Brown vs Duke - premed

DD just got off Brown waitlist. Her current committed school is Duke. There is virtually no difference in financial aid. Which school is her best option?

DD is planning to do pre-med. She knew that Duke has a pretty strong pre-med program. But we heard that 1/3 of freshmen in Duke is pre-med, but only 250 eventually apply to medical school, so there may be quite some weed-out. On the other hand, Brown is known to have GPA inflation, so this will be better for medical school application?

Duke has better weather. Is weather in Brown terribly bad? We are from west coast and used to warm weather.

If DD changes her mind, will Duke or Brown be better for other options?

DD plays string instrument. Will she have a better experience in Brown or Duke campus?

Duke generally ranks better, but fit might be much more important for DD. We care about following in the order of priority:

  1. Her future career (premed for now, possible plan B)
  2. Alumni network support (will alumni networks of other Ivy school help for Brown graduates?)
  3. Her happiness in the next 4 years
  4. School location
  5. School spirit
  6. Weather

We had visited Brown before, but never visited Duke. Will a campus visit help?

Any feedback is highly appreciated.

Duke is objectively prettier and has much better climate; it’s more sporty and Greek, “nice” and more “extra”; work hard play hard preprofessional. Brown has a reputation of easier grades (whole grades only in courses) and full academic freedom, which should make premed less stressful; it’s also more bookish intellectual. Fit depends on her and you have not told us much about her…

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@gablesdad
Thank you very much for the feedback. We are so happy that DD has 2 wonderful choices. To some degree, we see that DD fits in both school. It is hard for us, especially this year during pandemic without campus visit, to see which school fits better. We ever heard that Brown may be better for girls, more artistry and Duke is more sporty. If DD moves back to west coast after graduation, will degree from Brown or Duke be treated differently and one looks better than the other? Is Brown or Duke more regional or national?
Too many questions but don’t know which question to ask. Thanks a lot for just reading it. Thanks a lot if any feedback could be provided.

splitting hairs … schools are peers … all about FEEL and FIT

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Brown’s lack of general education requirements may be seen as an advantage for a pre-med if any of Duke’s general education requirements would be difficult for the student to earn A grades in: Graduation: Requirements | Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

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For a premed, Brown is better.
The competition will be similar but Brown’s grades will be slightly better for 1st year courses and there’s always a possibility to balance things out with a non-pre-req taken pass/fail (in order to protect the GPA).
No gen eds and good premed support.

DO research her Plan B major.

In terms of reputation, reach, etc, they’re peers.
So, the difference really is fit:
Brown is more intellectual/artsy, very liberal. Duke is “fratty/sporty”, with wild parties and sports.

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What they ^^ are saying. Neither is an objectively better choice: the one that will be “better” is the one that she feels happiest in. She will be able to find her people at either place. Both have strong national reputations (and Brown gets the “Ivy” label to go with it).

Not sure how much of the “we” is the parents and how much is the student, but there is no meaningful difference between them for #1 & #2. #3 means trusting her gut, which you seem reluctant to do. IMO #s 4 & 6 are 3rd tier metrics, and not dealmaker/breakers. That leaves #5- school spirit. What is important to your daughter about school spirit? Is she excited by the idea of joining the pup tent camp-out for BB tickets? That’s Duke.

The tenor of your post seems to tilt towards Duke. Just be careful to separate your views/opinions from those of the person who will actually be living in the place for 4 years, and give her room to make her choice.

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You might be interested to see that both of these schools appear in this site:

Your daughter should choose between them freely, in my opinion.

1/3 of Duke is pre-med…seems high. Might be right. But seems high. Only 250 apply to medical school. Based on the majors I wouldn’t say 1/3.

  • Computer Science 282 Graduates
  • Economics 218 Graduates
  • Public Policy Analysis176 Graduates

It goes down fast from there. Then you say 250 apply - here are the #s - from someone at Princeton. I’ll assume they are correct.

So your thesis that Duke doesn’t deliver may be off.

Only about 17% of US Freshman pre meds earn admission to med school. About 140,000 start out. Half drop the program before completion. Of those who “stick it out” and take the MCAT (~70,000), half do not do well enough on the MCAT even to apply. Of the ~ 35,000 who apply, a little under half get in. Among the ~18,000–20,000 applicants who are rejected (and some of those who didn’t apply after their first MCAT), about 6,000 will eventually earn admission on subsequent attempts.

^^^What they said, they’re even on academics & alumni. What is your daughter like? What kind of social environment would she be happy in?

Duke’s campus and climate is gorgeous, certainly would not disappoint! A lot of social activities center on Greek life/sports, so if that’s something your daughter is excited about, it would be a good match. Of course, Duke can also work for people who know Greek life isn’t for them and confidently seek out other activities & like-minded folks. I hear it can be trickier for people who feel left out of selective groups, but haven’t found their niche/people. “Preppier” overall, lots of ambitious students focused on having fun while getting into finance/consulting (also tech, law, politics)

Brown is pretty too and Providence has more of that dynamic small-city feel (lots of restaurants, arts, concerts). Second semester the weather is kind of a drag until April, but that’s what good coats and spring break are for! Students are known for being more creative/intellectual/woke, and the social scene tends to be more open (some frat parties, but also house parties, events in Providence, etc). More hipsters and hippies. Hope that helps a bit!

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No, that sounds about right, and I was told a similar figure my freshman year. Duke has always attracted a lot of pre-meds, and it has more than its fair share of pre-law and pre-business students too.

In any case, pre-med is not a major, so it would be helpful if we knew OP’s daughter’s academic interests. Brown and Duke are largely comparable academically, but each has its particular strengths.

Yes, exactly. People on CC would probably have encouraged me to go to Brown over Duke based on their stereotypes – I was from a fairly poor family, very academically inclined and knew from day one I wanted to pursue a PhD, gay and extremely liberal, and had zero interest in basketball or joining a frat or SLG. As it happens, I chose Duke and wound up absolutely loving it.

Raleigh and the Triangle area in general is growing by leaps and bounds, and there’s plenty for Duke students to do besides party, both on and off campus.

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