Anonymous
09/06/2025 06:28
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
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.
Anonymous
09/06/2025 01:20
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
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?
Penn and Duke are close enough that fit is more important.
If you said Penn or Duke vs Northeastern then there is a clear answer but Penn and Duke are both in the same ballpark. Pick the oner you like.
Anonymous
09/06/2025 00:54
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
They’re both fantastic schools with engaged and active alumni networks.
Either school will get a smart, driven kid pretty much anywhere they want to go.
Trying to split hairs about which might be incrementally better at X, Y, or Z is a waste of time. There’s so little difference overall, that any true attempt to distinguish them will include, “It depends on whether … “ and will require a lot more detail from you about your kid and their strengths, weaknesses, and goals.
tl;dr: Don’t bother with this line of inquiry.
Focus instead on where your DC feels the most at home and most likely to thrive. That will have more of an impact on your DC’s outcome than any de minimus difference between the schools overall.
Either school will get a smart, driven kid pretty much anywhere they want to go.
Trying to split hairs about which might be incrementally better at X, Y, or Z is a waste of time. There’s so little difference overall, that any true attempt to distinguish them will include, “It depends on whether … “ and will require a lot more detail from you about your kid and their strengths, weaknesses, and goals.
tl;dr: Don’t bother with this line of inquiry.
Focus instead on where your DC feels the most at home and most likely to thrive. That will have more of an impact on your DC’s outcome than any de minimus difference between the schools overall.
Anonymous
09/06/2025 00:30
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
Anonymous wrote: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.
Yeah, I think this is true. At a certain point, college just because a bragging point. Duke vs Penn is really a pointless distinction. Both schools are very elite, but neither are HYPSM-tier. They'll both grant access into the most selective firms. Personally, I'd go for Duke because of the weather, sports, and social scene. Penn can also be great for the right student, but both schools are more similar than different. Penn is filled with prep school social climbers and wannabe frat boys.
HYPSM is not what it used to be. It has admitted too many students who are not strong academically in the last few years. Companies know this and now casting a wider net to recruit from.
Anonymous
09/06/2025 00:11
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
^LOL!
Anonymous
09/06/2025 00:09
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
Anonymous wrote:Since when did Duke and Penn become comparable. Penn culturally is close Brown and Columbia certainly not anything like Duke.
No, Penn is more like Harvard than any of the other ivies. Strongest professional schools and an urban campus that is not NYC.
Anonymous
09/06/2025 00:03
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
Since when did Duke and Penn become comparable. Penn culturally is close Brown and Columbia certainly not anything like Duke.
Anonymous
09/05/2025 23:50
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
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.
Yeah, I think this is true. At a certain point, college just because a bragging point. Duke vs Penn is really a pointless distinction. Both schools are very elite, but neither are HYPSM-tier. They'll both grant access into the most selective firms. Personally, I'd go for Duke because of the weather, sports, and social scene. Penn can also be great for the right student, but both schools are more similar than different. Penn is filled with prep school social climbers and wannabe frat boys.
Anonymous
09/05/2025 23:47
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
They'll have identical occupational outcomes. Just pick the one you prefer.
Anonymous
09/05/2025 23:40
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
Anonymous wrote:My oldest was deciding between Penn, Duke, and a few others and picked Duke. He ended up on Wall Street, like most of his classmates who had that interest. Both schools will get you where you want, I would think more about cultural fit.
+1. Duke would not have been my cup of tea personally, but some love it, so pick the better fit. Very different places.
Anonymous
09/05/2025 23:07
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
4 years at Duke vs 4 years at Penn-hello Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke and Stanford are truly unique when compared to the Ivies. Look at the entire college experience nothing comes close to the Blue Devils and the Cardinal. And now Duke and Stanford are both in the ACC.
Anonymous
09/05/2025 23:01
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
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.
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.
Anonymous
09/05/2025 22:54
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
Penn plays football at the FCS level comparable to Patriot League schools like Bucknell, Holy Cross or Lehigh. Penn basketball has not made the NCAAs in years thanks to Yale. These 2 schools are very different.
Anonymous
09/05/2025 22:47
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
Anonymous wrote:Maybe get into one of them first? Duke just had a 4.5% acceptance rate and UPenn had a 4.9% acceptance rate.
Maybe they are deciding where to apply early? I think this has been mentioned several times already. Reading is Fundamental.
Anonymous
09/05/2025 22:45
Subject: Better for high-end career; UPenn or Duke?
Maybe get into one of them first? Duke just had a 4.5% acceptance rate and UPenn had a 4.9% acceptance rate.