Duke v/s Darden

[NJane]

Hello Guys,

First of all congrats to all admits. Secondly, its time to finally take a decision
between Duke and Darden. I want to take my name off one of the schools asap so tht one of our other waitlisted candidates can get it. I am very confused as of now as to which is better than other. I know factors like employement stats/fit/career goals/community etc matter but still I want your candid opinion about the pros and cons of joining either school.

My No. 1 priority is a job in US post MBA. Please help me with your advice.

Cheers!
NJane

[kgkid]

Originally Posted by NJane

Hello Guys,

First of all congrats to all admits. Secondly, its time to finally take a decision
between Duke and Darden. I want to take my name off one of the schools asap so tht one of our other waitlisted candidates can get it. I am very confused as of now as to which is better than other. I know factors like employement stats/fit/career goals/community etc matter but still I want your candid opinion about the pros and cons of joining either school.

My No. 1 priority is a job in US post MBA. Please help me with your advice.

Cheers!
NJane

I dont qualify here to comment because i did not apply at Darden. However, i think it would come down to Case based learning vs a mix of learning methodologies at Duke. Duke has a slight edge because of the brand name.

[adityagoel]

Hey..Congrats on your admits..Both great choices to have..i was talking with my cousin(faculty at a top 3 b-school in the US) and he gave the edge to darden based on his knowledge of the overall experience(mentioned that the quality of the case based system taught there rivals any top b-school.). He did mention that its tough to go wrong with either choice as both are fantastic programs. Either way these are great options to have. Best of luck with your decision.

[sumit82]

If you would just wanna do Consulting ... then surely go for Darden, the case based system would put you in a better stead... But if like most you are mixed up between Consulting and Finance then I would say have a good look at Duke too...

Talk to a lot of people within both those programs and a few neutrals... You would have your answer... I believe that Darden might have the extra edge in the industry whereas Duke might have a better name for the layman as the University is much more known...

As said by most, you cannot go wrong here bcos really there is no difference between the two on a broader scale. So just look for finer points... Past experiences of people would help a lot.

[kgkid]

Originally Posted by sumit82

If you would just wanna do Consulting ... then surely go for Darden, the case based system would put you in a better stead... But if like most you are mixed up between Consulting and Finance then I would say have a good look at Duke too...

Talk to a lot of people within both those programs and a few neutrals... You would have your answer... I believe that Darden might have the extra edge in the industry whereas Duke might have a better name for the layman as the University is much more known...

Case based learning is not for everybody. It is usually best utilized by individuals who are typically not career switchers. One of the reasons i did not choose Darden.
I have to respectfully disagree on your points here saying Darden has an extra edge in the industry. It certainly does not in consulting. I had split my hairs at one point of time. I found Duke having an edge in almost every discipline and further confirmed by my recruiter.

Njane - Try to talk to as many current "international/indian" students as possible and decide for yourself.

[Vipin_Singh]

I am a current student at Darden ( Class of 2008 ) and would like to disagree with kgkid's last post. With no disrespect to Duke, I am a career switcher and I feel the case method has helped me make that switch. Also in terms of recruiting stats, Duke and Darden are not too far off from each other. If possible, try to find out how succesful people like you have been in the recruiting process. No two individuals are similar and stats/personal opinions are only some data points in the decision making process.

Let me close by saying that people chosing between Duke and Darden are smart people and smart people make good decisions, cumulatively speaking. Some decisions might go wrong but you would still be considered smart.

Let me share with you an effort of 2 Darden students trying to present what Darden has to offer
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']http://youtube.com/watch?v=2Vfo5yEaPxY[/font]

[pagalguy]

Duke has had a major set back in the last couple of days:

NBC 17 - News - Students Face Expulsion From Duke's Fuqua

Bloomberg.com: U.S.

This news is already affecting new admits and people who have multiple admits as to what call they are going to take. The news may even have some ramifications in the imminent rankings/recruiters perspective.

[bysodus]

Originally Posted by kgkid

Case based learning is not for everybody. It is usually best utilized by individuals who are typically not career switchers. One of the reasons i did not choose Darden.
I have to respectfully disagree on your points here saying Darden has an extra edge in the industry. It certainly does not in consulting. I had split my hairs at one point of time. I found Duke having an edge in almost every discipline and further confirmed by my recruiter.

Njane - Try to talk to as many current "international/indian" students as possible and decide for yourself.

I think Darden has a big edge over Duke in finance. Not only that, i think for international students Darden might be a better place to go as it has better access to career opportunities. The premise of case-based learning not for individuals switching careers seems a bit naive to me. On the contrary, case based learning allows a career switcher to have a more holistic learning. Case based learning is very useful as the class discussions are more interesting and if you are working in study groups then it adds a lot of value. KgKid..i dont know how you got that impression of case based learning..!!..In fact if you have done plenty of cases in your course work you would have covered the most of the businesses and aspects , and you have a better chance of having knowledgeable conversations during networking and job interviews..I am at a school which has a good mix of both and i can say on behalf of most international students that its a good insight into the business in US.

[goldberg23684]

just adding my viewpoint:

Both are great schools but the people at Darden are really amazing. I mean the adcoms, faculty etc. Interacted with a couple of them over the past two weeks and they are very friendly and offered to help me out with all my queries.

Maybe you should contact Simba, she is after all in Duke.

All the best! I am a batch of 2010 applicant

[rickyricks]

Originally Posted by goldberg23684

just adding my viewpoint:

Both are great schools but the people at Darden are really amazing. I mean the adcoms, faculty etc. Interacted with a couple of them over the past two weeks and they are very friendly and offered to help me out with all my queries.

Maybe you should contact Simba, she is after all in Duke.

All the best! I am a batch of 2010 applicant

Cant agree more with you dude. The attitide of the school community is simply amazing and this definitely helped me in taking a decision of joining Darden. Its been nearly four months since my admit and atleast a dozen current students have reached out to help with the transition to the school.

Good luck with your applications. If you need any help, do let me know. I suddenly realised that I am on the other side of the table.