Choosing Duke/Vanderbilt over Harvard and Wharton

Hey guys,

I'm trying to decide between Harvard, Duke, Wharton and Vanderbilt. I know that Harvard and Wharton are bigger targets and have more prestige than Duke or Vandy but socially they don't even compare.

Everybody I met at Wharton were huge tools who kept talking about their aspirations to become investment bankers 24/7 and everyone I met at Harvard were huge nerds who couldn't talk about anything normal like girls or sports.

Duke and Vandy, on the other hand, were incredibly fun and I probably had the two best weekends of my life there. The weather was gorgeous in both Nashville and Durham and there were hot girls in sundresses everywhere I went. Everyone was hanging out, drinking, playing frisbee and throwing footballs around on both campuses the weekends I went while at Harvard and Wharton, everyone was always either in their dorms or the libraries.

I have no idea what to do. My chances to get into IBD are probably much better coming from Harvard or Wharton but I think I'll have a miserable four years there. I know that if I go to Duke/Vandy, I'll be able to watch SEC Football/ACC Basketball, attend tailgate, go to sweet mixers/date functions and hang out with hot southern girls if I go Greek, etc.
At Harvard/Wharton, my weekends will probably consist of playing video games and chess or something.

I think I'm leaning towards Duke at this point because one of my dad's friends told me that it's almost as good as Wharton for IBD recruitment and I can have the "full college experience".

What do you guys think?

 

If you look hard enough you'll find people like yourself at Harvard, there always are.

If you are insistent on passing up an unbelievable opportunity though, choose Duke.

-------------------------------------------------------- "I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcom
 

I'm no expert and I haven't even secured a full time offer anywhere, but I can tell you about my university experience so far.

I attend the University of Florida. I have had an awesome experience in college. You can party any night of the week if you want to. There are beautiful girls everywhere in sundresses all year round. Our sports teams are always bringing back national championships. Harvard might beat us in crew or fencing, but that's about it.

The downside is education. I don't think for a second that I've had as complete an education as my Ivy League counterparts. But I have had the chance to take pretty solid accounting, economics, and finance coursework. I stay current with the markets and do my own reading to learn whatever else I find interesting or relevant. You can learn whatever you need to know on your own.

We don't get OCR from any of the big names except Wells Fargo, which means it is difficult to make Wall Street. I think you would have the same problem at Vandy. That means it is up to you to make connections and work yourself in the door. Duke would make things a bit easier.

I will be interning at a BB this summer for S&T in NYC. My fellow interns are mostly from NYU, Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, etc. They've paid five times what I have for a college education and I am just as advanced as most when it comes to finance knowledge. I've had the best three years of my life at UF and still ended up in the same program as the Harvard kids. They don't sound half as enthusiastic about their college experience.

I wouldn't trade my college experience for anything. I got exactly the internship I wanted so being at a target wouldn't have changed a thing. I'm proud of my school and I meet a ton of kids at better schools academically wishing they could trade places.

I think Vandy would be an unwise choice. They aren't in the same league as even Duke. If you think you can excel at Duke and get into banking without being a real target school, then do it. Your first impressions of Harvard and Penn were not inaccurate. You'll look back at your college experience as the best four years of your life instead of a business decision.

 

WTF is this bullshit? We're talking about Harvard vs Duke, not Harvard vs some shitty state school that everyone who can do addition gets into. This is akin to comparing apples to rotten malformed bananas that never get bought at the supermarket. We're glad that you can suck dick good enough to network your way to an offer, but at the end of the day you're just going to be that retard who somehow snuck in from U of F.

kmesmer:
I'm no expert and I haven't even secured a full time offer anywhere, but I can tell you about my university experience so far.

I attend the University of Florida. I have had an awesome experience in college. You can party any night of the week if you want to. There are beautiful girls everywhere in sundresses all year round. Our sports teams are always bringing back national championships. Harvard might beat us in crew or fencing, but that's about it.

The downside is education. I don't think for a second that I've had as complete an education as my Ivy League counterparts. But I have had the chance to take pretty solid accounting, economics, and finance coursework. I stay current with the markets and do my own reading to learn whatever else I find interesting or relevant. You can learn whatever you need to know on your own.

