Question: Why should a student choose Duke (Pratt) engineering, paying full fare, compared to Alabama with a CBH (you won’t know what that is unless you google it) full fellowship scholarship? Alabama does not rank at the top in Engineering, and Duke is not a top Engineering school. In my case, $0 tuition at Alabama vs $50k/year at Duke. Good value at Duke?
Pratt IS a top engineering school. Pratt’s faculty is among the most productive in the nation and alumni do very well at the best companies and PhD programs. It is penalized by the rankings because it is a small school (Harvard, Columbia and Penn are also penalized because of their size).
No one can advice you on what to do without knowing your financial situation. If you do not qualify for financial aid, it is very likely that your parents are quite wealthy. If they can afford to pay for you to attend college without worrying about it, then you should go to Duke. If they can’t, then you don’t really have a much of a choice but to pick Alabama.
The quality of your professors and classmates will be very different.
Duke has a lot more international and national recognition than Alabama. Although I do admit going to school for free sounds like a great deal. Do you want to go to graduate school? Do you want to get an engineering job, or switch into another field after your bachelors?
If you are happy with just a bachelors degree, and you have to worry about a heavy debt load after college, then go to school for free. Otherwise if your parents can afford it, go to Duke. There are a lot of doors that a Duke degree will open.
I think the sole ability to put “Graduate of Duke University” on a future resume will be well worth the financial toll it may take during your college years.
Can your parents pay for Duke, with only federal loans for yourself ? (no Heloc, no parent plus loan… )?
Then Duke. Engineering is engineering, no matter where you go, but everything else -research level, opportunities outside of engineering, networking, general experience) will be different.
If your parents can’t pay for Duke, Alabama cbhp.
These are great times for the top 1%. My son and I just returned from an incredible UT Austin, where he has a scholarship in Plan II Honors and duel degree in Electrical Engineering–that $25B endowment has focus. Awesome! Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Center? Who builds a state-of-the-art high tech liberal arts building today? The new engineering facilities being built for a program in which every engineering major is in the top 10? Sick.
While we were there, he was accepted to Duke. And Yale, USC, and Alabama CBH loom this week. UT (what a great city as well in Austin) and Alabama are going to be far too good to pass up. Congrats to everyone. Enjoy the ride this week.
And graduate school behind it…
Am I really hearing that 200k for Duke is beating 50k (maybe) for Alabama?
Whoa, whoa. Can/will your parents pay for Duke? Would you have to take loans? Duke might be great, but getting 200k in debt isn’t a good idea. It depends A Lot on money. If Alabama is significantly more affordable, do your finances a favor and go there.
If your family can pay $50K/year without sacrificing anyone’s futures by taking out excessive loans and/or dipping in to retirement funds, then you should look at what the two schools have to offer, which one feels like the strongest program for your interests, and which campus is the best “fit” overall.
If your family can’t pay that much easily, then there really isn’t a decision to make. Go for the free education.
Thanks for the inputs. Frankly, the CBH program he was going into is truly elite. Alabama is doing a stellar job drawing in top academic students with that undergraduate program at CBH fellowship–everyone is extraordinary, the outcomes equally so. Many would-be Dukers will be going there. It was a tough choice over a stellar Alabama program and scholarship, but the Plan II Honors scholarship and dual-degree in the outstanding Cockrell school of engineering at UT-Austin are far too exciting to leave on the table. Austin, TX as a canvas is incomparable. Duke is a good school as well. My son loved applying, visiting and getting into Pratt. Good luck to everyone!