Where is your work hard/play hard kid thriving?

[Anonymous]

Texas Tech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt - perfect blend of SEC social life and T20 academics, with ridiculous MBB placement. It’s the top choice for DD and many of her friends from DCUM area privates - checks all the boxes an 18 year old kid could want.

Vanderbilt MBB placement is crap this year and, to a lesser extent, last year. I wouldn’t use that as an enticement going forward. The few (<10) lucky ones were Indian males who have been gunning for this life since high school and came into Vandy with a hyperactive plan to dominate consulting club (and therefore interviews) and box out anyone else not in their tight, exclusionary circle. I bring up the demographics because it does not appear that OP’s daughter is a male Indian and so is unlikely to reap the disappearing rewards due to gatekeeping

Plus, the industry is steeply contracting, particularly M

All of DS’s friends at Vandy had to abruptly pivot from their MBB dreams junior year in 2023 and 2024. Most got nepotism jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like U Penn!

+1. for the smart and social.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Holy Cross, Vandy, and Davidson.

You have kids at all of these schools?

[Anonymous]

I know someone who came out of Holy Cross a raging alcoholic. So there’s that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who came out of Holy Cross a raging alcoholic. So there’s that.

Please be more specific. I think that is half the school. Catholic school bros who end up in tier three Wall Street sales and trading jobs so they can wear their vests and act important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like U Penn!

+1
Penn fits though play “hard” is in context of peer schools: it’s more fun/social than peer schools, it’s not raging drunk fests for the entire day most Saturdays, or anything like that one might find at big football schools

Certainly fits the definition more than Harvard and Yale. I can't believe anyone is shilling for these schools as "play hard." Nooooo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is very academically oriented, with top stats, recs, and nat’l awards, and also very outgoing with active social life. She’s trying to get a sense of whether any of HYPMS might be a good fit these days (recognizing all are reaches).

For HYPMS, oddly it's only MIT that has a healthy social vibe these days.

Other than that;

Vanderbilt
Duke
Dartmouth
Notre Dame
Rice - not a party school, but very friendly
Brown
McGill
UCLA

My daughter attended MIT CPW when she was admitted. She attended a sorority party which was really sad and a frat party that was VERY well-attended by women from neighboring colleges. We had already read about how the male students there do not really respect the women. That and what she saw definitely played into why she turned it down. Chose Harvard — no party scene but no complaints as she made many good friends. Same with another girl from our town who chose Harvard over MIT. It’s all a matter of where you find your tribe! No point attending MIT if the men want to socialize with non-MIT women!

Interesti NY, I had not heard that about MIT. Re the others, a lot of them already on the list. DD’s school caps the number of applications so she’s basically trying to decide whether she should include HYPMS at all. Her own crowdsourcing not turning up a lot of positive reviews on the social side. FWIW she crossed off Dartmouth and Cornell bc too far north.
- OP

Not pushing either school, but unless "too far north" means she doesn't like rural, you might want to push her to reconsider on ruling out Dartmouth and Cornell for that reason, esp if the play hard part means she would like a vibrant Greek life. Ithaca isn't really any farther north than Boston, and if you are from DC area, it's significantly closer in terms of driving (and has loads of busses to this area on school breaks). Hanover is for sure less convenient to get to than Boston if you are using public transportation (whether flying or via train), but drive time isn't that much different. And while there might be differences in terms of weather, someone trying to avoid serious cold or snow probably should reconsider Boston.

[Anonymous]

Vandy baby!!

[Anonymous]

It's Vanderbilt period.

Top 20 school that is super social and great place for motivated, career-oriented extroverts!

[Anonymous]

Where does Vandy place well for jobs? They seem non existent in tech, and a non target for MBB or finance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where does Vandy place well for jobs? They seem non existent in tech, and a non target for MBB or finance.

BCG and Bain do target Vandy. The founder of Bain is a Vanderbilt grad. Biotech, engineering and medicine are also big. Law. Business that isn’t necessarily finance - especially music and entertainment (LA) industry

[Anonymous]

Vandy isn’t ranked high in engineering though, it’s at ASU level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The coolest kids are getting hired at FAANGs or invidia or AI shops right out of high school. Sorry, you won’t find anyone smart or energetic at college these days. It’s only for losers.

The 2010's called and they want their tech leaders back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is very academically oriented, with top stats, recs, and nat’l awards, and also very outgoing with active social life. She’s trying to get a sense of whether any of HYPMS might be a good fit these days (recognizing all are reaches).

You have an ivy caliber kid, but hitting up an anonymous forum for school ideas?

Yes, I am actually the first person in the history of DCUM to do this.