Economics at Duke

[Anonymous]

Duke and UVA Econ are similarly ranked. See US News

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say if you can afford it go for Duke! The degree will pay for itself and open doors and opportunities

How would an undergraduate Econ degree from Duke pay for itself?

Harvard or Stanford and some of the other Ivies I'd understand, given the kid is willing to work 60-80 hours per week in finance or consulting firm for a few years. Such a job is no way a guarantee from Duke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top tier state school with full ride (i.e. UVA/UMD) hands down unless you are rich enough/get tons of financial aid.

UVA Mcintire would be comparable to Duke Econ.
However UVA Mcintre is not guranteed unless you got a guranteed admission.

The equivalent to Duke's Econ degree would be the UVA Econ degree via liberal arts.....

No. Duke doesn't have dedicated undergrad business program. Econ bascially serves that purpose.
Similar for Vanderbilt, Brown, etc. (these schools offer Econ with business flavor)

Top finance and consulting firms recruit from frist from Duke Econ.
Top finance and consultin frims recruit frist form UVA Mcintire.

Duke Econ = UVA Mcintire >>> UVA Econ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke and UVA Econ are similarly ranked. See US News

See above

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say if you can afford it go for Duke! The degree will pay for itself and open doors and opportunities

How would an undergraduate Econ degree from Duke pay for itself?

Harvard or Stanford and some of the other Ivies I'd understand, given the kid is willing to work 60-80 hours per week in finance or consulting firm for a few years. Such a job is no way a guarantee from Duke.

Nothing is guranteed from nowhere.

Duke is also top destination for the top finance and consulting firms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMD full ride, Vandy, USC, UCLA, Berkeley, UNC are a few of the options

What's the financial aid situation with the remaining?

And why does your kid want to study Economics?

If it's to work at a Wall Street finance or consulting firm (think Goldman, McKinsey) right out of college, then Duke and perhaps Berkeley would give them a shot at that.

Getting such a gig from UMD is tough because those companies don't recruit at UMD.

If it's to follow-up with a graduate school in economics, Berkeley will have the most renowned professors and the best department, Duke will have smaller class sizes which may mean it's easier to obtain recommendation letters. UMD's economics department is about as good as Duke's, but with much larger class sizes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD full ride, Vandy, USC, UCLA, Berkeley, UNC are a few of the options

What's the financial aid situation with the remaining?

And why does your kid want to study Economics?

If it's to work at a Wall Street finance or consulting firm (think Goldman, McKinsey) right out of college, then Duke and perhaps Berkeley would give them a shot at that.

Getting such a gig from UMD is tough because those companies don't recruit at UMD.

If it's to follow-up with a graduate school in economics, Berkeley will have the most renowned professors and the best department, Duke will have smaller class sizes which may mean it's easier to obtain recommendation letters. UMD's economics department is about as good as Duke's, but with much larger class sizes.

For UCB, you need to get into Hass School of Business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD full ride, Vandy, USC, UCLA, Berkeley, UNC are a few of the options

What's the financial aid situation with the remaining?

And why does your kid want to study Economics?

If it's to work at a Wall Street finance or consulting firm (think Goldman, McKinsey) right out of college, then Duke and perhaps Berkeley would give them a shot at that.

Getting such a gig from UMD is tough because those companies don't recruit at UMD.

If it's to follow-up with a graduate school in economics, Berkeley will have the most renowned professors and the best department, Duke will have smaller class sizes which may mean it's easier to obtain recommendation letters. UMD's economics department is about as good as Duke's, but with much larger class sizes.

For UCB, you need to get into Hass School of Business.

You can get a liberal arts economics degree at Berkeley - do not need to be in business school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD full ride, Vandy, USC, UCLA, Berkeley, UNC are a few of the options

What's the financial aid situation with the remaining?

And why does your kid want to study Economics?

If it's to work at a Wall Street finance or consulting firm (think Goldman, McKinsey) right out of college, then Duke and perhaps Berkeley would give them a shot at that.

Getting such a gig from UMD is tough because those companies don't recruit at UMD.

If it's to follow-up with a graduate school in economics, Berkeley will have the most renowned professors and the best department, Duke will have smaller class sizes which may mean it's easier to obtain recommendation letters. UMD's economics department is about as good as Duke's, but with much larger class sizes.

For UCB, you need to get into Hass School of Business.

You can get a liberal arts economics degree at Berkeley - do not need to be in business school.

