I was recently accepted into Brown University from the wait-list and now have to make the decision between Brown and Duke, which is where I had planned to attend on May 1st. I visited both schools last fall and fell in love with them both. They were my top 2 choices going into the application season so I am so very fortunate to have been accepted to both now.
From what I understand, both have very happy environments, which is something I need from a school, and they are obviously top schools in the country and have comparable academics so there really is no major difference there.
I currently want to study neuroscience and go on to either med school or to get my PhD. This is basically why I am having such a difficult time deciding.
I have heard that Duke has the upper hand in sciences overall simply because of their medical school on campus and huge engineering school. However, the majority of kids are in STEM and so despite the collaborative environment, I fear that I will not be able to stand out among the many other students in my same field of study.
On the other hand, Brown has the open curriculum, which I greatly admire and I know I can utilize to truly make my education my own, but I understand that Brown does not have access to quite the same level of resources as Duke (but please correct me if I’m wrong). However, I do love art and the humanities so I lean towards Brown because of that, but I lean towards Duke in relation to the sciences.
As you can see, I’m torn right now. I’m so honored to be able to choose between these amazing schools, but it makes this decision THAT much harder. They are both amazing and I know I will enjoy my college experience wherever I go, but I am a very cautious person, making it hard for me to make decisions without knowing every single little pro and con.
Thank you for your input in advance! It really means a lot.
Also, does anyone know how competitive each school is in relation to the student body? I’ve been told that Duke is quite collaborative, but I don’t know about Brown.
Brown also has a med school and an engineering school.
I know nothing about Duke, but I can say with confidence that Brown is not an uber-competitive campus by any stretch of the imagination. It is very collaborative. And it has great facilities for neuroscience. And its students tend to be very happy.
I think you’re right, that academically you can’t go wrong either way. Do you care about location – what do you think about cold weather and snow? Do you want to live in the South, or the Northeast? How do you feel about fraternities – I think they are more prevalent at Duke than Brown.
Yes you are lucky that you have very good choices in top schools of similar size with students who tend to really love their school. It may not really matter where you go. People tend to like where they choose and take advantages of the opportunities they find where they are. While you think you are making decisions based on every little thing I don’t find your reasoning very sound, and I think you may be coming at this with the wrong attitude. If you are thinking that Brown is going to be easy and not have very strong science students or programs you are mistaken. Neuroscience is a top program at Brown as are other sciences and applied math and CS are very strong and student come to Brown specifically for those programs. So while you may not stand out as the best student in your class there are many ways to make your mark, many opportunities for research with faculty , opportunities for university grants for research.
As far as resources I don’t get what you mean. Brown does have a smaller endowment than Duke but I don’t know what spending per student is or how it will affect you personally. In the last decade Brown received two 100 million dollar donations for the college and the medical school. They built a brand new Sidney Frank Life Sciences Building on campus with 60 labs. They have the interdisciplinary Brain Research Institute on campus headed by Nobel Laureate Leon Cooper. The med school has 7 affiliated teaching hospitals in Providence. Downtown Providence is 3 minutes by car or 15 minute walk to the medical school. But Brown has a defined campus feel by being across the river on College Hill.
Yes Brown is very much noted for a collaborative atmosphere which is something my daughter has remarked on, the way the departments work and the atmosphere of the student body. Particularly when she was looking at grad schools and noted the differences when visiting programs she was accepted to. Good luck with your decision and please continue to discuss if you have more thoughts.
@BrownParent I was not implying that I thought Brown would be easy. I simply meant that Brown tends to be recognized as a humanities school and I wasn’t well-known their sciences were, but thank you for the clarification.
These two schools are so different. I have a hard time conceptualizing how a kid would be happy at both schools. Have you visited yet? That would be very helpful.
Brown is a humanities school? It may not be an engineering powerhouse but for undergraduates it’s CS and Neuroscience departments are serious contenders for absolute best in the country. It’s Biology and Chemistry departments are top flight as well.
Add applied math to that list above. Some profs at another college told me it was one of the best in the country. the grad school is rated top 5 in US news and all the profs teach and research with undergrads.
I think maybe students tend to assume that something ‘known’ for Humanities aren’t as good at other things but universities the caliber of Brown are good all around. If they had a deficient department they have the funds and the institutional will to improve it. But those who know recognize Brown for these things. I actually do not know what Duke is known for, for undergrad, I just assumed it was an all rounder.
If Brown has the reputation of being a “humanities” school, that is an outdated perception. It might have been true when I went there. But these days, the story is very very different.
For the just admitted class of 2019, according to a press release: “The top intended concentrations are engineering, biology, computer science, biochemistry, international relations, economics, political science, English, and history” – and English and history made the list again after being absent for a few years.
Last year’s graduating class – all of the top 10 concentrations were science or social sciences. Biology was the second largest concentration (188 grads), computer science the third (77), neuroscience the fourth (77). Ten years ago, a totally different story – English and Art History were all in the top 10, CS and engineering weren’t in the top 10.
Last year, 373 graduates majored in the humanities, down from 462 10 years ago. 757 had life or physical science concentrations and 771 had social science concentrations.
So if you think that by going to Brown you are going to be surrounded by hippy dippy kids majoring in English, literary arts, film studies and classics, think again.
And this, by the way, is a change I am very wary of.
(data came from http://www.brown.edu/about/administration/institutional-research/factbook/degrees-and-completions and https://news.brown.edu/articles/2015/03/admission)