We don't get OCR from any of the big names except Wells Fargo, which means it is difficult to make Wall Street. I think you would have the same problem at Vandy. That means it is up to you to make connections and work yourself in the door. Duke would make things a bit easier.

I will be interning at a BB this summer for S&T in NYC. My fellow interns are mostly from NYU, Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, etc. They've paid five times what I have for a college education and I am just as advanced as most when it comes to finance knowledge. I've had the best three years of my life at UF and still ended up in the same program as the Harvard kids. They don't sound half as enthusiastic about their college experience.

I wouldn't trade my college experience for anything. I got exactly the internship I wanted so being at a target wouldn't have changed a thing. I'm proud of my school and I meet a ton of kids at better schools academically wishing they could trade places.

I think Vandy would be an unwise choice. They aren't in the same league as even Duke. If you think you can excel at Duke and get into banking without being a real target school, then do it. Your first impressions of Harvard and Penn were not inaccurate. You'll look back at your college experience as the best four years of your life instead of a business decision.

 
Best Response

Go to Duke. Your right about the social setting and Duke has this NYC study abroad program for business students that lets them take classes spring semester in NYC and they network with all the Duke alumni on Wall Street. They go to all the BB and shadow alumni/have networking events/interviews. I met a bunch on Duke guys during my interviews and they were all on it. Most people go Spring junior year, for obvious reasons, but you might be able to go sophomore year.

Visit Wharton one more time and see if you like it b/c there are definitely fun/cool kids there, maybe you just met the wrong people/went on the wrong day...lol. If you still don't like Wharton, Duke is your best bet.

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
 

It's college, you're going to have fun practically anywhere short of Bob Jones University. The proportion of people that you'd want to hang out with are probably going to be higher at Vandy or Duke, but it's not like you're going to be lonely at Harvard or Wharton because everyone else is a huge tool. That said, you're still in high school. Banking may be what you want to do now but you probably shouldn't pick a school based on the number of banks that recruit there.

 

Thanks a lot and keep the comments coming!!!

I know that Harvard and Penn are bigger names and might open more doors, but I think that if I'm good enough to get admitted to these schools, then I can open these doors by myself with the proper mindset.

College is supposed to be the best 4 years of my life. If I go to Harvard, I'm worried that 4 years from now I'll be sitting in some cubicle at GS working on a pitchbook at 3 am on some stressful night wondering what it would have been like to have gone to a fun school and enjoyed my undergrad years.

My dad went to UF as well actually and is a proud Gator alum who raves about his college experience even now. He went to Harvard Law and is a partner at a good law firm so his success is probably compare to any HYP grad out there. The difference is he hung out with hot chicks, saw his football team win the BCS and spent his weekends hanging out in the sunshine with this friends than cooped up in his room.

My parents might force me to Harvard but we'll see how convincing I can be that a Duke/Vandy degree won't hold me back...

iphoned, Are you sure that Duke isn't represented at MS? I could be wrong but isn't the CEO a Duke grad? I actually heard somewhere that Duke places as well as Harvard at Morgan Stanley and even better at BAML.

 

I can tell you from experience that 4 years at the top schools is not fun. Even Trump said that he was happy to get into wharton and was happy to get out.

I can also tell you that going to harvard or wharton will carry benefits for your entire career. Even if you go to vandy and manage to hit the jackpot (yes, there is quite a bit of luck involved) and get into a solid BB, your school will be looked at every time you move onto a new job. This isn't as much the case in s&t, but definitely is in PE, HF, and IBD.

So you have to make a choice on what is most important to you - a career in finance or having a much more enjoyable college experience.

 

perhaps i weren't being clear, i'm sure duke places some at the top like MS or GS but probably nowhere close to your chances at harvard or wharton. for this reason i wouldn't pass up harvard or wharton. why give up an extra 20% to make it to a top BB?

i'm not saying that lower bb's aren't good either but given a choice why not go to harvard? imagine all the network su could make there? who knows u might go to KKR from ugrad and start at the top of the top.

