<p>I'm torn between these two amazing schools and have the enviable position of choosing.</p>
<p>I'm looking to either do pre-med or business. What school has the advantage in these areas? Duke has great sports, Columbia has the great location, please help me in making this tough decision.</p>
<p>There is no wrong choice here. There should, however, be a clear choice as the campuses offer completely different lifestyles.</p>
<p>Wow, first of all, congrats on getting into both schools! Doing so this year is especially impressive.</p>
<p>I would immediately gravitate to Columbia and make the point that one is more likely to enjoy a great location than great sports. Then again, that's probably just me. I think that if you aren't already sure, you could probably make yourself equally happy in Morningside Heights or Duke's basketball stadium.</p>
<p>As icy said, it really comes down to lifestyles. At Duke, there's going to be lots of school spirit/unity, parties, and other traditional college campus activity. At Columbia, you'd likely be more independent, have a smaller & more tightly knit group of friends, and live a much more urban lifestyle.</p>
<p>Best of luck with your choice!</p>
<p>if you want to go into finance - Columbia hands down, even Duke kids have said so, and I've had non-columbia grads tell me the same. For pre-med I'd say they're on par, columbia is both very research and undergrad oriented. I agree with the others, it boils down to lifestyle and location (and sports if that's what you're really into). Duke is more frattish, it's very suburban, more conservative, more of a party school and i'd wager less diverse. Columbia is more 'intellectual', there isn't a unifying theme to campus like Duke basketball, it maintains a standalone campus, but is within 20 minutes away from anything you could possibly want. Duke is prettier with better weather, columbia has it's grand old buildings that shout, 'humble yourself, and be prepared to learn and work or else', but the student aren't like that, they don't take themselves too seriously. </p>
<p>Columbia is a very adult-like campus, you're treated with maturity and are expected to be in charge of your life. If you are, the opportunities are abundant and yours for the taking.</p>
<p>I would go with Columbia. In terms of opportunities, prestige, academic strength, selectivity, etc. Columbia wins. But, in terms of fit it's about where you would be comfortable. They are very different schools in terms of culture. Columbia has the core (keep that in mind). Duke is southern, frats are big on campus, it is more conservative/preppy, lots of drinking, traditional college social atmosphere, segregated by race/class, huge basketball team and pride/school spirit is important, etc. Columbia is urban, intellectual/noncomformist/sophisticated, more diverse, more liberal, and less of a sense of campus community but offers NYC; it is for students with a sense of independence. For pre-med I would give the edge to Duke but for business I would give the edge to Columbia.</p>
<p>"For pre-med I would give the edge to Duke"</p>
<p>Duke definitely has a stronger Biomedical Engineering dept, but for premed courses - chem, phy, bio - columbia probably has the edge, but I say they're on par. I hate to do this, but for some evidence, at least according to us-news columbia's graduate science depts are ranked higher overall:</p>
<p>physics: col -11th; duke- 29th
chem: col - 11th; duke 43rd
bio: col - 15th; duke 12th</p>
<p>The</a> Sciences - Best Graduate Schools - Education - USNews</p>
<p>icy is completely right - these are two schools with very different atmospheres and approaches to learning. make sure you go to Days On Campus, columbia's admitted-students weekend, to get a sense of the place and if you could feel at home here. I strongly encourage anyone who has similar questions to do the same. Yes, it's driven by admissions propaganda. If you're smart enough to get in, you're smart enough to filter the BS from the real interaction with students and get the stories and feel for how things work in the neighborhood.</p>
<p>choose columbia. for business. for the sake of your life.</p>
<p>i am currently trying to transfer out of durhole. 'nough said.</p>
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durhole
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<p>Haaah. Hahah. Classic.</p>
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Duke is southern, frats are big on campus, it is more conservative/preppy, lots of drinking, traditional college social atmosphere, segregated by race/class, huge basketball team and pride/school spirit is important, etc. Columbia is urban, intellectual/noncomformist/sophisticated, more diverse, more liberal, and less of a sense of campus community but offers NYC
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<p>Yup, yup. If you're accustomed to a liberal, fast-paced Northeasternish lifestyle, then without a doubt, living at Duke will be different. I've never visited Duke, but I have visited Durham. (I was visiting my irritating relatives who insisted we go directly to their middle-of-nowhere-well-to-do suburb and not "waste time" at Duke.) Anyway, being from MA, I hated it. But that's me. Find out as much as you can about what it would be like to live at Duke for four years, and then ask yourself if you'd prefer that to living at Columbia for four years.</p>
<p>For business go to Columbia, much better recruitment. I don't know about other areas, but I would say Columbia.</p>
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Uhh Columbia isn't more prestigious or conducive to opportunities than Duke. They are both fantastic schools that are on equal footing with regards to academics. In fact, Duke is ranked higher than Columbia in most rankings that I have seen including USNews and WSJ Feeder Schools.</p>
<p>Princeton is ranked higher than Harvard, does that mean that P is more prestigious? Absolutely not! Most people other than those attending Duke would think that Columbia is more prestigious. </p>
<p>Anyway, these are two totally different schools obviously. You need to visit both.</p>
<p>if you're going to pull up USNews as your argument that duke is better, it's going to be hard to take you seriously. apart from bme, i can't think of any area in which duke is particularly strong in.</p>
<p>as for feeder schools, there are some issues with which schools they chose to be feeders, as well as the fact that a ridiculous percentage of columbia grads go into finance rather than grad school.</p>
<p>Duke is strong in nearly every area much like Columbia. Both schools don't have a great engineering program except in the case of Duke's BME. A similar amount of Duke grads go directly into finance rather than grad schools as Columbia grads so this still doesn't explain why Duke is ranked so much higher on the WSJ Feeder rankings.</p>
<p>dear Ptang,</p>
<p>please don't consider great sports as a legitimate factor for going to duke. columbia's unparalleled location and lifestyle will empower great sports any day.
I would seriously, seriously consider the type of social life that you'll be pursuing for the next four years of your life.
Are you looking for a campus, close-knit, fratty type of social culture, or a more independent, diverse, and unique one? Please take this into serious consideration before you decide. It may very well carry much as weight as your intellectual and academic plans. If you don't enjoy your college social life, you will always feel that something is "off." And you will keep wanting to leave, like I do. Believe me, I gave priority to my intellectual plans initially. And now, having spent one year at Duke, I realize that I'll be just as good/ perhaps even better at Columbia. It doesn't really matter what field you go into.
Plans can always change. The point of a top-notch undergraduate experience is to get a well-rounded education and to cultivate your versatility. Refine your specific plans at grad school. </p>
<p>I would go with Columbia.</p>
<p>May as well err on the side of ivy</p>