Yale vs UChicago vs Brown vs Duke

If money isn't a concern then yale or brown. Great reputations and grade inflation

yale

Yale or Brown. Heard Brown is a great school socially with a shit ton of grade inflation. Also have heard from people that there frankly aren't many people gunning for IB, so you tend to stand out a lot with very faithful alumni. Brown actually may be a better pick, but I'd still do Yale every time personally.

dm me

Brown student, can confirm it's a great school socially and grade inflation is rampant here. Considering linkedin returns hundreds of alumni at GS/MS/JPM it's a damn good school for IB, esp since only a few go for it each year. We also send a bunch of people to MBB and a handful to PE. I didn't apply to Chicago because I enjoy living (and their overly-theoretical education sounds like it would get old fast) and I chose it over Duke because of the academic freedom and no +/- grades here. But I gotta admit that Yale has the stronger brand name, so it'd be really difficult to choose Brown over that.

Another Brown student checking in- I would probably take Yale, but Brown is very underrated for IB.

• We have rampant grade inflation, so easy enough to have a 4.0 or at least a very strong GPA if you work hard.

• Not much IB recruiting competition, so its easy enough to get prominent roles on campus in things like the investment group and to stand out as an applicant.

• Considering the number of kids recruiting for IB, placement is ridiculously good. Harvard/Yale/etc might send more in absolute numbers, but I actually think Brown, per student interested, might place better. Only a handful of kids every year go for top banking jobs and I've never heard of a kid recruiting and not landing something. Multiple students in the past 2 years have gone to GS, MS, Barclays, PWP, Centerview, Moelis, Evercore, etc. Also place well at next-tier places like Jefferies, Blair, Harris Williams, etc.

• Consulting recruiting here is as good as anywhere. Tons of kids go MBB, they recruit a lot on campus. Bain especially (we are on of their top schools).

Yale is probably better in the end, but don't count out Brown as its probably a much fun experience and you can easily land a top job.

Dukie here. Congrats on the offers!

All fantastic schools, though Yale has the strongest brand name of the three.

I think it comes to your preference and feel/fit about these three schools. The three of them will you give a top notch education and great (IB) recruiting. There are many, many alumni from all 3 schools on the street.

However, those three schools are VERY different in terms of student life, sports, location among others. For my part, I loved Durham, Carolina weather, basketball, the campus etc. I visited New Haven multiple times and hated it, while I thought Providence was okay. Personal preference, and obviously many people prefer the Northeast and don't care about basketball.

Tldr; outcomes similar, choose according to your fit to the school and environment

Edit: ruled out UChicago

Yale.

My guy you can't turn down Yale here

Yale or Brown, depending on your interests. Yale has a stronger brand name, but Brown has grade inflation + pass/fail + less competitive culture.

I chose between Duke and Brown and ended up choosing Brown when I made my decision a few years ago, and really loved the experience (ended up at an EB). Will say though that Brown is a much stronger school for consulting compared to banking, as it is a top target for pretty much all the top consulting firms.

If I was in your shoes I would probably choose Yale based on prestige, but you can't go wrong. Would not go to UChicago, talking with my co-workers and apparently recruiting has ramped down a bit there and a ton more kids are interested in banking + rampant grade deflation, so the road becomes a lot harder.