Poll: Fuqua $ vs UNC Kenan Flagler $$$ - The Battle For Tobacco Road

Question

Hi Everyone,

First of all wanted to give a big shoutout to everyone on this site. I've used it thoroughly throughout my GMAT prep and the application process and it has been instrumental in my success. I am in the fortunate position to be accepted to some great schools, Duke Fuqua/UNC KF/UVA Darden. I know these schools get compared to a lot, but with deposit deadlines coming up I wanted to gather outside opinions on my final choices:

1.) Duke Fuqua - Admitted with $
2.) UNC Kenan Flagler - Admitted with $$$ and Vetter Dean's Fellow Program
3.) Darden - Admitted - No $ (likely not considering at this point)

Duke Pros: 
+ Higher ranking/stronger program
+ Love Team Fuqua culture
+ National program, could end up anywhere across the country
+ Pipeline to potential employers (Nike, MBB)
+ Sports focused culture
+ Could tap into Fuqua/Duke parent brand network for life

Duke Cons 
- Much higher cost, afraid debt burden of $150k+ would force me to accept higher paying job vs job I'd enjoy more
- I went to a private school for undergrad, and while Duke's campus is gorgeous and Durham is up and coming, may be better to live in a college town for a change
- Sports culture is mostly centered on only basketball (Not that that's a bad thing)

UNC Pros: 
+ Dean's Fellow program could offer additional opportunities to help distinguish myself
+ Lower Debt burden could allow me to pursue more niche opportunities/won't feel like I have to pursue high paying job to 
pay off debt
+ Sports focused culture across many sports, not just basketball
+ Loved college town atmosphere of Chapel Hill
+ Was die-hard UNC fan growing up. Being able to attend school there would feel like things are coming full-circle

UNC Cons 
- Lack of recruiting from a few companies I am interested in 
- Program/recruiting strength not on par with Duke/UVA
- Still would need to take out roughly $50k+ in loans
- Overall KF network not as strong as Fuqua
- More regional based school

Questions: 
1.) Anything I am off on or missing as part of this consideration?
2.) How much weight should I put on the Dean's Fellows program at UNC? Seems like a great opportunity, but not sure if that should make a huge difference in my decision here
3.) Any reason I should be considering Darden here at full sticker?

Career Goals:  
Dream goal would be to eventually work for the NBA, but for the MBA from what I can tell they only recruit from the H/S/W/K of the world. I realize the chances of that working out are extremely slim, but still think I have a better chance from Fuqua than KF.

Because of that, I am likely recruiting for consulting, but would also be okay with LDP/Gen Management roles in companies such as Nike/Danaher if I find consulting to not be a good fit after beginning case prep. All of that points to Fuqua, given their connection to these companies, however I don't want to choose a school just based on a "X company or bust" mentality, as I know a lot of times plans change and interviews/offers at these companies are far from guaranteed.

Thanks again for any advice!!

bb · Answer

Great post and analysis! Thank you for doing your homework and organizing it neatly. It is a pleasure to reply

1. The sports management track is very competitive. As you can imagine MLB, NBA, and NFL are amazing opportunities very many people feel passionate about and would sacrifice years of income to break into. While they may be hiring from H/S/W, I can also guess/estimate that even that is not enough and you have to network your way in to be selected since the competition is so stiff. 2. It is probably not horrible to spend $150K on your dream if you want to pursue a certain career. I have known people spend a lot more on their "dream house" and never to recoup that teal bathroom investment or for it to foreclose. Many of your classmates will be happily footing the $150K bill and thankful they got a chance to be a part of the Fuqua program. The one small issue is that $150K is not guaranting you anything and I think your mind is telling you that chances being slim you may be paying for something you won't use... it depends. P.S. I have to run to a call so I will come back to add more (will make a separate post likely so it pings you). Both KF and Fuqua have decent consulting hiring opportunities with MBB's on campus, which is nice that UNC does have it. Sorry have to run

TobaccoRoad4590 · Answer

Appreciate it  bb  ! I should clarify - while the sports track is the dream, I'm very self aware/realistic of the competition and slim chances for that regardless of where I go. That's why I am also happy to recruit for consulting or LDPs at either school and see where that gets me. Based on the employment reports at both schools I feel like I have a better chance to break through at Fuqua, but again, I'd be paying for that chance.

shaarang · Answer

TobaccoRoad4590 
 Was in a similar position last year and chose Kenan-Flagler. I've been keeping tabs on recruitment at Duke this year so here's my $0.02:

1. Consulting: Duke over Kenan-Flagler (KF has people going into all 3 MBBs this year, but that number is lower than at Duke. Duke would provide a much clearer path to MBB.)