 

Duke and Vanderbilt are not in the same league when it comes to recruiting.

Choose Duke if you want a good balance of social life as well as recruiting opportunities. Goldman, Morgan, JPM etc all recruit and take a lot of people from Duke. Unlike what a previous poster said, MS alone extends more offers than WF and Citi combined. If your resume will be competitive at Harvard/Wharton to get into IBD/S&T, your resume will be competitive at Duke.

Vanderbilt is not a target and will not afford the same level of recruiting.

If you want the best recruiting without caring about your social life, go to Harvard.

 

As a southerner who went to an ivy undergrad, this topic is very interesting. Here are my thoughts.

  1. there's no doubt that duke and especially vandy have hotter chicks and a more active social scene. the southern schools in general are more "fun." If social life is your most important criteria, go to one of those two schools.

  2. However, if you want to maximize your chances of landing a finance job at an elite firm, going to Vandy would be detrimental. Not too many top firms recruit at Vandy, so aside from having a nearly perfect resume (top grades in econ or hard science, lot of extracurriculars), you would need to network your ass off. I'm not saying it's not possible, but it will be tough to do, especially if you want to have an active social life as well.

  3. At Harvard and Wharton, all the top firms recruit on campus, which makes the job search process so much easier. Sure, you still need decent grades, but the GPA cutoff isn't as high as a lower ranked school. Make sure you are well prepared for the interviews, and you should be able to land a BB job. There's a reason why so many Harvard and Wharton alums are at the elite BB, hedge funds, and PE firms.

  4. Harvard and Wharton may be dorkier than Duke and Vandy, but you can always find a good group of cool friends who like going out. Harvard is in boston, a fucking great city for students. The city is full of college students, nice restaurants, tons of bars. The weather sucks, but you'll learn to adjust.

I personally would choose Harvard in a heartbeat because the prestige, networking, being around exceptional classmates, and the opportunities, would be so tough to turn down. Yeah, the girls at vandy are hotter, but that should not be the primary factor when choosing a college.

 

It's simple: Harvard and Wharton are more prestigious and will be targeted by every bulge bracket investment bank + boutique.

However, I'd argue that if you could make it into BB IBD from Harvard/Wharton, there's a 95% + chance that you will have what it takes to make it in from Dartmouth, Duke, Cornell, Columbia, etc. ONCE YOU ARE AT A TARGET SCHOOL, YOU WILL GET RECRUITED. Every single BB actively recruits from these schools, and you will have no problem networking with alumni.

At the end of the day, what matters is you. Regardless of where you go, you'll still have to 1) keep a high GPA 2) network and 3) be involved in extracurriculars.

 

i think college is more of what you make of it. Going to harvard doesn't mean it's gonna be miserable, similarly, going to a party school doesn't mean u're gonna enjoy ur 4yrs. I would suggest going to Harvard, simply because u have an unparalleled education and lots of opportunities after graduation... i'm sure u'll meet friends and each experience will be unique.

 

Isn't Harvard undergrad supposed to be kind of overrated though? i get the feeling that at Harvard, if you want to party like at Duke/Vanderbilt, then you need to be well-connected and go to one of those rich prep schools and be part of the "in" crowd that summered in the Hamptons before college. On the contrary, even some of the lamest frats or living groups at Vandy for instance seemed exponentially cooler than any student group I met at Harvard.

This is such a tough decision because I know that a Harvard degree is unparalleled. On the other hand, I'm rather sick of the high school experience with everyone focusing on grade-grubbing and loading their resumes with meaningless extracurricular opportunities that they are not truly passionate about. I was active in so many clubs while in high school and I really would like a change of pace.

In college, some things I would like include studying abroad, going out 2/3 nights a week, doing a cool service project abroad or something, joining a fraternity, cheering on sports teams, etc. I feel like Duke is basically screaming my name.

