<p>I have a giant dilemma. I am in love with Bowdoin College and Duke University. Both have excellent grad school placement, beautiful campuses, top-tier academics,etc. I was going to base my decision on money, but I basically received full rides to both (my family’s pretty poor, so I received about $44,000 from both schools, and I can pay the $2,000 difference at either one with the National Achievement scholarship I won this year). I understand that this is an awesome problem to have, but it’s still killing me. So, does anybody have any advice for me? I live in North Carolina, so Bowdoin would be a big change for me, but Durham is a little sketchy.</p>
<p>They're really, really tough to compare. Personally, I would not be comfortable at such a huge university like Duke. At Bowdoin, you get one-on-one attention from the profs. Its smaller but more iniminate environment. I am going to Bowdoin for undergrad, and think that I have plenty time to go to a big school like Duke for grad school.</p>
<p>I'm from Chapel Hill, I went to school in Durham (Durham Academy) and for me, I really wanted to get out of town. I came to Bowdoin and I'm having a blast. I'd also echo KSolow's point about the individual attention.</p>
<p>Haha! I am making a similar decision, but with Davidson added into the mix as well. Everyone hears Bowdoin and Duke and comments on how different they are- i'm glad someone else is interested in both of them too! I'm visiting Duke this weekend and Bowdoin at some point in the next few weeks to help me decide!</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your input. I'm trying to figure out exactly what I love about both of them and make my decision rationally...like an adult...gross.</p>
<p>~highschoolsenior- awesome! I'll be @ Duke this weekend, too. I'm so freaked out. I got accepted to Wake Forest and Bates as well, but I think I've pretty much narrowed it down to these two. </p>
<p>Any other comments would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I would pick Duke. It has incredible resources and a greater mix of people. It's a fantastic school!</p>
<p>One of my best friends is going to Duke next year and Im going to Bowdoin, so we frequently have this arguement and since no one has won it yet, I dont know what to tell you haha sorry.</p>
<p>haha..well...thanks anyway.</p>
<p>You might want to check out Duke in the news these days. Not good stuff.</p>
<p>Don't let news of one athletics team change your opinions of an entire school.</p>
<p>And even then, if it would change your opinion, wait until formal charges have been brought, in the very least.</p>