Harvard , Princeton , Yale , Hopkins, Stanford, MIT, Caltech.


All other privates are a waste of money that can be easily outperformed by state flagships.

Depends on the child and interests/major.

They both have a little too much of the old boy/frat culture for my personal taste though. I'd probably discourage both.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA has a 30% admit rate. Duke is 10%. Of course Duke is better. If cost is not an issue, the choice is obvious.

Admit rates are simply a result of marketing efforts. You need to look at the profile of the class and the post-graduation outcomes to get a measure of "better".

Class profile? The overwhelming majority of UVA students could would not get admitted to Duke. Look at the Common Data set.

There are only a few schools that would be worth it over UVA in-state. Duke is not one of them.

Anonymous wrote:UVA has a 30% admit rate. Duke is 10%. Of course Duke is better. If cost is not an issue, the choice is obvious.

Admit rates are simply a result of marketing efforts. You need to look at the profile of the class and the post-graduation outcomes to get a measure of "better".

UVA has a 30% admit rate. Duke is 10%. Of course Duke is better. If cost is not an issue, the choice is obvious.

UVA for undergrad and Duke for grad

There are certain circles where UVA is more impressive than Duke....

Not kidding. Among certain segments of old money southern families, UVA is very desirable. Duke less so (school filled with damn Yankees).

On a more serious note, Duke has the advantages that comes with being a well-endowed private institute, but if the differential is full tuition versus in-state at UVA, UVA is no brainer. Unless you genuinely won't notice the difference in the bills, go for UVA. If you're lucky enough to easily pay the extra tuition, let the child pick between the two. I don't think Duke is any better in terms of prestige or opportunities for a kid who's capable enough to get into both colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are crazy to choose Duke or UVA resident UNLESS $40K per year after-tax means NOTHING to you.

Blowing the money is worth the envy that Duke sticker on the BMW stokes in families at the country club, colleagues at the office, etc.

No to the no to the no to the no to the , NO NO NO
+10,000,000

In my opinion, no, it isn't worth the price differential whatsoever in 2017. The PP who said Duke was more Southern doesn't know squat. Of the incoming freshmen class, 10% are from NC, that's it. Yes, some come from SC, VA and GA, but the overwhelming majority of the origins of the undergrads is very geographically diverse, with a large number of international students and students from the mid-atlantic and north east (it definitely does draw a large number from NJ, NY, PA and MA, it's just a fact).

Academic wise, UVA is considered one of the original public ivy schools, it has a very good academic reputation, it draws very prestigious faculty to work there, it draws very intelligent students to attend and has a very strong alumni network. It is a medium large size public universities with several degrees that have excellent national standings, many opportunities to join different organizations, get different experiences. The instate tuition price tag should not be ignored. Someone has to pay it either now (parents) or later (student via loans or parents via loans). Graduating with as little debt as possible should be a goal for everyone.

Duke is a good school, it has good name recognition, I assume it has a good alumni network. Pros to Duke: smaller private school and everything that comes along with that, most students live on campus all 4 years which breeds a very strong on campus pro Duke atmosphere/ camaraderie and strengthens bonds between students, all freshmen I believe live in same dorms together, strong academics. Cons to Duke: incredibly insular (school is in Durham, and locals do not strongly embrace the school or the students, vs UVA where Charlottesville is a true college town, there tends to be townies vs. students tension, having UNC and NC State so close probably doesn't help this issue), super expensive and probably will continue being so every year, elitist vibe.

For me, it would not be worth the price difference. I think you can get everything at UVA that you also can get at Duke, in a nicer town, for a much better price.

Anonymous wrote:If you can afford it, go for it

go for it. Then worry about this question after you get accepted to both plaes.

If you can afford it, go for it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Head north. The south has terrible schools and terrible rednecks.

True.

Duke really isn't very southern in most ways, even the fraternities. It has more in common with Yale, Princeton or Wesleyan than it does with Ole Miss, Clemson or Wake Forest.

duke is more southern than u.miami. duke and yale/wes are very dissimilar. it is closer to penn/princeton in feeling but it is closer to wake and vandy more than anything up north

Yale, Princeton and Wesleyan is not a pairing that makes sense. Princeton and Wesleyan are pretty much two extremes on the very good academically + mainstream school spectrum in terms of culture; Yale is sort of in the middle, but closer to Wesleyan by a little bit.

can anyone explain how duke has a higher asian % than ivies?

i found that really interesting.

does duke have specific programs/outreach that ivies don't have?

Duke is very southern. Get real.