Does anyone have a list of the kids in various banks who were SAs and what undergrad(s) they went to? I would like to see firm evidence that Harvard/Wharton "utterly dominate" Duke since I'm tired of relying on anecdotes.

 
brobible:
Isn't Harvard undergrad supposed to be kind of overrated though? i get the feeling that at Harvard, if you want to party like at Duke/Vanderbilt, then you need to be well-connected and go to one of those rich prep schools and be part of the "in" crowd that summered in the Hamptons before college. On the contrary, even some of the lamest frats or living groups at Vandy for instance seemed exponentially cooler than any student group I met at Harvard.

This is such a tough decision because I know that a Harvard degree is unparalleled. On the other hand, I'm rather sick of the high school experience with everyone focusing on grade-grubbing and loading their resumes with meaningless extracurricular opportunities that they are not truly passionate about. I was active in so many clubs while in high school and I really would like a change of pace.

In college, some things I would like include studying abroad, going out 2/3 nights a week, doing a cool service project abroad or something, joining a fraternity, cheering on sports teams, etc. I feel like Duke is basically screaming my name.

Does anyone have a list of the kids in various banks who were SAs and what undergrad(s) they went to? I would like to see firm evidence that Harvard/Wharton "utterly dominate" Duke since I'm tired of relying on anecdotes.

nothing will prevent you from going out at Harvard. yes, their football team sucks, and there are no frats, so it's gonna be different from southern schools. but you could still have fun by finding the right people and doing study abroad and other cool opportunities that are in abundance at Harvard.

i think it ultimately comes down to cost-benefit analysis. no one knows for sure where you'll end up in four years or further down the road. so the way i see it, if i want to go into a good finance firm after graduation, i want the "easiest" path that will maximize my chances of getting in. and those options are harvard and wharton. you could still do duke or vandy and end up at one of those firms, but it will be tougher, especially with vandy. Just ask yourself if the social life at duke or vandy is enough to offset the educational and networking advantages of harvard and wharton.

 

Think of the social life at Harvard/Wharton as recruiting for Duke/Vandy - it will be there, but you just have to work harder to find it. I don't believe out of all the types of people at H/W, you can't find a group you enjoy hanging out with. It's easier at Duke/Vandy because of the sports, frat, etc, just as banking recruiting is easier at H/W due to the amount of firms that comes on campus, better brand name, program, etc. But just like you can network your way into a great job at Duke/Vandy, you can find a cool group of friends at H/W.

Since it's possible to have both at all these places, the question becomes: would you rather have a "built-in" system, and thus an easier entry, to a great social life or great career prospects (and work a bit harder to get the other)? Personally I would choose career.

 

You all are vastly underrating recruiting at Duke. Can't really speak for Vandy, but I know that at my BB hired a ton of duke students for SA/FT. I don't think Duke places as well in some of the "lower" BB's, but the good thing is that the top BB's take a ton (GS,MS, JPM).

 

If you connect well and study hard at Duke, you'll be fine.

But:

1) Harvard / Wharton will definitely give you more opps if you're just insanely driven and extremely ambitious 2) While it's not part of their "official" (wtf that means) cultures, Harvard / Wharton still have enough decent people to make friends and party with. Don't get too much into the "college is the best 4 years of your life" mentality. That's what people have said about high school, and that one has proven to be bullshit. It is truly a sad happenstance if your "best" years are the 4 years before you turn 22. That being said, your first 2 years as an analyst in IBD will suck.

 

Just go to Harvard. I sure as hell bet if you had to pony up the 150K or more it costs to go to these schools you would pick the one that would benefit you in the long term the most. Get the best education possible and take spring break trips to Jamaica and get laid then.

The women at Harvard and Boston in general are not that bad that I would decide to not go there. I mean are you listening to yourself? You are going to pass up arguably the best university in the United States and probably the world for the CHANCE that you will get laid. If I was your parents I would send you to community college until you matured and learned how to make intelligent choices.

Why is this even a forum question?

WSO, what should I have for lunch?? Lobster or a moldy twinky? I cannot decide. Please think for me.

 
AnthonyD1982:
Just go to Harvard. I sure as hell bet if you had to pony up the 150K or more it costs to go to these schools you would pick the one that would benefit you in the long term the most. Get the best education possible and take spring break trips to Jamaica and get laid then.