2. Finance: Kenan-Flagler over Duke (All the first years at KF that wanted a Finance/IB internship have received on - the same cannot be said about Duke this year. This may just be an anomaly, but my experience is what I'm basing this advice on.)

3. Tech (PM): Duke over Kenan-Flagler (The Duke brand provides a clearer path to Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc. Core tech recruiters at KF are Dell and Cisco. Amazon is brand agnostic so its a level playing field. For other hot tech start-ups - think Spotify, Robinhood, etc. - you'd need to leverage your brand and network to get an interview or referral, so I would again lean towards Duke.)

4. Tech (Non-PM): Both offer similar opportunities

5. Healthcare, Real Estate: Kenan-Flagler over Duke

Your analysis above is spot on; however, I would disagree about the national/regional program piece though. I have been able to find alums to chat with spread all over the country in all the large orgs in the country.

Happy to chat more if you'd like.

Edit: The Dean's Program at Kenan-Flagler is certainly not worth sacrificing the Duke brand. It has no bearing whatsoever on recruiting and also - and don't take this the wrong way - the people in the Dean's List are selected quite arbitrarily. You will see several accomplished people not part of this program and several undeserving people make the list. It;s not like you're provided access to an exclusive network - your Kenan-Flagler (and UNC) network is your network so I would not give consideration to this at all. There are, of course, legitimate reasons to choose Kenan-Flagler over Duke, but The Dean's List ain't it.

bb · Answer

A large part of business school recruiting is mysterious. For example, same set of companies hire at both campuses but one of the schools has more representation. Is that because of the school or is that because of the qualifications of the students who attend? I have asked that question for years now and I have never been able to get a clear unfortunately. I have asked several successful students in the lumps you have been able to get internships and jobs of their dreams. They have previously given up scholarships and gone to pay full sticker price. They found internships and jobs not on campus. They found them through friends, classmates, or online or through other means. My question to them was, did the school really contribute? Do you think you could’ve gotten the same opportunity if you had gone to a lower ranked school with a scholarship? It’s a question that I’m not sure anyone with the answer without some pain having $150,000 loan, but I’ve known them enough to where I think they would’ve cut through BS and at least may have jokingly said “yes”. To my surprise they didn’t and they credited there good luck to being a part of a more elite program. However, there is not a very clear cause-and-effect relationship....

There’s also The whole thing of luck. You may get lucky or unlucky and you never know which way it’s going to play. You may run into an interview or call went to your business school or whose son is going to a business school or thinking of going to a business school. You may ran into a person at a camping trip for a party that will lead you to a job. There’s no way to anticipate that or know how it would play out otherwise. The key aspect is to continue creating opportunities for this luck to happen. If you’re looking at sports management opportunities, this would mean a lot of networking and hanging around places and events and being there and meeting people... I think sports management is doable and possible but it will come at a price....

Has to consulting, your success heavily Depends on your interview and preparation. Consulting companies look for people who are able to represent them well and who can impress the clients to justify the high bills they’re being sent. 😂

Posted from my mobile device

TobaccoRoad4590 · Answer

Thank you  shaarang  and  bb  , both very insightful and helpful answers.  shaarang  , what was the final reason you ended up choosing UNC in the end?

shaarang · Answer

TobaccoRoad4590 , a simple cost/benefit analysis revealed that my career prospects wouldn't majorly be impacted by the Duke brand and that I'd have to pay 3x to attend Duke over Kenan-Flagler. It didn't make sense.

Poll: Fuqua $ vs UNC Kenan Flagler $$$ - The Battle For Tobacco Road

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