<p>I am trying to decide between Dartmouth, Duke, and the University of Chicago, and I need some help! I applied undecided, but I am currently leaning towards perhaps studying global health. Keep in mind that I am still not very sure about my major. </p>
<p>Also a couple questions that would help me make my decision:
- In terms of social life, are Dartmouth and Duke very party and drinking-oriented schools? I am not a big partier, so I have been worried about some rumors about Duke and Dartmouth.
- Does Duke and Dartmouth’s emphasis on Greek life add to or take away from the schools?
- What could Dartmouth offer me in terms of global health (I was thinking maybe a double major in biology and government with a concentration in IR)?
- How is the social life at UChicago?<br>
- Which of these three schools has more academic prestige? Looking into graduate school and the job market, how do candidates from these universities weigh against one another?
- How are interracial relationships within these schools? Do those of the same race or ethnicity tend to stick together or is it very integrated? </p>
<p>Go to Duke - send in the application ASAP for the Duke FOCUS - do the Global Health Cluster …
<a href=“http://focus.duke.edu/clusters-courses/past-clusters/2012/07/16/global-health-determinants-and-solutions”>http://focus.duke.edu/clusters-courses/past-clusters/2012/07/16/global-health-determinants-and-solutions</a>
About 30 people in Focus, living together, studying together in Freshmen year - DukeEngage Sophomore year. You are probably not going to get this experience at other places. Duke, Dartmouth, UChicago - all same prestige levels - sure someone will quote some survey and/or ranking but in layman terms they are all the same - I would give Duke the edge ( biased) . I don’t know how much interdisciplinary emphasis is with Dartmouth and UChicago but at Duke it is BIG ( hence the FOCUS program). Look up IDEAS ( (Inter-Disciplinary Education And Society) at Duke. Good luck!</p>
<p>They are all truly outstanding institutions, however their “cultures” clearly differ. To illustrate, simply consider obvious geographic, demographic and climatic differences:
- Chicago: Mega Midwestern city, cold winters and scorching summers, surrounded by plains,
- Dartmouth: Small New England village, long/cold winters and delightful summers, surrounded by mountains and hills.
- Duke: Small city, progressive southern environment, hot summers and mild winters, in the Piedmont. </p>
<p>I intensionally employed easily understood differences; however, the question of culture is as pervasive as it is important – and many key cultural elements are far more nuanced than the simplistic ones I utilized. Therefore, I strongly recommend you spend at least a couple of days at each university, to ascertain which culture fit is best for you. Congratulations on having such excellent options.</p>
<p>The above poster really nailed it. There is no real difference in the prestige of the schools. At this point, it comes down to fit. Dartmouth has a huge Greek scene that in my opinion kind of ruins the school. I love the town and the academics are great, but the hazing that I have heard of there is horrible. </p>
<p>Duke’s Greek scene throws a lot of parties, but the minority of students are Greek (25-30%). FOCUS is a great chance to meet great professors and get to know them, and then end up working in their lab or having someone to go to for help. Duke Engage also has an emphasis on global health, which is supposed to be a great time. I’m pretty sure there’s even a trip over Winter Break to some Central American countries to help them with health. Interracial friendships are fairly common and you see mixed race people as friends and eating together a lot. Minorities are part of Greek life organizations and there isn’t any real discrimination- Duke isn’t a stereotypical southern racist school. If you aren’t into partying, Duke has a number of SLGs if you still want the friendships of Greek Life without as much of an emphasis on alcohol and partying. Or, there are a lot of independent housing options too. </p>