Tuck (Dartmouth) V Fuqua (Duke)

Question

Hi All

I have been admitted to Tuck and Fuqua. Super excited but confused like crazy. Both programs have offered me generous scholarships, but Duke has offered 20k more.

I an international student with 4 years of Investment Banking experience in South Asia. Wants to get into Investment Banking in New York.

These are the positives I see on the two programs:

Fuqua: 
01. STEM certificate. Will provide me with 3 years of visa to find a job.
02. Have been moving upwards in the rankings.

Tuck:
01. Ivy League 
02. Considered to be a slightly better program

Both programs have great cultures. I love the close-knit community thing. Similar in IB placements (as far as I know).

Much appreciate your comments/views/insights. Thank you!

jessepinkman · Answer

20K more total or 20K more per year? Either way, I'd probably go with Tuck here unless you hate the idea of spending two years in Hanover. Overall a much stronger program.

bb · Answer

Congrats on your admits!!!

I think for your specific industry (IB), Tuck is much stronger and better suited.

At the same time, it is hard to ignore STEM and $20K. It is a gamble with H1B's. Things may improve as there is a talk of a better immigration program but that's just talk. Being international, I would have probably picked lower-standing Fuqua with STEM and have $20K keep me warm at night and in between networking sessions trying to break into IB.

JohnJohnJ · Answer

You haven’t provided your post MBA goals

Rankings may favor one school over another and I have friends who’ve been to both schools and they’re doing extremely well.

When I look at their employment reports, Tuck is definitely very good at consulting but Fuqua balances the employment report comparison through its strengths in other industries. So I think both are equally good choices.

Hanover is sad because Dartmouth is the only thing there but isn’t far from Boston and Durham/Raleigh has other schools (UNC, NCSU) and Duke basketball to keep you engaged. Either ways to network, you’ll have to get out of your town and meet potential employers.
Wait... Durham and Raleigh has the tech triangle and a couple of banking/insurance (Genworth HQ) companies around too.

They both are equally good with employment opportunities-so you can’t go wrong with either of them.

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NWSL · Answer

Thanks for your comment. Actually I have mentioned it. I want to get into Investment Banking in NY post-MBA. Would you have any comments specific for IB? I would like to know. Thanks

NWSL · Answer

Thanks bb. Appreciate your opinion.

JohnJohnJ · Answer

Both are equally good for IB. I have a couple of friends from Duke at Morgan Stanley now-they went there straight out of school. I know a few people at smaller known IBs from Tuck. IB is better money and a better life than consulting

CatalinaWineMixer · Answer

I would have to disagree that Tuck is better in IB, not sure if that used to be the perception? They are definitely peers and if anything, I would actually argue that Duke actually has the edge in this space.

1) Same % of the class going into banking, but greater absolute # of class and alum in the field.
2) Same allocation to BB or EB banks (you can see for yourself on LinkedIn but you can also use the employment report avg. salary as a proxy, and if the same average salary exists it means the same proportion went to BBs). Duke maintains stronger access regional banks (Harris Williams, McColl Partners, etc.) and solid pipeline to Houston for energy (sounds like you want NYC though so might not be relevant).
3) Ease of travel for coffee chats/networking (this will be a crucial part of the recruiting process in the fall).

You can't go wrong here but from an outsider's point of view you are looking at peer programs who both place the same in IB, but have 20k extra and the STEM visa consideration from Duke. Seems like Fuqua makes the most sense here. Feel free to PM

JohnJohnJ · Answer

When I look at their employment reports, I agree with CatalineWineMixer... Duke definitely has an edge over Tuck for IB. 
In my few years of consulting I have learned a few things, while consulting leaders are stuck up with weird elitism ideas, IB isn’t stuck up and they want hardworking and smart people. IB has better bonuses. 
Duke definitely has the regional and Credit Suisse’s, Morgan’s of the world coming there to hire.

