Duke Vs. Dartmouth for Undergrad

I certainly don't claim to be an expert on this topic, but it is my understanding that, from what I've heard, the recruiting is fairly similar at both schools (although I could be wrong). So if you are looking at which school would give you better options for getting into banking, I don't think you could go wrong choosing one over the other. I would pick based on the other elements the school has to offer, i.e. which you believe would provide for a better all-around experience. I've never visited Duke, but I definitely enjoyed my visit to Dartmouth. Big basketball fan? That could be the decider, lol.

The reason I never applied to Dartmouth was because of its location. Hanover makes Durham look big and is nowhere near anything. At Duke I do not venture into Durham often (other than OC parties), but the campus is nice and from what I gather we drink more here than most Ivies. lol Bad for your grades, good for your soul (I would know).

Also, both have really solid I-Banking presence, but Durham has better weather (although it could def be better), and better basketball. Neither school is a bad choice

They both are about equal. I know that Duke especially has a strong finance background and has a special semester program (kinda like a study abroad program) called Duke in New York. Where they live and take classes in NY while networking with alumni and visiting every major BB for IBD and S&T. That usually leads to a lot of interviews.

Duke has better girls than Dmouth (a function of it being in the South)

Duke.

That's a tough choice.. why don't you wait until you go up for those Admitted Students Weekend? You can not only gage the culture, mingle with the people, sit in on some classes, but also go to career services and talk to them directly. Duke's weather is certainly better, but Dartmouth = skiing 20 minutes away if you're into winter sports. Oh and of course the D-plan, which might give Dartmouth students a slight advantage in getting freshman/sophomore off-cycle internships. Anyway, whether you're a basketball-crazed Dukie or a bleeding green Ivy-baby, you'll do just fine. Congrats!!

Both are excellent schools, but Dartmouth is definitely better if you're looking to go into banking. Much more tight-knit alumni culture, ridiculous recruiting, Ivy network, Tuck > Fuqua, no shortage of drinking (esp. beer).

If you came from a prep school, you'll feel right at home. Duke, not so much--maybe due to its sheer size and/or location, you'll get a ton of public school kids.

Where I'm from, Dartmouth is considered significantly more prestigious in all accounts. We usually have about 5 end up at both each year. The kids I know who ended up at Duke had pretty sub-par academic performance and extremely average SATs. More of them tended to be slightly awkward socially as well. The kids who ended up at Dartmouth were well-liked, well-rounded kids with top GPAs.

And Dartmouth had one of the greatest senior pranks I've seen:

I know 4 bankers from Duke, have yet to come across a Tuck guy. May be due to different sizes of schools. Tuck is smaller but fiercer loyalties. Just a data point.

Have you ever been to Duke?

I have no idea how you can say it doesn't feel like a prep school. of COURSE you're going to have kids from public school, but it's not like Dartmouth takes their entire class from andover, exeter, and st. paul's.

Both schools very similar. I'd pick Duke based on a) sports b) weather c) better girls than dartmouth (lol if you think there are dimes in hanover)

Are you kidding me? Duke is a freaking prep school. Why do people talk out of their asses?

Anyway, both schools are incredible schools that send a ton of kids to Wall Street yearly. Visit both and get a feel for which you prefer.

And no Duke girls are not more attractive that Dartmouth ones. Both are equally unattractive as to be expected.

man, Duke and Dartmouth girls are taking a beating haha. What about Penn CAS compared to Dartmouth and Duke?

1) Dartmouth recruiting is better than Duke simply because Dartmouth is smaller and a tighter alum community 2) TONS of top bankers (Vice Chairmen) and up are from dartmoth (im not tlaking about tuck) and even bigger at tuck

3) Tuck guys are acutally super helpful to Dartmouth kids because the 2 schools are so close together and they all are loyal to teh dartmouth name, not the same for fuqua for duke undergrad kids

4) Duke is STILL good for recruiting 5) Duke has its prep school bit the sailors / lacross players etc but it also has its other cliques - its just huge

As for girls - if you want girls go to UVA, Nova, etc

U can't say u kno 5 duke guys and no dartmouth b/c for every 10 duke banker ou t there there's a smaller population of Dartmouth kids.

so high school kids who haven't even gotten a college acceptance letter are posting on WSO now? am i the only one who finds this strange? also, no offense at all to OP, but this really shouldn't be a factor in your "decision" process.