I had a chance to visit both schools last week. I liked UNC a bit more, and the students there seemed more down to earth. North Carolina seems like a nice place to get away from NYC for 2 years.
Besides the fact that Duke is slightly highly rated, has a bigger class size, and is more prestigious, is there a huge difference between the schools when it comes to recruitment for NYC companies?
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Duke wins hands down if you want to do banking. If you want to bone cute girls than UNC is the better choice.
Duke
thanks for the replies. I noticed UNC has some REAL cuties walking around the campus. Duke.. not as many.
Goal is to work in a well funded Startup, VC, Banking, or MC.
I was in the same boat myself a few weeks ago buddy- will be looking for a place in i-banking (hopefully in NY) and decided to go with Duke- over UNC and Cornell.
I have been in touch w/ students from Duke and UNC who are pursuing careers in finance- and Dukies are way more confident w/ their program/school/recruiting- stats tell you that as well- although Fuqua's Wall Street recruiting has lost some power since 2008 (which program's has not?) it's picking up great this year- so I've been told...
also- as a side note; regardless of the stats, students etc. as someone within WSO has recently commented: "prestige at levels, matters". go Duke!
did you receive acceptance to all 3 programs? If so congrats! I'd have a pretty hard time choosing between Duke and Cornell though, esp for NYC finance
Agreed. I was up at Cornell last weekend (I'm going there in fall) and I met at least 3 people who were still undecided between Cornell and Duke. They were all going to Duke's welcome weekend today/tomorrow and didn't know what they were going to do. Tough call, but a great problem to have.
thanks- I did have a hard time indeed. financing was one issue for me (I'm an international) and Duke offered better terms in general (loan options etc.)- honestly, I don't think there is any difference at all between Fuqua and Johnson in terms of NY Finance recruiting. Cornell seems to be in NY but IMHO, Duke is more NY than Cornell!
Duke
Aren't these schools next to each other? Study at Duke, party at UNC... solves your cute girl dilemma.
Go with Duke...better MBA program and better basketball team
I feel like I can speak pretty well to UNC's program. As far as banking goes, there's a pretty good set-up in the way of preparation, with a TTS class led by the TTS founder and tons of big-time IBD speakers brought in every week.
Kenan-Flagler has a better set-up facility-wise than Fuqua does in my opinion. In terms of student body, you'll see more diversity in the MBA class at Fuqua. The MBAs are in the same building as the undergrad business school at UNC as well, so if you're looking for cute girls, as others have said, UNC is a fantastic bet with combined undergrads and MBAs who beat the pants off of Duke in that category.
If you're looking to do start-ups, UNC has great entrepreneurship programs and great faculty in that arena (Jim Johnson for one). The alumni at UNC are incredibly helpful when it comes to banking recruiting, but you may have to do more legwork on your own to get a job than if you were at Fuqua. Good luck with your decision!
I have made a very through comparison of those two programs- did detailed analysis of both of those school's i-banking recruitment since 2007, talked w/ at least 5-6 students (internationals and US), talked w/ alumni in my country (from various industries) etc. etc. The result is UNC and its grads seem to be a little bit -how can I put this,"insecure" about wall street recruiting (esp. for internationals) when compared w/ Duke guys. they seemed to be way more confident than UNC guys.
UNC even offered me some money. And I picked Duke over UNC. TTS and all those stuff are indeed very important but it comes down to name, prestige and who recruits for "what position" at your campus. there are many companies (both boutique and BB) that recruits at Duke but do not at UNC. (read Goldman, they only hire for PWM at UNC) Duke's detailed recruiting reports are enough evidence of their confidence in recruiting- go check them.
bottomline: duke is (almost) officially a top 10 program- where as UNC is still struggling to keep its place in top20s.
The cockiness on Duke's part and insecurity on UNC's may have a bit to do with characteristic personalities of both schools just as much as it does recruiting!
