Undergrad: UChicago vs Duke vs Yale vs Columbia

Hi everyone! First post on WSO. I was admitted to the above schools and want to pursue a real estate career. What would be the best choice and the order that you'd choose? I am looking for an intellectually motivated student body, and I know that these are all good choices, but it is impossible to make a decision right now. Thoughts?

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Best Response

I would put them in this order:

1.) Columbia - tons of real estate internships in NYC, great city for finance 2.) UChicago - very intellectual university, Chicago real estate market 3.) Yale - tons of finance opportunities available, location is not so great 4.) Duke - good business programs, sport teams, social atmosphere may be better

The above is just my opinion. I am by no means an expert on these schools. It would be great to hear some more opinions.

I would also check out this website called Niche to compare the schools. The site has some interesting categories that you can compare that most other sites don't include.

 

Everything equal I'd say Yale/Columbia, UChicago, then Duke in that order. Yale has more brand power, Columbia has the location.

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there" - Will Rogers
 

If you go to Columbia and really take advantage the opportunities in NYC available to you, you will be golden. I would pick Columbia.

 

Columbia if you're 100% certain about real estate, Yale for any other reason. Honestly, you should just take Yale...undergrad specializations don't really mean much (unless they come from Wharton, Stanford, or MIT/Caltech, obviously). Plenty of time to specialize when you get older-the brand equity from Yale would give you the most flexibility while serving as an excellent springboard into anything you wanted to do.

 

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