Brown or Duke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD admitted to Brown and Duke last week. We don't qualify for any FA, so the cost is virtually the same. DD plans to study premed track. We had visited both schools earlier in our college tour, and DD liked them both. DD has no idea where to stay after graduation from college. We know that they are both good choices, but DD has hard time to make a decision. She's frustrated. Please provide some suggestions. Thank you very much in advance.

Congratulations to your daughter! She must be a great student! And both are great schools! I'd choose Brown because it's in the Northeast and is an Ivy and has a less Southern frat-boy reputation. I think both schools are excellent choices. Where does she want to be geographically? Does she mind the weather in Providence? Does she like Boston? It's an hour from Brown. Duke is in the research triangle, so there's lots of opportunities in that area and better weather. Does she have some idea of where she'd like to end up? Brown graduates go anywhere, so that's not a real consideration, but she'd be spending four years in the Northeast, so ought to like it. It can get gray in the winter, which can get you down. I feel like Brown has a slightly better reputation than Duke, but that's my NE prejudice, I'm sure.

We get it, you like the Northeast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where she goes is much less important than her grades and her medical ECs.

THIS. Opposite vibes at these schools so it’s odd that she wouldn’t have a clear opinion.

+1 This is like the people on the real estate forum asking if they should buy a second home at the beach or in the mountains. These are different enough that you should know if you’re one or the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where she goes is much less important than her grades and her medical ECs.

THIS. Opposite vibes at these schools so it’s odd that she wouldn’t have a clear opinion.

OP here. The elite college admissions today are like buying the lottery ticket. The chance of admission is so low that you have to buy a lot of tickets to increase your odds. Without admissions, vibes have no meaning. When the result comes back, it is possible that you could receive schools with different vibes. It is just reality and that's why I asked here for your opinions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where she goes is much less important than her grades and her medical ECs.

THIS. Opposite vibes at these schools so it’s odd that she wouldn’t have a clear opinion.

+1 This is like the people on the real estate forum asking if they should buy a second home at the beach or in the mountains. These are different enough that you should know if you’re one or the other.

Nah, I get it. I would be so thrilled if I got either home in the mountains or on the beach. Also I'd be thrilled if I got into either Duke or Brown. I didn't know I had The Choice before I got accepted. Now that I have The Choice, the question is what to do

[Anonymous]

The idea of fit is so overblown. Campuses have vibes, yes, but that doesn't mean that the same student couldn't love them both.

And anyway- Duke is comp to Dartmouth, Dartmouth is comp to Brown. It's not so far off. You're not picking a vacation spot, it's a different thing.

Can the same student love Grinnell and NYU, and feel they both have a lot to offer? Yes. Definitely.

Enough with the posts disagreeing with the question anyhow. Don't click on it, just move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The idea of fit is so overblown. Campuses have vibes, yes, but that doesn't mean that the same student couldn't love them both.

And anyway- Duke is comp to Dartmouth, Dartmouth is comp to Brown. It's not so far off. You're not picking a vacation spot, it's a different thing.

Can the same student love Grinnell and NYU, and feel they both have a lot to offer? Yes. Definitely.

Enough with the posts disagreeing with the question anyhow. Don't click on it, just move on.

This can be true - but for some kids, after getting acceptances and then going to visit....you see the schools in a new light and can pay attention to more details than you did when you were considering which lottery tickets to buy! I know for my kids, weather would make a huge difference at these schools - one favoring cold and the other warm. Similarly, one would love big sports and the other not care. Personalities of these schools are different. It's not saying OPs DC will suddenly hate a school that they chose to apply to....it's just saying that now that they get a real choice, visits may very well sway clearly in one direction or another.

OP - I hope the visits help and congrats to your DC.

[Anonymous]

I will say this.. think Zac Efron for Dukies preppy boys..(https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-actor-zac-efron-is-seen-in-a-preppy-look-while-on-the-set-of-townies-70672558.html).. John Krasinski for Brown boys.. which types do you prefer and hang out with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will say this.. think Zac Efron for Dukies preppy boys..(https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-actor-zac-efron-is-seen-in-a-preppy-look-while-on-the-set-of-townies-70672558.html).. John Krasinski for Brown boys.. which types do you prefer and hang out with?

Not helpful, need both! John, for sure, but Zac on weekends.

[Anonymous]

Duke- RI weather blows!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will say this.. think Zac Efron for Dukies preppy boys..(https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-actor-zac-efron-is-seen-in-a-preppy-look-while-on-the-set-of-townies-70672558.html).. John Krasinski for Brown boys.. which types do you prefer and hang out with?

Not helpful, need both! John, for sure, but Zac on weekends.

Gosh, I hope our kids are not choosing colleges on this basis!!

[Anonymous]

A lot of pre-med classes at Brown are mandatory pass/fail. You do not take them for a grade. It is a very healthy place to do pre-med and an excellent program all around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of pre-med classes at Brown are mandatory pass/fail. You do not take them for a grade. It is a very healthy place to do pre-med and an excellent program all around.

Can you name one? One class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of pre-med classes at Brown are mandatory pass/fail. You do not take them for a grade. It is a very healthy place to do pre-med and an excellent program all around.

This is a common misconception. Premed kids at Brown are told to take premed classes for a grade by premed advisors. On the other hand, they encourage students to challenge themselves by taking hard, but interesting classes for pass/fail where they have no prior backgrounds. For example, people who don’t know anything about coding can take CS classes pass/fail without worrying about grades for med school.. STEM student can take creative writing, theater classes without worrying about grades. Brown encourages even premed to push their boundaries and explore new fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am going to call foul on these posts. Besides the abundance of x v Y posts popping up since last week, Brown and Duke are very different. Hard for me to imagine a situation where a kid has what it takes to be admitted to both and then posts such a throwaway question.

Right? Why would someone apply to both of these?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am going to call foul on these posts. Besides the abundance of x v Y posts popping up since last week, Brown and Duke are very different. Hard for me to imagine a situation where a kid has what it takes to be admitted to both and then posts such a throwaway question.

Right? Why would someone apply to both of these?

Brown and Duke have always been grouped together in some people's minds, because back in the day (think 80s and 90s) they were known as the two well regarded schools that you could most readily buy your kid into. For some people there is actually a certain cachet to that because of the crowd that it attracts. I am not suggesting you can buy your way into those schools today any more than any other top school, but the cachet-related mindset is still a thing for some.