Duke [Full Scholarship] vs MIT [$77k/year]

[Anonymous]

You can’t beat free

[Anonymous]

Fun fact: current President of MIT, Sally Kornbluth, was Provost at Duke for almost 10 years.

[Anonymous]

How sure are they about CS? Where do they want to go more?

[Anonymous]

No brainer - Duke. That is a huge difference. Duke CS is very good - agreed that not as many grads go into hard core programming type roles, but they all get great jobs. I know someone who is C-suite at a fortune 100 financial services firm in the DMV who is a Duke CS alum. Tim Cook went to Fuqua but loves Duke in general. Luis von Ahn is a Duke math major who did very well in CS. And Noam Shazeer.

The cultures of the school are very different so that matters. A Duke CS alum will be a much happier, more well-rounded person. Which matters a lot to me, but doesn't matter to others.

There is also the chance that he goes to college and hates CS. So I wouldn't obsess over major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid won a merit scholarship at Duke which would give him a full tuition, room, and board scholarship. He was also admitted to MIT, but received little aid and we would have to pay $77k/year. MIT was one of his dream schools, but I am wondering if we should go with Duke and maybe just give him the college money we saved as a graduation gift? I love the thought of him at MIT, but it seems nonsensical to turn down a full ride at a T10 just to pay out the nose for a T5. What would you do in this situation?

I can't imagine the parent of a kid that gets into Duke and MIT is looking for guidance on an anonymous forum.

[Anonymous]

I'm an MIT grad (not CS) and I would definitely say go to Duke. Kid is likely going to grad school anyway and can go to MIT then.

MIT has a new rule that students can spend no more than five years enrolled, so if he goes undergrad he cannot go for a later degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid won a merit scholarship at Duke which would give him a full tuition, room, and board scholarship. He was also admitted to MIT, but received little aid and we would have to pay $77k/year. MIT was one of his dream schools, but I am wondering if we should go with Duke and maybe just give him the college money we saved as a graduation gift? I love the thought of him at MIT, but it seems nonsensical to turn down a full ride at a T10 just to pay out the nose for a T5. What would you do in this situation?

Do Duke for undergrad, save the $$$$$$$$ and apply to MIT for graduate school in the future

No, MIT is not worth $320K more

If they go to MIT for undergrad, they don't need a graduate degree. They are majoring in CS not prelaw or premed.

That is very wrong. Lots of people -- esp kids at the top of the class, like OP's kid, go for PhD or MBA degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
MIT has a new rule that students can spend no more than five years enrolled, so if he goes undergrad he cannot go for a later degree.

Citation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No comparison.

For CS your go to MIT even if it cost 10x more than Duke.

Not for undergrad -- for undergrad it doesn't make that much of a difference from one elite school to another

[Anonymous]

My nephew would have killed to have a full ride at Duke.
Think of all the money you will have for visiting, traveling with him when he has a break, for him to have savings/spending money, for him to pay for conveniences. And if he works a little in either case, it won’t be *necessary.*
77k per year goes a long way to things outside of tuition.

[Anonymous]

For CS, I would full pay if I could afford it and it sounds like you can. Other option is to go to Duke and go for a masters, which is good to have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d pick Duke under these circumstances…and I’m a Tarheel! Full ride at a top school is hard to pass up, even if the other option is technically better by some metrics. Huge savings for your family. Congrats, whatever the decision!

+1

Unless the $77K/year (that's nearly $320K total) is a "drop in the bucket" for your family, I simply don't see MIT as "that much better". A kid who can get into both and get a full scholarship with everything paid for at Duke is very smart. he will do exceedingly well wherever he attends college. So save the $$$ and let him graduate debt free and you not stress about your retirement or future kids college, etc.

MIT will have a better peer group so he may be happier. However for CS, often the college doesn't matter except maybe the first few years.

[Anonymous]

Never go to dook.

[Anonymous]

Isn't this the same troll who put out five more similar threads?

[Anonymous]

Can’t beat the Duke package