The women at Harvard and Boston in general are not that bad that I would decide to not go there. I mean are you listening to yourself? You are going to pass up arguably the best university in the United States and probably the world for the CHANCE that you will get laid. If I was your parents I would send you to community college until you matured and learned how to make intelligent choices.

Why is this even a forum question?

WSO, what should I have for lunch?? Lobster or a moldy twinky? I cannot decide. Please think for me.

Lol. Great point. Personally, unless the OP got a big merit scholarship at Duke or Vandy like the AB scholarship at Duke (very prestigious, people who get it usually turn down harvard), i don't see why he would want to turn down harvard. All the schools cost the same, and harvard's financial aid program is extremely generous.

But more to the point, the OP visited those schools and got a perfunctory impression of the social scene. Yeah, the girls at vandy are hotter than harvard, and maybe the kids are "cooler" and more laid-back, but to turn down the #1 school in America based on those factors is really immature.

 

i spent a year at duke and then transferred to an ivy (not penn). pm me if you want to hear my perspectives (probably too detailed to post here). the bottom line is this:

  • go with duke if that's how you feel. you only go to college once, and for some people, it's the best four years of their lives. if end up having a miserable time at harvard or penn, even if you come away with a job that you like, you will always look back and wonder if you could've had the college experience you wanted (and still walked away with the same kind of entry level job). on the other hand, if you go to duke, the worst that'll happen is you feel like you could've gotten a better job right out of college, but then you still have the rest of your life to "catch up". if you regret not going to harvard/penn, you can always try go there again for MBA.

  • however, you're mistaken if you think duke girls are attractive (vandy, yes; duke, absolutely not). i think of myself as barely better than average looking, but when i was at duke, i was definitely in the top 15%.

  • a lot of my friends at duke who graduated my year made it to BBs, in a very difficult recruiting season. if there is an advantage between duke and harvard/penn in terms of sending people into banking, it can't be THAT big.

 

Alright, I've crossed Vandy off my list because its recruiting apparently sucks and Penn off my list because if I were to go there, I would go to Harvard anyway.

So, it's down to Duke and Harvard. I enjoyed my Duke visit 100 times more than my Harvard visit. I came down on the weekend Duke won their Final Four game and later the National Championship. The atmosphere was absolutely electric and the celebration on campus was something truly special. As far as frats/girls, there was live music everywhere Friday/Saturday and everyone was outside having a good time(playing football, philosophy, drinking and even laying out on the grass and reading a book). I agree that Duke girls are not as attractive as Vandy girls but they are exponentially more attractive than the Harvard girls I saw. I also went to a Kid Cudi/N.E.R.D concert on campus and that was awesome as well. I was literally shocked that a Top 10 school could have such a vibrant social life and have such a down to earth student body.

On the other hand, Harvard was an absolute nightmare as far as the social front. No one looks up at you while you're walking by, every upperclassmen I met was awkward/couldn't hold a conversation and the most exciting think my Harvard host could take me to was a Latin dance festival where some all-male troupe performed.

So, I guess this is what it comes down to: Is recruiting at Harvard really 10x better than Duke? Do they place 10 times as many kids at the top banks(GS,MS,JPM) as Harvard?

Also kalice, why did you transfer from Duke?

 

It looks like you clearly favored Duke so choose Duke. You will not, contrary to whatever WSO will tell you, have 10x better recruiting at Harvard. There is so much recruitment going on here that you really are not missing out on much unless heading directly into Bain PE is what you goal is (at Duke if you want to head directly into PE you go to Audax which takes around 2-3 kids per annum). Every BB recruits and recruits heavily. As an example: of the 4 kids applying to finance internships from my fraternity, 3 got IBD/S&T and interviews at pretty much every bank you can name off the top of your head and 1 got elite consulting (which is what the person's goal was). Numerous others I am friends with also landed positions. I can count on 1 hand the number of people I know who actually tried to land a front-office role but ended up not getting one. Everyone of us have had a great social life and pursued good work experience/extra curricular with GPAs ranging from alright to really good.

