Anonymous wrote:What do we think about the Fiske Guide in terms of accurately capturing the vibe of a student body?

It describes students at Bucknell as “conservative and materially conscious.”

My research indicates 65% women at Wake are in sororities, 56% at Richmond, and 40% at Bucknell. I get the sense that Greek life in general is becoming more popular on all campuses that offer it.

I think those numbers are too high, across the board and I have a kid at Wake. What I have seen, across the spectrum of my dd's high school friends, is that many rush and then drop if they don't get what they consider a top tier house. or drop their sorority sometime sophomore or junior year.

I'd try to talk to actual students from your kid's high school who are now in college or during a campus visit instead of relying on college guides which are barely edited from edition to edition.

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Anonymous wrote:Are these schools as wealthy and “unserious” as DCUM purports? They are the right size, have the right academic programs, and are the right distance for DD, but she doesn’t want a school with a bunch of full pay kids who don’t prioritize academics. She also doesn’t want a social scene dominated by Greek life.

I know we should beware of stereotypes, but I’ve seen similar comments over and over about the typical kid who goes to these schools. Thoughts?

Wake is serious and much better academic quality than the other two. Wake has smarter peers based on naviance data from our region.

I would take Bucknell for finance over Wake any day.

The Bucknell pipeline poster has arrived.

I know people love to give the Bucknell pipeline poster a hard time, but is she wrong? I'm not suggesting she is or isn't, I don't know. And I'm too lazy to do the work myself.

Here's ChatGPT's take, with sources:

Here’s a revised, tighter version:

For IB/finance/consulting, I’d give Wake Forest the edge over Bucknell, but neither is a true “target” for Wall Street.

The best IB-specific source I found, Peak Frameworks, ranks Wake Forest #38 on its investment banking target-school list and calls it a “lower semi-target.” It says Wake has “fair placement” into IB, with a disproportionate share going to Bank of America and J.P. Morgan, and that 94% of Wake’s tracked IB hires were into bulge brackets. [1] Mergers & Inquisitions separately describes Wake Forest as “more of a semi-target,” meaning IB is possible, but it is not one of the top universities for the field. [2]

I did not find Bucknell on Peak Frameworks’ top-60 IB target-school list, and M&I does not list Bucknell in its semi-target discussion. That does not mean Bucknell cannot place into IB, but it suggests it is not generally treated as a standard IB semi-target in the same way Wake is. [1][2]

Bucknell still has strong finance outcomes. Its Freeman Class of 2024 report says Freeman grads went 59% into financial services and 15% into consulting; finance majors averaged $88,903 starting salary. [3] Bucknell also reports employers including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity, Deloitte, PwC, and RSM. [4]

Wake’s business-school outcomes are stronger overall: Poets&Quants reports 98.7% of Wake Forest business job-seeking grads employed within three months, 98% internship participation, and $85,806 average starting salary; listed employers include JPMorgan, Barclays, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, AlphaSights, and Jefferies. [5]

My read: for pure IB, Wake Forest is the clearer semi-target / lower-semi-target path and appears to place better into bulge-bracket banking. Bucknell is strong for finance broadly and has legitimate alumni/employer outcomes, but the publicly available IB-target data is weaker. For consulting, both are credible, but Wake’s broader business-school placement data and employer list still give it the edge.

[1] Peak Frameworks, Wake Forest University IB placement / IB target-school methodology.
[2] Mergers & Inquisitions, IB target-school guide and Wake Forest comment.
[3] Bucknell University, Class of 2024 Post-Graduate Survey.
[4] Bucknell University, Bucknell Outcomes.
[5] Poets&Quants, Wake Forest School of Business profile.

What do we think about the Fiske Guide in terms of accurately capturing the vibe of a student body?

It describes students at Bucknell as “conservative and materially conscious.”

My research indicates 65% women at Wake are in sororities, 56% at Richmond, and 40% at Bucknell. I get the sense that Greek life in general is becoming more popular on all campuses that offer it.

Wake over the other 2, no doubt. But as between Richmond and Bucknell, that boils down to a personal fit question, as they are basically equivalent in size, ranking, prestige, ROI, and cost. I've visited both more than once, and personally prefer the vibe at Bucknell over that of Richmond. Bucknell seems livelier, the campus "buzzier" (Richmond is a bit staid by comparison), and the kids seemed (at least to me) friendlier and more sociable.

Who wants to spend 4 years in Lewisburg Pa? Nobody! Between Wake and URichmond advantage Wake due to ACC sports.