I didn't say you can't.
However UCB Haas >> UCB Econ same as UVA Mcintire >> UVA Econ

At Duke, Econ is it.

This might be easier;
UPENN Wharton >> UPENN Econ in Art and Science
However at Harvard, Econ is it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD full ride, Vandy, USC, UCLA, Berkeley, UNC are a few of the options

What's the financial aid situation with the remaining?

And why does your kid want to study Economics?

If it's to work at a Wall Street finance or consulting firm (think Goldman, McKinsey) right out of college, then Duke and perhaps Berkeley would give them a shot at that.

Getting such a gig from UMD is tough because those companies don't recruit at UMD.

If it's to follow-up with a graduate school in economics, Berkeley will have the most renowned professors and the best department, Duke will have smaller class sizes which may mean it's easier to obtain recommendation letters. UMD's economics department is about as good as Duke's, but with much larger class sizes.

For UCB, you need to get into Hass School of Business.

You can get a liberal arts economics degree at Berkeley - do not need to be in business school.

I didn't say you can't.
However UCB Haas >> UCB Econ same as UVA Mcintire >> UVA Econ

At Duke, Econ is it.

This might be easier;
UPENN Wharton >> UPENN Econ in Art and Science
However at Harvard, Econ is it.

UCB Economics department rivals MIT and Harvard's.

Being in Hass gives a leg up in terms of distinction for jobs, but it's not the same situation as UVA where McIntire is top 10 for undergraduate business while the Economics department is mediocre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say if you can afford it go for Duke! The degree will pay for itself and open doors and opportunities

How would an undergraduate Econ degree from Duke pay for itself?

Harvard or Stanford and some of the other Ivies I'd understand, given the kid is willing to work 60-80 hours per week in finance or consulting firm for a few years. Such a job is no way a guarantee from Duke.

Nothing is guranteed from nowhere.

Duke is also top destination for the top finance and consulting firms.

Nothing is guaranteed but its much more likely from Harvard and Stanford than Duke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say if you can afford it go for Duke! The degree will pay for itself and open doors and opportunities

How would an undergraduate Econ degree from Duke pay for itself?

Harvard or Stanford and some of the other Ivies I'd understand, given the kid is willing to work 60-80 hours per week in finance or consulting firm for a few years. Such a job is no way a guarantee from Duke.

Nothing is guranteed from nowhere.

Duke is also top destination for the top finance and consulting firms.

Nothing is guaranteed but its much more likely from Harvard and Stanford than Duke.

Yes Harvard kids get picked more, but what's your definition of 'much more'?
Top consulting and finance firms don't just go to top 3-5 schools only.
Duke is one of the top recruiting destinations for those firms - so called a target school a tier right below the highest tier with Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and UPENN Wharton (maybe Stanford).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD full ride, Vandy, USC, UCLA, Berkeley, UNC are a few of the options

What's the financial aid situation with the remaining?

And why does your kid want to study Economics?

If it's to work at a Wall Street finance or consulting firm (think Goldman, McKinsey) right out of college, then Duke and perhaps Berkeley would give them a shot at that.

Getting such a gig from UMD is tough because those companies don't recruit at UMD.

If it's to follow-up with a graduate school in economics, Berkeley will have the most renowned professors and the best department, Duke will have smaller class sizes which may mean it's easier to obtain recommendation letters. UMD's economics department is about as good as Duke's, but with much larger class sizes.

For UCB, you need to get into Hass School of Business.

You can get a liberal arts economics degree at Berkeley - do not need to be in business school.

I didn't say you can't.
However UCB Haas >> UCB Econ same as UVA Mcintire >> UVA Econ

At Duke, Econ is it.

This might be easier;
UPENN Wharton >> UPENN Econ in Art and Science
However at Harvard, Econ is it.

These inequalities depend on how one plans to use their Econ degree. As noted above, there are many paths beyond the undergraduate degree. It's absolutely not true that the business degree is better than the liberal arts degree for someone who applies to PhD programs in economics. For a PhD program candidate, the time spent in accounting, finance, marketing and on case study group work at a business school would be FAR better spend in liberal arts mathematics courses and a larger set of economics courses than is usually required by a business econ undergrad.

[Anonymous]

How is vandy Econ ? As compared to Duke Econ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is vandy Econ ? As compared to Duke Econ

I think Duke is stronger....but if you are making this choice, I'd have your child choose the school they like the best for culture, location (or whatever else is important to them).

Duke has a stronger faculty in their Econ department but is it enough to outweigh someone who likes Vandy better? I don't think so.