Hi WSO,
My Background: Large State School, 3.4 GPA, 650 GMAT. Accepted to multiple graduate programs, but Vandy MSF and Duke MMS are my top two preference. UG major Accounting, Accounting Internships, Public Accounting Full Time (less than 1 year). Targeting IBD in MM or Boutique.
I know there are plenty of posts on Vandy vs Duke, but I wanted an updated version since the last relevant post was for 2012. Financially, both schools would provide the same amount of scholarships. My decision is based on the helpfulness of Vandy's alumni vs. Duke's prestige. From what I heard, Vandy's MSF program seems to place more Banking roles while Duke's MMS has a diverse placement between banking, consulting, and other BO roles. If I have no direct finance experience and only have an accounting background, will I have a better advantage with the support and help from Vandy's advisers & alumni's (who all seem very eager to help) or from Duke's prestige (since I will have more face time with some large banks at UG career fairs).
On the Streets, is the prestige from Duke going to offset all the networking & interview prep from Vandy? Hopefully ANT can answer this.