<p>I posted this in the Duke forum as well, but I wanted to make as informed of a decision as possible. For those who don't know, the Angier B. Duke Scholarship is a full-ride to Duke with an all-expense-paid six-week summer program at Oxford. </p>
<p>Anyway, I'm not exactly set on a major yet, but it will probably fall along the lines of history, political science, economics, etc.</p>
<p>Some factors that I'm taking into consideration-</p>
<p>I'm not a super-crazy sports fan, but I do think a healthy dose of school spirit is great. Above that, however, I value an intellectual community and I'm really not a big fan of Greek life or the drugs and alcohol scene. Ultimate goal is grad school, whether it be law, medical, business, whatever. I'm still pretty unsure.</p>
<p>Weather is moot point for me because I've lived in (and enjoyed) places with all sorts of weather. </p>
<p>With the AB, you’re set in a way that you wouldn’t be at Harvard. You’re guaranteed not to get lost in the crowd and to have fantastic opportunities. At Harvard, your peers might be a little more “sparkly” and you won’t be guaranteed to stand out. </p>
<p>While I’m not at Harvard, I have one friend who chose the AB over Princeton and another who chose Princeton over the AB. Both are happy, but they have different personalities: the one at Princeton likes to be surrounded by interesting people and loves learning at any cost and doesn’t care so much about grades; the one at Duke wants to do business or law and is more Type A. (I have no idea what I would have picked, although the AB sounds like an unbeatable opportunity.)</p>
<p>Key factor is if you qualify for aid at Harvard. If not, you are saving about $250k by going to Duke. Harvard is great, but I’m not sure it’s worth giving up $250k when you will still get a great education at Duke.</p>
<p>Just make sure Coach K intends to be there for 4 years ;)</p>
<p>Money is a non-issue to me. I qualify for a non-unsubstantial amount of aid at Harvard, and my family is willing and able to put the money into a Harvard education if need be.</p>
<p>“Money is a non-issue to me. I qualify for a non-unsubstantial amount of aid at Harvard, and my family is willing and able to put the money into a Harvard education if need be”</p>
<p>Then go to H. </p>
<p>The AB at Duke (in terms of the $$$) would be the main reason, IMO, for this discussion</p>
<p>Not really dadfind, AB Duke winners are ridiculously over represented at the top fellowships (Rhodes, Marshall, etc.), top graduate programs (PhD in Economics in MIT, PhD in Math in Princeton, etc.), and top professional programs (Harvard Med, Yale Law, etc.). You"ll get a lot more intimate faculty support as an AB Duke as well as grants for research and your recommendation letters/research experience will thus reflect that when you apply for further education.</p>
<p>It also may be more advantageous to be an AB Duke than a regular Harvard student since you’ve already been pre screened (the former is tougher to achieve than the latter).</p>
<p>^ I fully agree. A family friend’s daughter was an AB Duke winner and she is currently at Harvard Med School. Her experience was wonderful (she chose this over offers from Princeton and Stanford) as she had great relationships with professors and huge opportunities to research in her double major of biology and international relations. </p>
<p>Think of it this way–With a Harvard college education, you will be another brilliant fish with the other brilliant fish, and with an AB Duke opportunity, you will be given extra opportunity for grad and med school, and be recognized more for your achievements at one of the best universities in the country. </p>
<p>Not to mention, the full ride is a great bonus with the prestige of Duke. (I know that you have no worries about money, but hey, saving money on a top university isn’t terrible.) </p>
<p>What you do is your choice–either way, you will be attending a top university. Congrats!</p>
<p>Typical winners of Duke’s merit scholarships are go getters who would have no problem grabbing all of the opportunities at Harvard that they want. If money is not an issue, then it really does boil down to fit.</p>
<p>“Then don’t involve yourself with Greek life, or the drugs and alcohol scene.”</p>
<p>Sure, you can do this, but you’re cutting out a much larger chunk of your social options if you do this at at Duke than at Harvard.</p>
<p>I have never known anyone at Harvard who wanted to study abroad in the summer and could not get the program they wanted. You can go wherever you want.</p>
<p>“Money is a non-issue to me.”</p>
<p>Then I don’t think the scholarship ought to matter. Would the decision be easier if you hadn’t gotten the scholarship? If so, go with the choice you would have made without it, whichever it is.</p>
<p>4 years ago, my daughter chose Harvard over the AB Duke, and she has no regrets. If you are planning on med school or research, then AB Duke maybe a better bet, as you will get all the best labs and opportunities at Duke. As a scholar, you will have more access to grants, and to your top choice for labs, classes, and mentors. You will already have an amazing network of AB scholars, who were extremely supportive when my daughter had interviewed. Harvard also has amazing labs and research opps, but you will have to seek it out on your own. My daughter wasn’t interested in research and ended up majoring in Social studies. She got interested in consulting, and when these companies came on campus to recruit, there were about 300 students applying for these internships/jobs. Before she came to harvard, she didn’t know much about consulting, as we are from the medical field. She gained an understanding of it through her peers and got so interested in it, that after landing a summer internship, she will be working at one of these firms after graduating. I am not sure if she would have that much exposure at Duke. I have no idea, but she met some amazing peers at H and learned so much through her interactions with them. If you are a go getter, then you will be pleased at Harvard. If you choose the AB Duke, you will have a great network right from your first year.
All the best. Both are wonderful choices and you couldn’t go wrong with either choice</p>
<p>This is an easy choice – AB at Duke. This will be more impressive to employers, academics etc and open up more opportunities both at Duke, Oxford, and later on than at Harvard.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is any right or wrong choice here. It mostly depends on your personality. If you like to blaze your own trail, and are willing to network and seek out people and opportunities, then you will thrive at Harvard. D was unsure of which ec and club to pursue at H in her first year, but by her second year, she had met someone who had similar interests and personality type, and together they ended up founding their own organization to rescue victims of sex trafficking. She has met so many incredible professors, mentors, and students at Harvard and has done v. well for herself. But, she never sits for a moment and loves to meet up with her seniors, grad school students and learn from their experiences. She has managed to travel several times to the country where she founded her organization all funded by grants. She has traveled to Argentina for a summer internship again funded by a grant through H. She sought and found people with similar kind of drive and interests as her at Harvard. i am not sure if that would have been the case at Duke and maybe you should contact some of the current AB Dukers to ask them of their experiences.</p>