Duke and Vanderbilt

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

I am wondering, have many here applied to both schools? What are your comparisons? My S is a junior and toured both schools. Really loves both. He will apply ED next year to one of them. He vacillates. He will go with an econ major or some type of major that will lead to a business type preparation…I would appreciate any comments?
Thanks for sharing

2

I am headed to Duke next year. I toured both schools, and they are both great choices. Essentially, my decision to apply ED to Duke came down to:

  1. Duke gets slightly better recognition on the national level
  2. I was more impressed by Duke’s engineering school
  3. Duke Engage is simply unmatched
  4. Duke basketball
  5. Not a huge fan of big cities
    Duke and Vanderbilt seem to attract the same type of student for the most part. For Econ, I would personally pick Duke because of its reputation on Wall St. Academics aside, your son should just apply whoever he feels he will fit in better and have a more enjoyable college experience. While it was very easy to pick Duke over Vanderbilt for me when applying ED, I know that this completely depends on the person.
3

Thanks tomicbernard for your thoughts. It’s appreciated. Others?

4

Does your son hope to end up on Wall Street? Duke is a top-tier target school. Vanderbilt doesn’t have the same cache (it’s a great school but it still doesn’t have a national reputation). I would apply ED to Duke and use ED II at Vanderbilt as a solid backup plan. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t consider Vanderbilt if your son is absolutely in love with it for some reason. It’s just that Duke is widely regarded as being a bit better and I would lean towards Duke if I didn’t have an explicit preference (just as I would recommend picking Stanford over Duke under similar circumstances).

5

The way college admissions go these days you can’t plan on getting into any highly competitive school.

You need to build a solid list with matches, reaches and safeties.

Without knowing your child’s profile, and your family’s ability to pay it would be hard to make recommendations.

6

Clarinet, I agree that these schools are all long shots. S thinks that applying ED will enhance a long shot. Has 2250 Superstore with perfect math. 4.35 W. GPA thru first semester Junior year. 3.95 unweighted. $ AP’s and many honors. Class President, Athlete, good EC’s, and works summers and during the year…We will qualify for Aid, and will make up the difference from 529. If that helps, do share…

7

NerdyChica, you make a good point about the use of ED1 and Vandy ED2. Thanks for that,

8

You’re very welcome! I’m sure your son will have a great experience at either of these fantastic universities.