<p>Hey guys.</p>
<p>I recently got off of Duke’s waitlist but was otherwise planning on matriculating to Brown. I have about half a week more to make the decision, but I just wanted to know if anyone had any advice to offer. Unfortunately because of the short notice, I won’t get an actual chance to visit the Duke Campus.</p>
<p>The pros of Duke are the BME program, the facilities, the unique programs like FOCUS (though I’m not sure if I’d even get in - people are already applying), the abroad opportunities and the student activities.</p>
<p>As for Brown, I liked the cozy nature of Providence, but I was relatively disappointed by their core engineering curriculum (ironic, considering how liberal the rest of the school is). Their BME is leagues behind Duke’s. On the other hand, I think the grade inflation at Brown is more generous than Duke’s. Because I’m from the Northeast, there’s a lot more prestige to the Brown name, and although I shouldn’t be, I feel like I might be disadvantaged by employers who for whatever reason, place that much emphasis on the Ivy League name.</p>
<p>I’m hesitant about Duke’s emphasis on Greek Life and Basketball, not because I’d never see myself participating in those activities, but because I feel like they might create a social hierarchy and sense of cliquey-ness at the school. At Brown the campus is a lot smaller and I got the impression that the student body was very cohesive, which I liked. I hate to base any of my decisions on rankings, but it’s hard for me to make a decision qualitatively. Brown win’s with student happiness but has about half the endowment of Duke. I get the impression that Duke’s atmosphere is a little more “work-hard, play-hard”, while Brown is more laid-back.</p>
<p>Any input, guys?</p>
<p>Sorry for the lack of input on here. It seems like you’ve got a tough decision, but that you’ve got most of it figured out already. Clearly you’ve visited Brown and made your impressions (so we shouldn’t have much more to say on that), and so as Ruth (sort of?) said during ADOCH my year, you should go where you think you’ll feel at home.</p>
<p>Also, looking at endowment: Duke’s endowment is ~100k larger per student, but Duke has 1:1 undergrad:grad ratio, whereas Brown’s is 3:1. So, given that endowments only pay out ~5-8% per year, and that Duke has to support more grad students, there’s no real reason to assume that undergrad life will be strengthened over Brown’s.</p>
<p>Finally: What would your decision have been had you had to make it without visiting Brown? What would it have been if you could have visited Brown but not duke, and had gotten in on time? If you can answer these two questions (i.e. if your visit of Brown significantly changed your view of it), you should have a clearer idea. Though you probably have already done that.</p>
<p>I grew up in the NY Metropolitan area and graduated from Brown in the 1970’s. As an adult, I have lived close to Duke for many years. I know many people associated with Duke, from neighbors who are faculty members to current students. We split season basketball tickets with another family, so I visit the campus often. With that background…</p>
<p>I’d go with Duke in a heartbeat. Both are great schools academically, and with fantastic reputations. In those regards, you would be splitting hairs with any comparisons. However, once you get to North Carolina, you will realize just how cold, gray and dreary Providence is, and how cranky so many of the people are. In retrospect, I wish I had attended Duke rather than Brown.</p>