Full ride at Dartmouth vs paying full at Stanford as an international — For finance,worth the debt
Would really appreciate some perspective here, especially from those in IB/PE or with international backgrounds.
Background:
- International student (East Asia), low-income family
- Admitted to Dartmouth (full financial aid, essentially full ride)
- Admitted to Stanford (no financial aid, full pay)
- Also admitted to UPenn and Columbia (full pay)
Career goals:
- Finance (IB/PE) or possibly law
- Potentially working in the US first, but likely returning to home country long-term
Key dilemma:
Dartmouth is financially the clear choice — no debt, no family burden.
However, Stanford has significantly stronger brand recognition in my home country (arguably on a completely different level vs Dartmouth).
In my local market, Stanford undergrad is viewed as top-tier elite, while Dartmouth is relatively unknown.
I may have access to family-supported borrowing (through my aunt), but it would still mean taking on substantial financial pressure.
Main questions:
- From a finance recruiting standpoint, how big is the gap between Dartmouth and Stanford?
- Does Stanford meaningfully outperform Dartmouth in placement into top IB/PE roles, or are they closer than people assume?
- For someone likely returning to Asia, does Stanford’s brand materially change long-term trajectory?
- Is it ever rational to take on debt for Stanford over a full ride Ivy like Dartmouth?
If there's any chance you work in the USA or Europe for a while, no fucking way you can argue against Dartmouth. The slight impact on "prestige" from Stanford to Dartmouth is nothing, especially at that price.
If you're going back to Asia right after undergrad, I'd still consider Dartmouth. I recognize that the only schools that matter in Asia are HYP+Stanford but your compensation will be 50% of what you make in the USA. $400K of debt on like $80K salary...brutal.
Dartmouth to Stanford is only a small prestige jump for niche areas of finance. The rest of the world considers them leagues apart
"Niche" like IB, PE, HF, VC, AM? Are you retarded
1000% go to Stanford
Sorry, actually answering your questions:
1. From a finance recruiting standpoint, how big is the gap between Dartmouth and Stanford? Negligible. Candidly, for NYC/BOS finance, I'd argue Dartmouth outperforms on both a per capita and absolute basis.
Negligible difference in outcomes as other commentators have said, but I’d argue that Dartmouth being on the East Coast and being more traditional finance focused, vs Stanford where tech and startups dominate, will mean that you’d be in a better place with more accessibility to relevant resources that will help you get a top job. Also proximity to East Coast
Furthermore, assuming you end up with BB IB in NYC after undergrad, your ROIC on a free Dartmouth degree would be literally infinity times higher than that of a full pay Stanford degree
Plz just go to Dartmouth ad enjoy your 4 years bankrolled by someone else especially if your family is low income….. thank me later n
Smaller Dartmouth network in Asia but hyper close knit and they back each other. Lot of the top PE folks in HK and SIN. Take Dartmouth and don’t look back.
If you need the money, hard to argue for Stanford but see my comments on other thread on Stanford vs. UVA lol. Since you’re international I assume money isn’t a big factor. I’d think about if you want to work in the Bay Area of NY. Dartmouth has the edge for NY. If you are going back to Asia then Stanford is more baller. Great job and congratulations.
he's low income so 100% dartmouth in his case
"Stanford has significantly stronger brand recognition in my home country (arguably on a completely different level vs Dartmouth)"
Who cares about what the layperson thinks? The people who matter will know about dartmouth. And the people who dont matter dont matter
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