Duke vs. UVA (In-State)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP in NYC they’re both viewed as very good albeit super douchey, southern frat-boy unis......I would definitely go with the cheaper alternative.

Agreed. I got into both and am so glad I picked UVA. Completely anecdotal, but most Duke grads I've met are entitled blowhards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP in NYC they’re both viewed as very good albeit super douchey, southern frat-boy unis......I would definitely go with the cheaper alternative.

Agreed. I got into both and am so glad I picked UVA. Completely anecdotal, but most Duke grads I've met are entitled blowhards.

Would Duke win the most-douchey T20 award? I say yes.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand what you are saying about business and law school rankings. Your kid will be an undergrad and here are some considerations:

1. UVA has an undergrad business program, which you apply to as an undergrad for the last two years. Duke actually does not have any undergrad business.

2. Not sure what law has to do with it. Law isn't an undergrad major and if you want to go to a good law school, get a good LSAT score and a good GPA in anything.

[Anonymous]

Coach K heard about this thread and he's furious.





Tony Bennett isn't mad, just hopes everyone is happy in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke is definitely more prestigious, and its alumni connections would likely reflect that. That is a consideration IMO for throughout one’s career. Also, facilities at a private university are going to be superior to a state school, even one as good as UVA. If you can swing it financially, I’d go with Duke.

Ehh....

Growing up in the fancy private school world in Baltimore, Duke and UVA were close enough in prestige. UVA was, and I'm sure it is, very popular even as an OOS option for affluent preppy southern-leaning families and all their UVA bound kids go into finance or law or investment management and do extremely well in life. Duke had some preppies, but also an equal amount of dorkies.

There's quite a few UVA alums working on Wall Street. UVA is very respected and has a long history. Duke alum circles aren't particularly more impressive especially outside the mid-Atlantic. I wouldn't pay to go to Duke if UVA was the in-state option unless money was absolutely no issue whatsoever.

FYI I went to an Ivy. The notion of prestige really greatly drops after your first post-Ivy job. Only HYP, and even then I'd argue only Harvard, can carry you further simply based on the school name.

You can talk around this all you want, but at the same price point (OOS for UVA), Duke is very highly favored over UVA among cross-admits. Parchment has it at 82% Duke to 18% UVA. Assuming the in-state component of this is more favorable to UVA, probably 9 out of 10 or more may prefer Duke over UVA. It is only the price differential for in-state applicants that puts this in a different context.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP in NYC they’re both viewed as very good albeit super douchey, southern frat-boy unis......I would definitely go with the cheaper alternative.

Agreed. I got into both and am so glad I picked UVA. Completely anecdotal, but most Duke grads I've met are entitled blowhards.

Would Duke win the most-douchey T20 award? I say yes.

Inarguably.......and second place isn’t even close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke is definitely more prestigious, and its alumni connections would likely reflect that. That is a consideration IMO for throughout one’s career. Also, facilities at a private university are going to be superior to a state school, even one as good as UVA. If you can swing it financially, I’d go with Duke.

Ehh....

Growing up in the fancy private school world in Baltimore, Duke and UVA were close enough in prestige. UVA was, and I'm sure it is, very popular even as an OOS option for affluent preppy southern-leaning families and all their UVA bound kids go into finance or law or investment management and do extremely well in life. Duke had some preppies, but also an equal amount of dorkies.

There's quite a few UVA alums working on Wall Street. UVA is very respected and has a long history. Duke alum circles aren't particularly more impressive especially outside the mid-Atlantic. I wouldn't pay to go to Duke if UVA was the in-state option unless money was absolutely no issue whatsoever.

FYI I went to an Ivy. The notion of prestige really greatly drops after your first post-Ivy job. Only HYP, and even then I'd argue only Harvard, can carry you further simply based on the school name.

You can talk around this all you want, but at the same price point (OOS for UVA), Duke is very highly favored over UVA among cross-admits. Parchment has it at 82% Duke to 18% UVA. Assuming the in-state component of this is more favorable to UVA, probably 9 out of 10 or more may prefer Duke over UVA. It is only the price differential for in-state applicants that puts this in a different context.

How often is the higher ranked school NOT favored among cross-admits? Almost never happens. That didn't seem to be the OP's question. They were asking whether the cost premium for Duke is worth the "favored"/prestige premium. To me, that's a personal finance question. But if I faced that decision, I'd steer to UVA.

[Anonymous]

From a QOL POV, Charlottesville is a far better college town than Durham.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke is definitely more prestigious, and its alumni connections would likely reflect that. That is a consideration IMO for throughout one’s career. Also, facilities at a private university are going to be superior to a state school, even one as good as UVA. If you can swing it financially, I’d go with Duke.

Ehh....

