A.B. Duke or Harvard?

<p>I just finished visiting both, and still, I can't reach a decision between Harvard and full-ride at Duke.</p>

<p>My interests: applied mathematics, possibly pre-med route (particular interest in bioinformatics/biophysics etc...)</p>

<p>Duke benefits: Summer at Oxford (6 weeks expense paid), President's Scholar Grant (5,000 stipend), more contact with professors</p>

<p>Harvard: Name, network, more opportunities based on funding?</p>

<p>If there are any more (or if I'm wrong), please add them.</p>

<p>I have some concerns about Harvard: competitiveness, little undergraduate attention, how difficult it is to rise to the top and be competitive for top graduate and medical/law programs</p>

<p>Concerns about Duke: I get the impression that it's a party school (but that's probably wrong); perhaps I won't get the same competitive push I will at Harvard, but maybe that won't matter if I'm independent enough</p>

<p>It's difficult to say, since I'm not very sure of what I want to do career wise/even after undergraduate. </p>

<p>Any advice is greatly appreciated. I feel as though I don't know enough of both sides of the story (especially concerning research) to make a sound judgment.</p>

<p>Well, do you want to be a small fish in a big pond or vice versa? It is a matter of preference.</p>

<p>If you look at many of the threads on the Harvard board, you'll see lots of Harvard students essentially saying "Where on Earth do you all get this stuff about cutthroat environment and lack of undergrad attention?!" It's largely myth. My D's never sensed competitiveness among her peers, and she's had amazing faculty attention. Harvard has connected her with incredible internship opportunities in South America, helped fund them, paid her stipends for her out-of-the-classroom performing arts activities, and is sending her to China to teach for two weeks, all expenses other than airfare paid. Her faculty know her by name, her residential college has a live-in faculty House Master and live-in tutorial staff, and the school basically looks for ways to make students' plans do-able when they request funding. Yes, the housing varies widely in quality, but the school just announced a $1 billion, 15-year complete renovation of all housing - that's hardly apathy toward their undergrads.</p>

<p>Is Harvard giving you any $? If not, then I say definitely go with Duke. It's not like you're deciding between a full ride at state school vs. Harvard; Duke is still a big name, and if you're interested in biology/premed then it's excellent. Regardless of whether one may be stronger than the other in those fields, they're both very strong, and it would be nitpicking to make your decision based off of this. All of what gadad says may be true, but regardless, a free education at Duke is a huge opportunity!</p>

<p>I was in the same situation three years ago (well, almost, I was a Robertson). Number one thing to keep in mind throughout is that you're incredibly lucky, and there's no way you can make a "wrong" choice.</p>

<p>If money is a big issue/concern, go to Duke (but talk to the Harvard financial aid office first!). The difference between either choice isn't large enough to warrant going $100k in debt or something crazy like that.</p>

<p>The big factors for me in the decision were:
* More of an academic environment at Harvard - I felt like the kids I met during prefrosh weren't at all afraid to be dorky and excited about the things that interested them. I actually liked that Duke was more of a party school, but I hated the vibe that I got while I was visiting that being smart wasn't really cool.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Location. Boston > Durham for quite a lot of things (except weather).</p></li>
<li><p>Blazing my own path vs. following one that was set for me. I'm not sure how A.B. Duke works, but for the Robertson program, we essentially had our summers planned out for us in advance (at least in terms of general type of work + funding arranged). I'm sure that's nice (and less stressful) but finding, applying, and planning my summers at Harvard has been INCREDIBLY rewarding - both in what I've been able to do (sky's the limit) and learning from the process.</p></li>
</ul>

<p><em>Ability to do almost anything with your degree. One piece of advice I got (from a Duke alum, actually) was that if I was *sure</em> I wanted to be premed, go to Duke. But if I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, and wanted a really broad range of post-grad options, to go to Harvard. This has actually proven really true - I'm a bio major, who may go into computer science, or business. I'm not sure I would have had the same flexibility to get a job unrelated to my major, had I gone to Duke.</p>

<p>Giving up Duke basketball = so hard for me.</p>

<p>Feel free to PM me! Good luck with the decision.</p>

<p>If you're ambivalent at this point and thinking about going pre-med, I'd go with Duke. I'm a skeptic of the school in general; I think, as someone mentioned, there isn't much of an academic drive there among the student body. But if you have no issue with the student body at Duke, and are sure about pre-med, go. You'd be going through one of the better programs at the school, and spending no money on undergrad, which is something you'll be happy with after you get your bachelor's. If not, you have a tough choice to make. Best of luck.</p>

<p>Unless you have to borrow more than 5K a year at Harvard I would choose Harvard, but the Duke offer is incredible.</p>

<p>I'm getting around $10,000 from Harvard.</p>

<p>I received the AB Duke and have recently made my decision to attend Harvard. I received good aid from H and am paying the amount my family said on the CSS that they were willing to pay. Yale was unable to match and I am now extremely happy about my decision.
Everything fell in place gradually. All 3 are good schools and I am not certain about pursuing a career in research/ medicine, that's why I was leaning towards H and Y. When Y did not match H's aid, it became clear to me that I was not coming out with any loans.</p>