However, widerangeinput definitely has a point. UNC does well with Goldman on the undergrad level, but the undergrad bschool is considered better than the MBA. That being said, if you're gunning for any of the other BBs, there are plenty of MBAs heading to most of the those every year.
So if your main consideration is going to banking, go to Fuqua. Just really depends on what you're looking for out of your experience. I would probably pick Fuqua, but know that if you feel like UNC is the better place for you, then you definitely will still have a great experience and have good post-grad options.
McDonough (Georgetown) vs. Fuqua (Duke) (Originally Posted: 02/06/2011)
Got into both schools for their MBA program, but here is the caveat: I want to work on Wall street and I received a $30K scholarship from Georgetown for each year.
Would you pick Duke even though you have $60K line up for you at G-town?
I would look at career services inof on job placement and also look to see who comes to campus to recruit. If the opportunities look similar then I would take the money. If you see significantly higher placement and more banks coming to Fuqua then I would suck up the extra money.
I hate to say this....but pick Duke. Granted there is a better life to live in DC, but great placement from Dook.
Besides, how can you turn down attending home games and cheering for Coach K, right MJ? ;)
Georgetown hasn't been the same since Hibbert and Green left, and even though Duke will lose a lot of talent after this year they'll still be a good team while you're there. I'd pick Duke.
lol are we talking bball or MBA
I faced a similar choice and took the better school. The money is a wash in the end and, while you still might get the job you want via Georgetown, if you dont you will always wonder "what if". That was my line of thinking anyway.
Could you (and others) expand on this? How is the money a wash? Are starting salaries just so high afterwards, or do employers offer to help make student loan payments, or give you big signing bonuses, or high summer internship salaries, or anything like that? I gotta be honest, I kinda want to do an MBA at some point, but the debt scares the sh*t outta me.
From a placement perspective, Duke has better placement on WS than Georgetown, however I don't think the better placement is large enough to to completely overcome the 60K advantage. There are 4 Georgetown alums on my trading floor, I think the same (maybe 5) Duke guys. I know of other Georgetown guys on other trading floors.
Placement aside, I also think that Duke has a better campus and social scene. At the end of the day, you need to decide if the placement and cultural fit of Duke is worth 30K a year. I would say you are almost guaranteed a FO placement from either school. You should really be analyzing which school you will have more in common with and which school you will have more fun at. After you graduate from the MBA there will be no more year long vacations and the only left will be the rest of your life......think about it,
johnnie welker, would you mind sharing your stats?
Guys at the undergraduate level this debate holds... But Duke's MBA program is much higher ranked and a top 10 program.
@Gekko I'd bet most of those guys were Georgetown undergrads not MBAs. Would you say this is so?
I was about to say Georgetown places well undergrad but the MBA not so much, duke is much better
yeah here are my stats: 690 GMAT (42V, 42Q) 2 years of experience in audit, Big 4. Great Extra curriculum activities (I must think it was a good thing getting in).
Friend of my family went to Gtown with your EXACT same stats/work experience and now he works at the SEC. Gtown in very heavily recruited by, and maybe even geared towards, Mid level managerial roles in the federal government for obvious reasons.
With cheaper cost of living, you might make a decent % of that $30K back.
Yes, all of the people I know did Georgetown undergrad. I don't know anyone who got an MBA from Georgetown.
If you keep in mind that you will work for probably more than 30 years after doing your MBA I would say 60k are not worth taking the "worse" school in terms of placement. Therefor go for Duke.
By Wall Street, you mean S&T or IBD? I know a handful of GT MBA guys in IB. Frankly, I think the $60k counts for something, depending on your financial position.
bull excrement...spending like a drunken sailor.
Haha, I knew the BS part, just wasn't sure what you meant. I gotcha now. Yeah, it's amazing how much many high income earners live beyond their means. I know someone making $100K - $200K a year (depending on the year), who lives paycheck to paycheck and is in a decent amount of debt (granted, he has a family, but that's still pretty good money, especially for someone who never went to college). Likewise, I got a young friend who's been making $40K - $70K (depending on the year) in his early/mid 20s, as a high school dropout. The guy doesn't have a wife/kids and he still seems like he's finding it hard to stay above water, in fact, he moved back in with his parents recently.
