain schools when they dont need as many analysts.

_______________________________________ http://www.drmarkklein.blogspot.com/
 

I highly doubt they will pull recruiting this is usually because a BB will recruit at a good school but not a fantastic one because there is some sort of connection. For example, a MS MD use to teach at Emory MBA program. He pushes for it being picked up on the recruit list and since it is a respected school the company agrees. Therefore, other BB firms follow this trend or also have a connectiona nd they recruit there as well.

The morale of the story: Recruiting takes the time of we underlings and it is only 2-3 days to keep a school like Emory on the list even if they will not take anyone. However, since they might of had success with past analysts they will not cut it out of the route.

Scout's Honor

 

I don't know if one can quantify "how much" of a target a particular school is. That said, Duke has to be one of the top 10 most heavily targeted schools for recruiting.

 

and yes I know McKinsey isnt an investment bank

So what do you do? -I work for an investment banking firm. Oh okay; you are like my brother, he works for Edward Jones. -No, a college degree is required in my profession

Reality hits you hard, bro...
 

We have 3ish guys here from Emory. Generally well regarded but, in my opinion, much more powerful in the southeast than it is nationally.

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

I think of it as a solid semi-target. Does much better in it's region than nationally, but still decently regarded nationally. Pretty much the same way I think of schools like Notre Dame, Texas, WUSTL, Vandy, etc.

 

Emory gets some respect, but as pointed out above, it's just much stronger regionally...like Vandy or TCU or Rice, etc. I know a guy from Emory that got a SA position in NYC from a well known IB and he subsequently earned a FT offer. I think the program is ranked higher from a learning standpoint and not from the point of having easy access to Wall Street. The people I know that went there thought the programs they were in were very challenging and these are very, very smart guys...so I respect their opinion.

Overall, good school, but I think their placement just isn't as strong as others that were listed but OCR seems to still be decent and if you're a solid candidate, that should be all that you need.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

it is certainly better than cornell, at the very least. vs columbia, who knows. vs harvard, yale, obviously not.

lots of duke people on the street, and a surprising number of older/more experienced ones. bill gross, john mack, a few others that escape my mind.

pity their basketball team always seems to choke though.

 
Jimbo:
it is certainly better than cornell, at the very least.

Duke is better than Cornell? I don't go to either school, but I know that Cornell has excellent math/science/engineering (which means a lot of smart quant guys), decent undergrad business program, and a good selection of finance courses. So I'm just curious, why is Duke better?

 

There were several Duke kids at my superday. Extremely bright kids and surprisingly humble. Very sociable, especially in regards to athletics. Overall, just great people to be around.

The Ivy League means little. Stanford, MIT, Duke, CalTech, and many other schools can easily make a case to outrank some of the Ivy League schools. It is just a term made to please the kids in the lesser Ivies, such as Cornell and Brown. You rarely hear of Harvard kids playing the Ivy League card. They go to Harvard: 'nough said. The same applies to the other top schools in the league, such as Yale and Penn.

 

Penn? c'mon now.

As far as top nonivies...I'd put stanford, caltech and mit higher than duke. but I think all 4 are better than say cornell, or brown. or dartmouth and columbia two.

and of course kids can have reasons for going to a school that isn't as good as the "best" they got into...financial, personal, fit, whatever...

 

Duke University does extremely well on Wall Street and has quite the alumni network..and term Ivy League should be broken down.

You HYP...Columbia..UPenn..Dartmouth and Brown -- all excellent schools but some definitely are stronger than the others

You have the best non-Ivies (in no particular order),Stanford, CalTech, MIT, Duke, who definitely can be argued to be better than some of these schools outside of HYP.

 

haha Duke better than Cornell? I don't think so. "decent undergrad business program"? More like #4 undergrad business program in the country, #1 in financial management/finance, #1 marketing, #1 microeconomics. Duke doesn't even have an undergrad business program, I can't see how its better than Cornell on the street or even in general.

They both have amazing recruiting which is all that matters anyway.

 
TheKing:
Pros: Hot chicks
Are you serious? Have you ever been to Duke?
- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

no, whats relevant is people comparing two amazing schools because they do go to either or they go to one or the other. they're both great, but I just can't see how a person can say an Ivy League school with a rock solid business program is worse on wall street than an great school down south with no business program.

 

freeks its pretty pointless for this thread for you to sit and argue that cornell is better than duke BC you clearly go there.

honestly if you got to a target and have a good enough gpa and know your shit you can get jobs be it duke cornell columbia etc.

my opinion, duke is a target at every bank, has more hot girls than the ivies, top basketball program, and is in the south. i would much rather go to duke then cornell. with that being said id also rather be at UVA or michigan then cornell.

to the op, if you are deciding bt duke and columbia (dk if you are) decide more where you would rather be in terms of location and what the schools hve to offer. columbia is certainly a better school with more prestige imo but you can definitely get to a top bank from duke as well

coach K looks like a ferret

 

A good amount of Duke alums on wall street, but the reason that there isn't more is because more duke grads go into consulting/law/business than finance. It's definitely a target and it would in no way hurt you to say you went to duke when you walk into an interview on wall street.

 

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