Great problem to have -- but they are so different in every way but quality/prestige. Personally I would immediately choose Brown but I only say that to emphasize that she will likely have a gut feeling or preference. Apparently according to PP many prefer Duke.

More than half of my friends at Yale who came in as pre-med ended up majoring in sociology, American studies, history etc. I would encourage my kid to pick the school that feels most “right” to them. Both are excellent academic institutions and getting caught up in rankings/perceived prestige, others’ opinions can lead to regret.

Neither school known for engineering. Decide on other factors.

Fantastic conundrum! Congrats,
I echo those who said how common it is for kids to change majors. It took mine one semester of engineering to change 😊
Have DC consider which school they prefer if they do not stick with the intended major
Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivy is Ivy

Maybe this logic works against some schools but it's literally Duke. It's more prestigious than half the ivies. Brown is great too but if anything Duke is the choice unless there's a compelling reason for Brown.

+1 the ivy argument doesn’t go against duke, it’s too good of a school on its own. People forget that stanford isn’t an ivy either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke. Can't imagine studying engineering with open curriculum.

+1, my friend knows someone whose daughter goes to Brown. At the time of admit, she was all into Engineering but she ended up studying English and African studies at Brown. I am not sure if she would have paid the full price for Brown if she knew her daughter won't get a STEM degree, open curriculum is not ALL good

How does going to Duke change the possibility that an engineering major will decide it's not for them and choose to transfer schools to do a humanities major?

Anonymous wrote:Ivy is Ivy

Maybe this logic works against some schools but it's literally Duke. It's more prestigious than half the ivies. Brown is great too but if anything Duke is the choice unless there's a compelling reason for Brown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke. Can't imagine studying engineering with open curriculum.

+1, my friend knows someone whose daughter goes to Brown. At the time of admit, she was all into Engineering but she ended up studying English and African studies at Brown. I am not sure if she would have paid the full price for Brown if she knew her daughter won't get a STEM degree, open curriculum is not ALL good

Kids change majors all the time. I went to UVA and knew many kids who dropped out of the engineering program for other majors. This is not a Brown/open curriculum thing.

Anonymous wrote:Duke. Can't imagine studying engineering with open curriculum.

Open curriculum refers to core requirements, not major requirements. Engineering concentrations (majors) at Brown have a normal suite of requirements, just like at any other school. But when students are not fulfilling their concentration requirements, they can take whatever they want without worrying about checking boxes.

Anonymous wrote:Duke. Can't imagine studying engineering with open curriculum.

+1, my friend knows someone whose daughter goes to Brown. At the time of admit, she was all into Engineering but she ended up studying English and African studies at Brown. I am not sure if she would have paid the full price for Brown if she knew her daughter won't get a STEM degree, open curriculum is not ALL good

Duke. Can't imagine studying engineering with open curriculum.

Duke..

Campus, people and flexible / open curriculum would have me lean toward Brown.

Anonymous wrote:How serious is she about engineering and what does she want to fo with it? Duke has the obvious advantage barring something in her answer which would lean toward Brown.

Can you name what that obvious advantage is?

How serious is she about engineering and what does she want to fo with it? Duke has the obvious advantage barring something in her answer which would lean toward Brown.