<p>People have to understand that the AB Duke program is not "just" a full ride. So, it's not just normal student at Duke for free vs. normal student at Harvard for cost. The AB Duke is seen as the most prestigious scholarship at Duke given to about 15 people a year, and graduate schools, jobs, scholarship committees will know this. Yes, the full ride is nice, but the program puts you in an great position to do exceptional things. The opportunities given to AB Duke's are ridiculous and they are waaay overrepresented in Rhodes, Mitchell, Marshall, Fulbright, etc. scholarships every year. In fact, since 1998, TEN AB Duke's have won the Rhodes, including 3 in 2001. A.B. Duke Award Winners Those numbers are just staggering. Most entire schools can't claim 10 Rhodes scholarships in the last 10 years, but among a pool of just 150 students, there have been 10. Obviously, Harvard is represented well by Rhodes scholars, but obviously not over 5% of Harvard students win it - that is the percentage of AB Dukes in the last 10 years. This is not only because the students are outstanding, which is true, but they are also given amazing opportunities like none other. You receive full tuition and living expenses, funding and grants for research, one or two semesters of study abroad, a 6-weeks at Oxford over a summer paid, and professors WILL give you lots of attention. And, yes, it's viewed as a lot more prestigious than the Robertson, so you can't exactly equate the two. I just think the opportunities of an AB Duke outweigh those of an "average" Harvard student. And if prestige is what's important, you have it because people will know you were an AB Duke - it's not the same as a "normal" Duke student (which in itself is quite prestigious, but not as much as a "normal" Harvard student).</p>

<p>Edit: Just wanted to make clear that I fully understand that the opportunities (research, funding, extracurriculars, etc.) Harvard gives its undergrads are truly among the best in the world, I'm just saying that I think AB Duke is slightly better. Really can't go wrong with either choice.</p>

<p>I'm not quite sure where the sense of lack of attention to undergraduates is coming from. I've never felt that the graduates students (except for maybe those at the Biz school) are getting more attention than the undergraduates do. After all, the center of campus is entirely devoted to undergraduate housing. </p>

<p>With regards to opportunities, there's such a plethora of opportunities and funding especially for the sciences. People pick up lab jobs at any of the number of hospitals/med schools in the local area and at, of course, the labs in the university. So, in some senses, being at a college in the middle of a large university bodes well to exponentially increasing your research opportunities and contact to notable professors (you just have to go bug them at their office). </p>

<p>While some other schools are particularly public about their science funding, Harvard is not when it comes to admissions. But, I know people who have gotten FULL funding to work at a laboratory in Switzerland or in Argentina. There's PRISE for people doing research in the Boston area, Weisman for international opportunities, and Hershell Smith, sp?, for general science research. The student employment office also has their own grants as well. </p>

<p>While some programs, like PRISE, are competitive, the Weisman is competitive in the sense that you just need to be really really prepared for it. </p>

<p>Also keep in mind, that all the institutes and centers at Harvard can also provide funding/research/learning opportunities. </p>

<p>I'll admit that I am not sure what Duke is like, but coming to Harvard won't close any doors for you, research wise. (ALL my friends that I know who want to pursue research ARE pursuing research, and not all of them have come to college with research experience.)</p>

<ul>
<li>Tlon_Verb
survivingharvard.com</li>
</ul>

<p>Jarey?</p>

<p>In any case go to Harvard</p>

<p>"Well, do you want to be a small fish in a big pond or vice versa? It is a matter of preference."</p>

<p>Neither Harvard nor Duke could be considered a small pond.</p>

<p>
[quote]
My interests: applied mathematics

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Harvard. </p>

<p>Well, actually, the advice I always give when the choice is this close is to go to the college that is farther from home, less culturally like the place you grew up. That would be Harvard for you, wouldn't it?</p>

<p>"Well, do you want to be a small fish in a big pond or vice versa? It is a matter of preference."</p>

<p>Haha, another reason to go to Duke: Harvard arrogance.</p>

<p>My vote for you is to pick Harvard! You can't go wrong with a Harvard education</p>

<p>I concur!!!</p>

<p>"Haha, another reason to go to Duke: Harvard arrogance."</p>

<p>Oh the irony...</p>

<p>I've seen arrogance at community colleges. Assure yourself, arrogance exists everywhere.</p>

<p>I think it all depends on how much your parents are willing to help you with paying for it, and how you personally feel about debt in case they don't want to pay for it all.</p>

<p>Harvard sounds like a better fit for you all-around: I can't see anything that would truly draw you personally to Duke other than the financial situation.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>TAdd,</p>

<p>Interesting that you feel so strongly that Harvard students/families are so arrogant that you would refer someone to Duke, but on your other posts you say that you are still waiting for Harvard to let you know if you made it off the waitlist. Please, no sour grapes!</p>