You are trading in a 10% better recruiting experience from an (at least) 50-60% better campus/social experience. Seems like a winning proposition to me.

Shoot me a PM if you need more info about recruiting, campus, whatever.

 

These projections and assumptions all depend on you being able to pull ass. The pure fact that an online message board is helping you make what otherwise should be a family and friends influenced decision tells me you aren't enough Alpha dog to pull ass at a brothel.

 
AnthonyD1982:
These projections and assumptions all depend on you being able to pull ass. The pure fact that an online message board is helping you make what otherwise should be a family and friends influenced decision tells me you aren't enough Alpha dog to pull ass at a brothel.

LOL. This about sums it up. Don't be a fool, take the Wharton offer if you are absolutely sure finance is your path...otherwise choose Harvard.

 

Go where you will be happier. Your posts clearly indicate it will be Duke. So many people on this board are brand whores. Either the HYP types that think they are better or other kids that probably have inferiority concepts for not being one. I have a lot of friends that turned down HYP or other ivies to go to Cal or UCLA. None of them regretted it for a minute. They all had a great well rounded college experience and landed jobs they wanted. If you are smart and personable you will excel regardless of the name on your diploma. Save being a brand whore for bschool. Let's not forget we are talking about Duke, which is still ranked really high.

 

Just wanted to say something. I am not trying to be an epic dick to the OP. I think Duke is an awesome school and you will be very happy and successful if you go there. The thing is, you have the opportunity to go to one of the best universities ever and you are basically making your decision on getting laid. In 20 years when you tell someone you could of went to Harvard, but did not because you wanted to sleep with chicks (which you might not, you don't automatically get laid going to a "fun" school) the person will laugh at you.

Your thought process is completely and utterly wrong. I try and be diplomatic, but you are just flat wrong.

I am going to give you some solid advice, directed at your penis since that is what you are thinking with. You go to Harvard and you can go to any of the more "fun" campuses around Boston as well as the bars and get laid simply by mentioning that you go to Harvard. Your not going to get laid telling people you went to Duke.

 
AnthonyD1982:
I am going to give you some solid advice, directed at your penis since that is what you are thinking with. You go to Harvard and you can go to any of the more "fun" campuses around Boston as well as the bars and get laid simply by mentioning that you go to Harvard. Your not going to get laid telling people you went to Duke.
Agreed. I would also imagine that Harvard girls are easier to get with because, as you say, they're socially awkward. That means you can basically badger them to have sex with you...
 

The point is not about BB recruiting, plenty of schools give your pretty high/relatively similar chances. The point is about 15 years down the line when you're in line for something big in your life, you want to have EVERYTHING working in your favor. Harvard/Wharton will open up more doors, it's just that simple.

Don't be so shortsighted, go with Wharton/Harvard.

 

"get laid simply by mentioning that you go to Harvard."

"go to harvard and study hard, then get even hotter ass after telling chicks you're a harvard grad"

These are some of the most amazing quotes I have seen on this board. Good god this board has some serious douche bags. Have you guys ever gotten laid, no less spoken to a girl. Or do you beat it to your practice lbo models in your dorm imaging how one day you will be able to name drop harvard and your girl problems will magically come to an end. So sad, so sad.

 
ke18sb:
"get laid simply by mentioning that you go to Harvard."

"go to harvard and study hard, then get even hotter ass after telling chicks you're a harvard grad"

These are some of the most amazing quotes I have seen on this board. Good god this board has some serious douche bags. Have you guys ever gotten laid, no less spoken to a girl. Or do you beat it to your practice lbo models in your dorm imaging how one day you will be able to name drop harvard and your girl problems will magically come to an end. So sad, so sad.

ke18sb, you do realize you're a spelling-challenged "senior orangutan" (i.e. you've spent a considerable amount of hours posting on a banking website) and yet you're positing the question "have you guys ever gotten laid, no less spoken to a girl?"

Tell us, ke18sb, dear sage -- how does one with your infinite knowledge and wisdom go about getting laid in the quantity (and presumably quality) that an alpha male banker like ke18sb does?

