Wharton vs Fuqua

Without a doubt, choose Wharton...

No matter where you go to school, breaking into PE/VC will be a grind. Your odds of breaking in are likely higher coming out of Wharton than Duke but by all means are not guaranteed. I have been told by people in the business that unless you have IB or PE experience in the past, you will likely have to work in investment banking first. In that case, major firms recruit at both schools so you aren't at that big of a disadvantage at Duke vs. Penn in investment banking. While companies likely will make more offers from Wharton, you also will have more competition for interview slots.

Another consideration to have is, while you may not have to go into debt to finance your MBA, will you have the ability to wait out a year or more of unemployment searching for a PE/VC job? This is a lot easier to do with the $75k or so in scholarship money from Duke.

You obviously are a great candidate and likely won't go wrong either way. Go to the school that you feel best at and don't look back.

Wharton will max your ability to get into PE/VC

The deal is that your chance of getting PE, VC, or even your backup IM at Duke is pretty much nonexistent. I'm not trying to be dramatic about Duke's placements - I'm looking at the employment report and it shows <1% going into each of PE, VC, Asset Management, and Equity Research.

If that is the dream, then I think you have to choose Wharton. Also, you mentioned that you didn't want to do banking, but if you're not able to get PE/VC straight out of school then banking is probably your best option for breaking in a few years down the road. Wharton places much better in banking than Fuqua, which is something else to consider

Go for Wharton if you want to be in PE/VC.

Having worked in PE, I can assure you that most PE firms have graduates from H/W/S. You will have a better chance of finding jobs through Wharton alumni and networking.

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I really appreciate it.

That's fantastic - good for you and that's great advice! I love a happy ending.

Great to know that you got a good deal from wharton. I have been following this thread and I would have said that go to Fuqua, because they were giving you a generous financial aid offer, but then again it is very refreshing to know that Wharton has given you something also better. Congratulations.

Congratulations. Makes the choice that much easier.

Congrats! Makes the decision much easier!

Wharton definitely seems to align to your long term goals... the $$ will more than pay for itself in the long run... My vote is with Wharton

That is impressive, never thought it would work. So how did you preface the conversation? Was it by email or phone? Did you put all your cards on the table with the Duke offer and amount of Duke $$?

Congrats!

H/S/W always should win over scholarship money at ANY other school, no exceptions. If you're a motivated student with clear career goals, imho there is no limit where H/S/W can take you.

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Mmmm...I wouldn't quite agree with this and W is one of my choices.

... don't act like H/S/W is GOD.

This is a pretty silly comment, probably written by someone that doesn't get "it". Granted, I would have taken W over Duke with money but for personal reasons. To say there is no limit is just plain naive.

However, everything is situational and dependent on your goals. H/S/W do open doors that other schools do not in terms of PE/VC/HF. However there are two very important things to note. 1. Just because those opportunities do exist does not mean you will land one. They are still highly competitive. If you lack the background going in odds are you are not breaking in - so its a mute point that they options exist because the average student isn't getting in there anyway. 2. Not everyone wants the PE/VC/HF route. If you want consulting, general management, marketing, etc. You can get the exact same job at any top 10 school as H/S/W. Thus there isn't that big of a difference. Statistically the vast majority of the kids that graduate from H/S/W get the exact same jobs as kids from the other top schools.

In summary, does H/S/W have opportunities that other don't? Without question. Does the average H/S/W student place into such opportunities, no. Pick the school that is best for your specific needs taking everything into consideration but don't idolize certain institutions. If someone is going to be successful it won't be because of the school he/she went to but rather because they were solid individuals.

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Yeah, W isn't H/S... there is a noticeable step down and ppl know it.

I would say other M7 (K,B,MIT,CBS) schools are a legitimate contender to compete with Wharton for the #3 spot.