Growing up in the fancy private school world in Baltimore, Duke and UVA were close enough in prestige. UVA was, and I'm sure it is, very popular even as an OOS option for affluent preppy southern-leaning families and all their UVA bound kids go into finance or law or investment management and do extremely well in life. Duke had some preppies, but also an equal amount of dorkies.

There's quite a few UVA alums working on Wall Street. UVA is very respected and has a long history. Duke alum circles aren't particularly more impressive especially outside the mid-Atlantic. I wouldn't pay to go to Duke if UVA was the in-state option unless money was absolutely no issue whatsoever.

FYI I went to an Ivy. The notion of prestige really greatly drops after your first post-Ivy job. Only HYP, and even then I'd argue only Harvard, can carry you further simply based on the school name.

You can talk around this all you want, but at the same price point (OOS for UVA), Duke is very highly favored over UVA among cross-admits. Parchment has it at 82% Duke to 18% UVA. Assuming the in-state component of this is more favorable to UVA, probably 9 out of 10 or more may prefer Duke over UVA. It is only the price differential for in-state applicants that puts this in a different context.

You can talk about this all YOU want, but the fact -- assuming that it's a fact -- that at the same price point high school seniors are highly likely to choose Duke over UVA doesn't mean that the schools aren't considered peers on Wall Street or when it comes to law or business more generally.

UVA is public school Duke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From a QOL POV, Charlottesville is a far better college town than Durham.

Have you been to Durham lately? Not the case anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke is definitely more prestigious, and its alumni connections would likely reflect that. That is a consideration IMO for throughout one’s career. Also, facilities at a private university are going to be superior to a state school, even one as good as UVA. If you can swing it financially, I’d go with Duke.

Ehh....

Growing up in the fancy private school world in Baltimore, Duke and UVA were close enough in prestige. UVA was, and I'm sure it is, very popular even as an OOS option for affluent preppy southern-leaning families and all their UVA bound kids go into finance or law or investment management and do extremely well in life. Duke had some preppies, but also an equal amount of dorkies.

There's quite a few UVA alums working on Wall Street. UVA is very respected and has a long history. Duke alum circles aren't particularly more impressive especially outside the mid-Atlantic. I wouldn't pay to go to Duke if UVA was the in-state option unless money was absolutely no issue whatsoever.

FYI I went to an Ivy. The notion of prestige really greatly drops after your first post-Ivy job. Only HYP, and even then I'd argue only Harvard, can carry you further simply based on the school name.

You can talk around this all you want, but at the same price point (OOS for UVA), Duke is very highly favored over UVA among cross-admits. Parchment has it at 82% Duke to 18% UVA. Assuming the in-state component of this is more favorable to UVA, probably 9 out of 10 or more may prefer Duke over UVA. It is only the price differential for in-state applicants that puts this in a different context.

How often is the higher ranked school NOT favored among cross-admits? Almost never happens. That didn't seem to be the OP's question. They were asking whether the cost premium for Duke is worth the "favored"/prestige premium. To me, that's a personal finance question. But if I faced that decision, I'd steer to UVA.

Plus no one in the world of college admissions actually pays attention to Parchment - their pool is too small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From a QOL POV, Charlottesville is a far better college town than Durham. [/quote]


+1. Absolutely. The Town and Gown problem in Durham has never gone away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what you are saying about business and law school rankings. Your kid will be an undergrad and here are some considerations:

1. UVA has an undergrad business program, which you apply to as an undergrad for the last two years. Duke actually does not have any undergrad business.

2. Not sure what law has to do with it. Law isn't an undergrad major and if you want to go to a good law school, get a good LSAT score and a good GPA in anything.

But UVA offers an Honors seminar program in politics (if you can get into it) and a major in Politics, Philosophy and the Law. It's law school is one of the most selective in the nation. My DS's roommate got into Duke Law but not UVA.

[Anonymous]

I went to an Ivy but was accepted to both Duke and UVA.

Duke offers more of an Ivy-like experience, but think Dartmouth-like behavior in faux-Princeton buildings with some Penn-like professional schools. I’m not sure the arrogant frat-boy culture at Duke is unique, but it is more obvious because the frats are right in the center of West Campus (or at least they used to be), not on the fringe as at many schools.

UVA has certain elements of a private-school culture, due to its history and location, but once you get outside the main grounds it’s basically like any other state university, which means most live off-campus and have to take ownership of their education because they aren’t going to be coddled like they would be at some pricey SLAC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what you are saying about business and law school rankings. Your kid will be an undergrad and here are some considerations:

1. UVA has an undergrad business program, which you apply to as an undergrad for the last two years. Duke actually does not have any undergrad business.

2. Not sure what law has to do with it. Law isn't an undergrad major and if you want to go to a good law school, get a good LSAT score and a good GPA in anything.

But UVA offers an Honors seminar program in politics (if you can get into it) and a major in Politics, Philosophy and the Law. It's law school is one of the most selective in the nation. My DS's roommate got into Duke Law but not UVA.

So what?