Sadly that is the vast majority of this country...idiocy doesn't discriminate.
Duke vs. UNC($$) for Investment Banking (Originally Posted: 03/20/2011)
Dear All,
I am an international applicant from asia with 5 years (as of fall 2011) of experience in investment man. and looking forward to a post MBA position within IB.
I'm particularly interested in making a move into IB but would love to get a place within an BB's PWM or other IM business as well.
I was lucky enough to get into Fuqua MBA (no $) and Kenan-Flagler MBA (with around %50 scholarship) and trying to make a decision between those two. (also WLed at Cornell...)
What would you say about my chances of getting a position within those industries from those schools? I know, both of them are basically general man. programs but Duke seems to stronger in consulting and marketing whereas UNC seems to have an edge in IM...
I know that job finding will eventually come down to networking and interviewing skilss and technical knowledge, but just wanted to hear what you guys think?
Thanks-
Congrats on the acceptances. I really can't say which school offers better opps but I'm interested to hear what others say. I do know that both schools place well on Wall Street. It would be tough for me to turn down the money from UNC.
Chances of getting into the industry from both schools are good. I know many people from both schools that landed great jobs in the industry. I would give Dook a slight leg up when it comes to NYC placement and brand recognition for IB. However, 50% money at UNC is hard to pass up, I didn't. If your focus is 100% scholastically oriented go to Dook. However, if you want to have a good school/life balance UNC wins hands down.
Take that with a grain of salt...
Hey,
Did you go to Kenan-Flagler for an MBA? I have read that they place 10% of their grads into banking. But I was wondering how competitive is is among the students vying for those spots?
Thanks. I'm trying to decide between programs.
UNC might have a well regarded b-school, but i would still take Duke. Duke is an overall elite school.
OP what did u get on the GMAT if you don't mind me asking
Thanks for the replies guys- I got a humble 680. 48Q 34V
duke
You're right about Duke being consulting-heavy, but they are still very strong in Finance. The Alumni network alone is very powerful - they do go above and beyond to help out fellow alum.
UNC is also great for finance, tough choice, but I'd take Duke (but I have a biased opinion).
I'm pretty familiar with UNC KF, less so with Duke. For IB Duke seems to have a better brand name recognition than UNC, and they did send more of their 2012 class to IB both in total numbers and percentage. However, BB do recruit at both schools as do several mid market boutiques.UNC's biggest advantage seems to be less competition. It's class size is smaller (about 300 versus about 400 at Duke) and from my conversations there seem to be fewer people looking to do investment banking. There's approximately 30 class of 2013 guys from UNC going into I banking summer internships. These internships are at MS, BAML, UBS, Barclays in NY, BAML, Wells Fargo, Edgeview Partners, Jefferies, and McColl Partners in Charlotte as well as Harris Williams and a couple I'm forgetting. Several of the class of 2013 at UNC as well as a couple alums have flatly stated that anyone who seriously pursued I banking (not just showed up to a company presentation or two) got an internship offer, and all 30 seemed to know each other and each other's recruitment process. Point being both seem to be good schools plenty capable of putting a student on wall street. As an example, UNC has a guy interning at an un-named Bulge Bracket who's only prior experience to UNC was as a teacher. If Duke's offering you no money and UNC's offering you half, then I think the question is: Is Duke 50k better than UNC? I will also say this: 1st year associates with the exception of maybe a few small boutiques make the same regardless of school (OR LOCATION, read: Charlotte) . I only mention that because I did not know that at first. But ultimately the decision is yours. Both schools are good schools and you should also consider where you just feel the most comfortable and well prepared. Best of luck to you. (Caveat: most of my knowledge is from talking to mostly UNC alums in IB and current students so do not take this as a complete and unbiased review)
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