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bb · Answer

Wow. I am very surprised/impressed to hear of so much IB presence at Fuqua.

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JohnJohnJ · Answer

Schools are an outcome of external factors such as local economy and media coverage, so Raleigh/Durham has Credit Suisse, businesses in Tech Triangle and Charlotte has Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Brighthouse... a lot of financial services business in NC. 
Tuck has ivy going for it.

bb · Answer

Not to hi jack the discussion.... Is this potentially the situation with Foster that places most alums into Tech at Amazon and Microsoft but into less interesting roles than perhaps other programs or because many of the students were at MS and Amazon?

Is it possible that Booth and Tuck place into IB more desirable positions? Is Charlotte really on par with New York placement? Could the roles be quite different?

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JohnJohnJ · Answer

Now that’s a really good point, I am assuming that by “more desirable”/“less interesting” you mean other functional roles in the financial services industry. 
So, this is when you have to look at the functional placements. 
NC definitely isn’t a NYC and Fuqua/Tuck aren’t a Wharton/Stern/Booth for IB

Tuck isn’t far from the IBs (brown brother Harrison’s, State street, etc...) of Boston but despite the geographical proximity, Tuck doesn’t seem to have a significantly higher “Investment Banking” functional placement percentage than Fuqua.

I did not go to either of the schools so this is an unbiased opinion. Feel free to DM me for additional analysis.

mradamsmith · Answer

Obviously I'm biased here but I did choose between these schools with the goal of IB. Led me to a lot of research about the programs and prospects:

bb , I think you're right in that Charlotte is not NY for IB, but I think that from speaking with students/alum (and my personal preference), this is largely self selection. People typically recruit for locations at the same time, so it would be difficult to "strike out" in NYC then have Charlotte as a backup. Many people seem to decide ahead of time where they want to go. While the vast majority of Fuqua students head to NYC for banking, a decent portion self select to the southeast and the overwhelming reasons seem to be cost of living/lifestyle/family considerations. While I haven't fully decided yet (which city to recruit for) I know that was a consideration of mine--the prospect of banking in the southeast if I so chose.

Houston on the other hand is the epicenter of energy banking, so that would be comparable in "prestige" etc. to NYC, just different industry coverage. From my discussions with Duke, about 3-6 go there yearly vs. 0-2 from Tuck.

To answer your question about role differences--the IB positions are all equivalent (just different firms/groups/industry coverage) but the post-MBA front office associate role is the same across the board.

NWSL · Answer

Thank you very much for all your comments and insights. It's really helpful to understand the perception.

Mo2men · Answer

Hi  NWSL

You have got great posts above. I would comment about STEM. If you are in STEM program, it does not guarantee that you have extended stay. The job you apply to MUST be under STEM category. You can google the law firms reports to know more about this issue. This have drawn scrutiny by the government to check the status for each job. So is IB belongs to those STEM category or maybe certain jobs in this field.

Another point is that the immigration system might be undergo a massive overhaul that favor the high skilled and well-educated applicants. So it might be the case that STEM is no longer beneficial or maybe canceled. No one knows.

Good luck

NWSL · Answer

Hi All, once again thank you very much for all your insights it has helped me immensely to make my decision. I’ve decided to enroll with Tuck. I know it’s against the majoring vote here, but when I did a bit more research into IB placements, I realized that Tuck is slightly better in placing at Top IBs in NY (even during the last 5 years). Also, as @more2men mentioned, extension of OPT based on STEM seemed a little tough considering that I’ve no desire to get into tech IB. Good luck to all!! bb thank you very much for creating this amazing resource! From GMAT to getting enrolled, Gmatclub has been my number 1 point of reference! THANK YOU!

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bb · Answer

Congratulations on your decision!

Thank you very much for coming back to close the loop. Good luck with your next stage in life and settling in New Hampshire.

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Mo2men · Answer

Congrats and wish you all the best.

Tuck (Dartmouth) V Fuqua (Duke)

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