Dartmouth vs Duke MEM

[hexaninja]

	DUKE	Dartmouth
Pros	Lesser tuition	Reputation (one of the Ivy leagues)
	Opportunities for funding in-terms of RA ship, TA ship and Resident Assistantship	20% tuition waiver, TA positions available
	Program is very flexible. All Technical electives can be chosen from any engineering department or can be replaced by business electives	Low batch size (50), better faculty to student ratio
	Medium cost of living	Excellent Industry and Alumni networks
	High campus activity. Lots of events all around the year in the department as well as the campus.	Cultural diversity and high selectivity
	Excellent industry and Alumni networks	More courses needed to complete the degree ensuring more exposure
	Very well-known and recognised brand label. Also excellent facilities for startups and proximity to RTP area, a high density of companies	Proximity to Boston and New York, excellent employment opportunities
Cons	Huge Asian population each year, skewing the diversity of the student body	More tuition and High cost of living
	Huge Batch size (>100) implying a poor faculty to student ratio	Location is in the middle of nowhere. All restaurants, clubs stores are miles away.
	Curriculum does not seem to be as intensive
	The degree is only 1year, though can be extended to 1.5 years

[kenstar]

Congratulations on these excellent admits.

Now getting to your question, it depends on your goals. If you want more exposure to management, duke(fuqua) seems to be more logical. I had applied to both these programs too. And if given the choice, I would have opted for Dartmouth for the following reasons:

1)Excellent placement record

2)Close-knit community owing to its small class size

3)The faculty, especially Mr. Ross Gortner, takes a lot of pains to ensure that everyone gets an internship and a job offer in their area of interest.

To add to all this, you have a scholarship(yes it isn't 40%, but it is still good enough). You'll even get the "IVY" tag, if that matters to you at all. Dartmouth's alumni network is very extensive and extremely helpful. I have gotten very positive and encouraging response from my interaction with their current and past students who've been very helpful. Go with your heart. I don't think you'll regret joining either of these programs. 

Wishing you all the best!

Edited March 16, 2017 by kenstar

[thoughtsabrewing]

7 hours ago, hexaninja said:

	DUKE	Dartmouth
Pros	Lesser tuition	Reputation (one of the Ivy leagues)
	Opportunities for funding in-terms of RA ship, TA ship and Resident Assistantship	20% tuition waiver, TA positions available
	Program is very flexible. All Technical electives can be chosen from any engineering department or can be replaced by business electives	Low batch size (50), better faculty to student ratio
	Medium cost of living	Excellent Industry and Alumni networks
	High campus activity. Lots of events all around the year in the department as well as the campus.	Cultural diversity and high selectivity
	Excellent industry and Alumni networks	More courses needed to complete the degree ensuring more exposure
	Very well-known and recognised brand label. Also excellent facilities for startups and proximity to RTP area, a high density of companies	Proximity to Boston and New York, excellent employment opportunities
Cons	Huge Asian population each year, skewing the diversity of the student body	More tuition and High cost of living
	Huge Batch size (>100) implying a poor faculty to student ratio	Location is in the middle of nowhere. All restaurants, clubs stores are miles away.
	Curriculum does not seem to be as intensive
	The degree is only 1year, though can be extended to 1.5 years

Are these the only 2 schools you're considering, or have you received acceptances from other MEM programs? Based on your list, and other factors, I'd go with Dartmouth.

[hexaninja]

@thoughtsabrewing 

I've received acceptances from Purdue and USC as well, waiting on Johns Hopkins decision. I've also applied to Stanford and Columbia but withdrew my applications from both the universities. Right now, my top choices are Duke and Dartmouth. I like Dartmouth better which is why I think I've been a little biased towards it in my comparison. What other factors do you think makes Dartmouth better? I've talked to alumni from Duke and they religiously believe Duke would be an otherworldly experience. 

[hexaninja]

6 hours ago, kenstar said:

Congratulations on these excellent admits.

Now getting to your question, it depends on your goals. If you want more exposure to management, duke(fuqua) seems to be more logical. I had applied to both these programs too. And if given the choice, I would have opted for Dartmouth for the following reasons:

1)Excellent placement record

2)Close-knit community owing to its small class size

3)The faculty, especially Mr. Ross Gortner, takes a lot of pains to ensure that everyone gets an internship and a job offer in their area of interest.

To add to all this, you have a scholarship(yes it isn't 40%, but it is still good enough). You'll even get the "IVY" tag, if that matters to you at all. Dartmouth's alumni network is very extensive and extremely helpful. I have gotten very positive and encouraging response from my interaction with their current and past students who've been very helpful. Go with your heart. I don't think you'll regret joining either of these programs. 

Wishing you all the best!

 

Thank you! I hope you are doing well with your application process too. I could see that you're going for management science and would love to hear about your career plans. 

Now onto the points you've made, upon the comparison, Duke also has excellent placement record. Even though Duke has a larger class, I hear they're quite close. Alumni say that the department pushes students to be social by sponsoring several events like poker nights, hiking events etc., resulting in a closely bonded community. The career services team at Duke seems to be of great help during internships, and the team also coordinates several events with industries helping students in networking. And yes, I've talked to Mr Ross during my interview and he is an amazing person. Now, even with the tuition waiver, Dartmouth still costs more. Dartmouth has the Ivy tag, but Duke is better recognised all over the world (?)

This is a little frustrating to choose. I feel like Dartmouth will help me grow up a lot as a professional but that Duke will make me a better person overall. You mentioned that you've applied to both these programs. May I ask what you're choosing?

[thoughtsabrewing]

25 minutes ago, hexaninja said:

@thoughtsabrewing 

I've received acceptances from Purdue and USC as well, waiting on Johns Hopkins decision. I've also applied to Stanford and Columbia but withdrew my applications from both the universities. Right now, my top choices are Duke and Dartmouth. I like Dartmouth better which is why I think I've been a little biased towards it in my comparison. What other factors do you think makes Dartmouth better? I've talked to alumni from Duke and they religiously believe Duke would be an otherworldly experience. 

I didn't apply to Duke, so maybe I'm a bit biased myself. Their program didn't really excite me as much as the others. Dartmouth I like their emphasis on their alumni network and everyone seems to fall in love with the place when they go there. I think school should be more than just a degree, it should be your experience and the people you meet and future job prospects. All the students I know and have talked to like it a lot, their internship program sounds cool, and I like the small tight knit community. I found their webinars very useful.

Since you have been accepted to USC, I was wondering why you're considering Duke/Dartmouth over USC? There isn't much information out there about MEM programs and I don't know a lot of people in this field, so I was wondering if you have any insights to share!

[TheMostPowerfulApplicant]

Is the MEM program associated with Tuck? If so... Tuck is much more renown in the MBA world than the Duke program (which isn't even official associated with Fuqua?).

Forget USC and Purdue, they are lower league