Dartmouth vs. Duke

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There’s not a substantial difference between them

If you were to get into both schools, you can probably consider their banking recruiting prospects as similar. You should focus on the strength of the alumni network (in an outside of WS), how you feel about the school from a fit perspective, and which school has a stronger program in whatever you are majoring in.

Duke has one of the strongest alumni networks on Wall Street. I think your assumption is slightly misinformed.

They’re each schools lots of people really hate in part because they have reputations for not having many students who don’t fit the stereotype. You see Dartmouth listed on a resume and start wondering if the person drinks himself stupid every weekend. Duke? Rich kids from New Jersey even if they’re from San Diego.

Dartmouth grad here.

Go to Dartmouth.

But in all seriousness if you're choosing your college based on your investment banking opportunities, you're doing it completely wrong. Either school will provide you with ample opportunities to achieve your career goals no doubt - but I can indeed attest to the strong and tight-knit Dartmouth alumni network.

Unless it was cost prohibitive, which is admittedly vague, I would never pass up on an Ivy League school. That's not to say that Duke isn't an amazing school. Hopefully you'll be blessed with the fortune of having to choose between two great schools.

Hey there!

I am a soon-to-be HS grad and a recently committed Dartmouth 22. I actually made the exact same decision just a few days ago haha. Both Duke and Dartmouth were in my final list of schools I was considering.

I ended up visiting all of my schools for admitted student overnights (Stay on campus with current freshmen and attend classes/clubs/open houses). I ultimately chose Dartmouth over Duke, which was tough, but I am pretty confident in my choice.

Just to give you a bit of insight:

• I'm very interested in going into tech/entrepreneurship as well as Finance. Both D's have great Finance backgrounds and emerging Entrepreneurial programs. Duke has a certificate program (like a minor) and Dartmouth has the DEN. The DEN while smaller, is an incredible network. After visiting, the associates told me about their experiences starting projects on campus and how easily they get referrals from alums in big tech firms.

• Duke might have more analysts going into SA programs at BB, but that's because they have a stupid number of Econ/PoliSci/Policy majors, the finance community there quickly becomes very competitive. Almost every other prefrosh at Duke's admitted students event was either a Econ/X double major or some sorta pre-med track. Per capita, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Dartmouth actually beat out Duke in terms of people getting into BBs (Don't have actual figures though).

• Additionally, Dartmouth D-Plan is actually amazing, since Sophomore summer students will stay on campus (Camp Dartmouth!), recruiters will start coming and hand out Winter Analyst positions since those students can then take off a term in the following school year. I'd imagine the inter-school competition for those positions is a lot easier.

• Greek life is huge at both schools, and I'd imagine it could help out in terms of networking; however, I got 2 very different vibes from the culture while staying over. Duke's Frats seemed extremely exclusive and pretty homogeneous. Dartmouth's frats were the opposite of that, very open to all students regardless of socioeconomic/racial/athletic affiliation. If you're into Greek life, I'd argue that Dartmouth's system is way better.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me, kinda new to posting to WSO. Also, full disclosure, I have yet to attend either school; I'm simply trying to share my perspective as someone who had to make the same super difficult choice recently. Good luck!