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Anonymous wrote:All four of these schools are great schools. Parsing the differences by rankings here is pretty silly. All are relatively equal. The vibe and offerings differ and only the kid can decide their fit after research and visits. RIchmond dipped below a 20% admit rate this year. wake is around 20% and Bucknell around 35%. W&M is only state school with pretty self selecting admit pool but also around 34%.

Strong disagree. There are differences in reputation, culture, and outcomes. But I agree rankings are indeed silly.

Hence the “vibe and offerings differ and only the kid can decide their fit.” All are great schools.

The "strong disagree" was directed at the "all are relatively equal" statement in the original comment. These schools are not relatively equal. Does fit batter? Yes, of course. But admissions standards and outcomes vary by school. All strong schools, yes. Equal, no.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All four of these schools are great schools. Parsing the differences by rankings here is pretty silly. All are relatively equal. The vibe and offerings differ and only the kid can decide their fit after research and visits. RIchmond dipped below a 20% admit rate this year. wake is around 20% and Bucknell around 35%. W&M is only state school with pretty self selecting admit pool but also around 34%.

Strong disagree. There are differences in reputation, culture, and outcomes. But I agree rankings are indeed silly.

Hence the “vibe and offerings differ and only the kid can decide their fit.” All are great schools.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are these schools as wealthy and “unserious” as DCUM purports? They are the right size, have the right academic programs, and are the right distance for DD, but she doesn’t want a school with a bunch of full pay kids who don’t prioritize academics. She also doesn’t want a social scene dominated by Greek life.

I know we should beware of stereotypes, but I’ve seen similar comments over and over about the typical kid who goes to these schools. Thoughts?

Wake is serious and much better academic quality than the other two. Wake has smarter peers based on naviance data from our region.

I would take Bucknell for finance over Wake any day.

The Bucknell pipeline poster has arrived.

I know people love to give the Bucknell pipeline poster a hard time, but is she wrong? I'm not suggesting she is or isn't, I don't know. And I'm too lazy to do the work myself.

Anonymous wrote:All four of these schools are great schools. Parsing the differences by rankings here is pretty silly. All are relatively equal. The vibe and offerings differ and only the kid can decide their fit after research and visits. RIchmond dipped below a 20% admit rate this year. wake is around 20% and Bucknell around 35%. W&M is only state school with pretty self selecting admit pool but also around 34%.

Strong disagree. There are differences in reputation, culture, and outcomes. But I agree rankings are indeed silly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are these schools as wealthy and “unserious” as DCUM purports? They are the right size, have the right academic programs, and are the right distance for DD, but she doesn’t want a school with a bunch of full pay kids who don’t prioritize academics. She also doesn’t want a social scene dominated by Greek life.

I know we should beware of stereotypes, but I’ve seen similar comments over and over about the typical kid who goes to these schools. Thoughts?

Wake is serious and much better academic quality than the other two. Wake has smarter peers based on naviance data from our region.

I would take Bucknell for finance over Wake any day.

The Bucknell pipeline poster has arrived.

Anonymous wrote:Winston is dying, Richmond is ok and Lewisburg is really small.

I disagree --Winston Salem is 200 times better now than it was ten to twenty years ago. Most of the Wake grad students now chose to live in downtown because of all the new housing, restaurants and bars. Hotel scene is also much better since the two Kimptons opened. The Grounds development is going to be a boon to both the university and the city.

Anonymous wrote:I find it hard to believe that students at any of these schools don't prioritize academics. College is so much different these days.

I posted before about how the Richmond students weren't esoterically intellectual (they're not taking, like, Sanskrit or modernist opera studies) but they all seemed serious and studious, more so than several colleges we toured.

Anonymous wrote:Bucknell is the best value buy out of these three. Lowest incoming student stats and easiest admission but also the strongest pipeline to finance and consulting jobs.

+1. Check placement stats of recent grads.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are these schools as wealthy and “unserious” as DCUM purports? They are the right size, have the right academic programs, and are the right distance for DD, but she doesn’t want a school with a bunch of full pay kids who don’t prioritize academics. She also doesn’t want a social scene dominated by Greek life.

I know we should beware of stereotypes, but I’ve seen similar comments over and over about the typical kid who goes to these schools. Thoughts?

Wake is serious and much better academic quality than the other two. Wake has smarter peers based on naviance data from our region.

I would take Bucknell for finance over Wake any day.

Winston is dying, Richmond is ok and Lewisburg is really small.