Help me decide: Duke vs. Dartmouth

I am a high school senior who has been accepted to both of the colleges above. My goal is to work in IB/ PE after I graduate. I wanted to know which of these colleges would put me in the best position to accomplish my goals. Please offer any comments regarding the placement, on-campus recruiting presence, and alumni relations for these schools. Best, golf123!

20 Comments
 

very hard to distinguish in terms of IB recruiting - depends on your personality at this point. if the south/sports/ another major is important to you then duke seems to be the way to go but if you’re fratty/have northern connections go to Dartmouth.

 

Thanks for your response. I will definitely think through the fit of the two schools. Appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post. Stay healthy and safe

 
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From my experience thus far in IB, one factor to consider would be your preference of city to work in. If you prefer NYC, Dartmouth is probably the the best option with a greater concentration of alumni in that area. On the other hand, if you want to do IB in a southern city such as Charlotte/Atlanta/Houston, Duke might be a better option. However, all else equal, both schools will give you a great shot at placing in top-tier IB groups.

 

I would like to counter this idea. Duke and Dartmouth are not regionally constrained at all, Duke has as many if not more students/connections/alumni in the Northeast as in the South. If NYC is the goal, school location for these two should not weigh into the decision at all.

If you had a particular preference for Charlotte or Boston banking, then sure.

You can't go wrong in terms of placement here. Cross admits show a 2/3rds preference for Duke, but it really should come down to personal fit.

 

I’m not saying this isn’t true, but Duke girls overall are not known for being easy on the eyes, especially compared to other schools in that region

 

Respectively disagree with this. There’s nothing special about Dartmouth alumni compared to Duke Alumni both will go to bat for each other and both have terrific networks. I can’t imagine anyone would go “oh! he went to an Ivy so I’ll give him preference over the kid who went to Duke!” during recruiting...

It really comes down to fit. Go where you’re the most comfortable, think you’ll fit in the best, and know the most people. Cost too but I’m guessing they’re about equal in price.

 

Another vote for Dartmouth here. People not at Ivies always insist that the Ivy brand is worthless, but I can’t say I agree. All else equal, I’m going to vouch for an Ivy student over a non-Ivy student for a last spot (exceptions being Stanford and MIT). Just a personal inherent bias that I’m sure some others share.

 

If you're dead set on finance, Dartmouth is good and I'd say Duke performs similarly (perhaps even better due to self-selection). If you decide to do anything else at all, Duke is way better to be honest. Ivy Brand ain't shit anymore compared to the brand of each individual school. I'm not gonna lump some guy from Dartmouth as the same as someone from Princeton (no flame). I know plenty of kids that would choose Duke over schools like Dartmouth and Cornell. I'd say go to Duke. In my eyes, it's more prestigious and its student body is more competent (from my personal experience). - MIT student

 

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