Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?

[Anonymous]

Penn appeals to a 1 dimensional kid sort of like a UChicago kid. Those students probably won’t thrive at Duke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^LOL!

Penn is a top 10 college with #1 undergraduate business, #1 MBA program, #5 law school, top 3 medical school, and so on.


Overall, the closest peer is Harvard among the ivies. You can laugh all you want. Penn is on a different level compared to Duke.

Agree. 100%. And a I am a Duke grad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me know when Penn basketball is on College Game Day or when Penn football plays Notre Dame, Clemson or FSU. Penn plays Brown, Columbia and Cornell before 5,000 at Franklin Field.

Smart people do not pick a school based on sports.
Penn is a top school. So is Duke. Like it or not the ivy brand gives Penn grads the slight bump for elite companies that care about such things, though Duke is on most of those target lists.

Sports is a huge part of the Duke experience and a major differentiator. I 100% agree that that should not be ones primary reason for choosing it unless playing on one of those teams. But it is a big part of the culture, both during your time there and afterwards - it creates an extra level of positive energy on campus and it really unifies the alumni base which is very valuable.

Unfortunately, Duke has increasingly been admitting kids who don't care about sports and have no interest in being involved. Which is sad. Duke used to accept plenty of kids with no interest who became interested while they were there. Not everyone has to become a super fan and devote their life to it. But there is an increasing number of kids who prefer being in the library 24/7, and that's not what Duke is about.

[Anonymous]

Penn is in same applicant pool of Brown, Cornell, Columbia, WashU, and UChicago. None of those resemble Duke.

[Anonymous]

Penn has wealthier private school type of students. Duke's wealthy kids are going elsewhere after the emphasis on FGLI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Penn is in same applicant pool of Brown, Cornell, Columbia, WashU, and UChicago. None of those resemble Duke.

Nope. Signed. Someone who chose between Penn and Duke, went to one, married someone who went to the other and has a child likely to apply to both and knows many other kids who did the same. But you know everything.

[Anonymous]

Loads of Duke car decals and apparel on people in our wealthy suburb. Town is moderate political environment, not a lot of families seek out Penn-too nerdy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Penn is in same applicant pool of Brown, Cornell, Columbia, WashU, and UChicago. None of those resemble Duke.

My kids favorites were Yale, Brown and Duke. There is definitely plenty of crossover in applicants despite different vibes. I think a Duke can be happy at Ivies and other Duke applicents more similar to Vandy, ND, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Loads of Duke car decals and apparel on people in our wealthy suburb. Town is moderate political environment, not a lot of families seek out Penn-too nerdy.

Where are you located? Not DC. Penn is known for being the social ivy and a party school with strong academics.

[Anonymous]

Agree with others, sports is ingrained in the Duke culture. Athletic facilities are like a Southern Notre Dame. Duke has a beautiful golf course on campus with 5 star hotel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello, just curious what might yield a better trajectory for an ambitious kid. It seems UPenn kids flood Wall Street and tech at a level only matched by Harvard and Stanford, while Duke also has very good placements but perhaps is less prominent in Wall Street, but Duke might benefit from a more loyal alumni network. Thoughts?

Let's say one school- School A has slightly better placement. Your kid chooses School A. And your kid interview somewhere they love and a recent hire of theirs was unimpressive and came from School A -- and School B on your kid's resume would have left a better impression with the recruiter because his very smart roommate's girlfriend went there. Ok, so School B would have been better for the job your kid really wanted. It's just splitting hairs and pointless nonsense at this level. Yeah- choose Carnegie Mellon over Oklahoma State if you want to live in NYC and go into FinTech. But Penn vs. Duke for going to Wall Street is not something spending time debating. Think more about other factors.

The fact that your kid is ambitious is what is going to help them. Any difference between these two schools in this regard is nebulous and pointless to speculate about.

Duke is not less prominent on Wall Street than any other college. It is the in the highest, most well regarded tier. So is Penn especially Wharton.

This reminds me of looking at scary teenage pregnancy stats or something - like yeah maybe that's concerning but if your kid is just not going to get pregnant that's not something you have to worry about, is it. These tendencies don't mean outcomes for your kid. Your kid working hard and networking and not giving up and being resilient and making their luck is what. is. going. to. make. the. difference.

Not oh darn, I went to one ridiculously elite school over the other. Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

What does your kid want?

It is their future new home, not yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree, Duke Chapel is focal point of campus and Coach K is a devout Catholic

Duke is Methodist and Coach K is not there anymore
The campus absolutely does not have a Christian vibe

[Anonymous]

Of course it has a Christian vibe what is the Duke Chapel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone doing resume review is going to weigh grades/internships/etc. Much more heavily than the name of the school.

Here's the real secrets they'll also do that when weighing say, Penn vs. Penn State.

What people don't realize is that by you are 22, the achievements that got you into college happened 5-8 years ago. At 22, that's incredibly stale information. Someone who's a superstar at 17 might continue to be one, but they might not. 17 year old also may have matured a lot. High school is a different world.

That continues. By the time you're say, 26, your college grades are also stale and all anyone cares about is work performance. College is different from the working world as well and actual job performance is way more usable data.

You are right! But the chances of getting finance internships are MUCH higher if you're at a target school -- which Penn is for pretty much every finance firm, and Duke is for most.

Penn State students can be brilliant but still have a hard time getting their resume in the 'interview' pile. Alumni networks make a real difference too.

That said, as far as Penn/ Duke, I think they are in the same league so ED to the one the kid likes best.