 

I really hope the OP is a troll. Very few people who get into both harvard and duke have this dilemma unless they win the AB scholarship. And I doubt the OP is one of them. Even thinking about choosing Vandy over Harvard is so laughable I don't even know where to begin.

But assuming the OP is telling the truth, he's being incredibly immature. Yes, he's just a high school senior, and having fun and banging hot chicks is definitely at the top of his mind. But basing such an important decision on one weekend visit to duke during the Final Four and being mesmerized by people playing on the lawn is foolish. "OMG! People at Duke are so cool; they like, uh, play frisbee and laugh and make out on the lawn! But people at Harvard had these menacing eyes and looked so mean and scary!" I mean, come on kid, give me a fucking break. Grow up, go to Harvard, do well, meet some cool people who are also smart and network with the future leaders of America.

 

honestly...if you are a smart guy who works hard im pretty sure a BB IBD/S&T job is going to be there for you at either school. That being said if you are SUPER ambitious I'd go to harvard...the thing is there are jobs better than BB IBD/S&T. Those are pretty much impossible to get unless you go to a TOP TOP school... jobs like GS SSG (i know of someone doing an SA there from Harvard) Wharton places kids into Silverlake...and theres also BX PE. To get those shots you need to be at the top of Harvard or Wharton if you think you can do that than go to harvard or wharton

side note about life in boston: weather really isnt that great but its a college town and you don't only have to hang out with harvard kids...there is ALOT of stuff to do... And yeah, if you really want to get girls the "fuck truck" still exists (shuttle from cambridge to wellesley)

 

Well here's a relevant topic. I went to Vandy, had the time of my life, and I do not regret it one bit. Had the option to go to Michigan out of state which would have facilitated the IBD entry much better, especially with the Ross option available.

I spent two years in MM IB before surfacing to the somewhat legit IB realm in Charlotte; the two primary issues I faced coming out of Vandy were:

A) No undergrad finance / business program; best you can do to up your attractiveness is either an Econ major with an Fin. Econ minor or go engineering. I know some kids every year come out of Amherst or wherever with a straight up liberal arts background and land some premier street jobs, but it is not easy.

B) Terrible on campus recruiting; you need to have a very strong network to expect to land a BB IBD job coming out of Vandy

I already did pretty well on the GMAT and am hoping to pull off an acceptance at a Kellogg / Booth type program to help me get where I'd like to go in a shorter timeframe. Going to Harvard / Wharton would have significantly changed my career path for the better

Long and short of it: you're crazy to pass up Harvard in my opinion. So many options available to you and a weekend visit does not provide much of a glimpse into actual student life. As long as you're not socially incompetent, most people can have a pretty great time anywhere. Even at MIT you can go fuck around in Boston.

 

I am sorry, but have a hard time believing that Duke/Vandy are that great socially. They are still the nerd central of the South. You are basically talking about #1 and #10 of Top 10 undergrads in US. Kids who got waitlisted in Harvard are most likely going to Duke, and I can't see them being that less of a tool or competitive.

Its nowhere close to Alabama or Ole Miss, etc. academic or social life wise.

 

Ok first of all, you're coming to a board centering around investment banking to ask people where they think you should go to college. You've already shown that getting an IB job isn't the end all be all like it is for most of the people posting in this topic, so why the hell would you give any serious consideration for what's being said here?

It all comes down to what you consider is important. If you want a more well rounded college experience, with a diversity of people, you're probably gonna want to go to Duke or Vandy. If you're in college to have a name to put on your resume and network with people in the social register, go to Harvard. Seriously though go where you think you'll have the best time. How can you know you want to be an investment banker 4 years from now? Even so, how can you know GS/MS will be the best place for you? How can you know you won't get to those places from Duke? It's stupid to base the next 4 years of your life, which COULD be the best depending on how well you maximize your college experience, on which school is more likely to get you to Goldman or Morgan Stanley.

 

Harvard is a better school. It is not hard to have fun there. Having spent a considerable amount of time in Cambridge I am positive that you can get the full college experience. That being said, if you don't like it and want to transfer from Harvard, you will get into Duke. The reverse is not necessarily true.

 

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