calisnoopy wrote:
rpratt620 wrote:
I am a huge proponent of Darden, but one area in which they are not very strong is marketing. For marketing/brand management Duke is the no-brainer here. They are very highly regarded for brand management and are consistently ranked in the top-5 schools in the world for brand management/marketing (see US News, Financial Times rankings by industry)
Thanks for your reply!
Yes, I kind of had a feeling regarding Duke and marketing...but how about if my choices remain between USC and Darden?
And this may be a silly question, but Darden being super strong in general management (not so familiar with all these terms) but could "general management" put you into a Luxury Goods/Retail company?
And overall, how does the Duke vs Darden "brand" carry (I know they're close in U.S. News rankings but so is UNC and USC, but in my opinion, USC's brand carries more weight overall, unless you're an MBA recruiter or went to business school)
As far as the "brand" goes, it is kind of a subjective thing. I'll share an example that hopefully illustrates my point: When I was on my campus visit to Cornell I met a guy who was going into General Management. He told me that he was admitted to Darden and Cornell and ended up choosing Cornell. When I asked him why he told me that he liked Cornell because it was "Ivy League" which meant that whenever he was at a party, a family reunion, or any other gathering place and someone asked him where he was going to school, his answer would be more impressive because everyone knows that Cornell is an Ivy League school.
The reality is that while Cornell is a good GM school, Darden's brand is regarded more highly among employers and those who are "in the know", as reflected in rankings, salaries, #'s and %'s of recruits to top companies, etc.
Duke carries that same "brand" because of its basketball team
USC carries that same "brand" because of its football team/other sports teams
UVA is not ivy league, nor do they have highly regarded sports teams = No WOW factor among everyday folks. When you tell someone in the west (I live in Utah) that you are considering UVA, Duke, and USC they will immediately pick up on the latter two and they will be puzzled that you are even considering UVA.
This is an area where I have had to just swallow my pride
At the end of the day what others think about my school makes no difference--the only people's opinions I care about are the recruiters. In my opinion when you match up USC and Darden there is simply no comparison. They are not even in the same Tier of quality in terms of what they can do for your career.
Darden has been a Top-10 & Top-15 school forever and that brand will not go away. I'm guessing that the marketing track you take will eventually lead you into GM. In that case, I would go with Darden 100% and don't look back!
That's a lot of ranting and rambling, hopefully it all makes sense!!