<p>According to the Washington Monthly 2012 college rankings, Duke spent $983M on research in the reference year (2012?). That would place it 5th, behind JHU, Michigan, Wisconsin, and UWashington. Keep in mind that research expenditures aren’t likely to be evenly distributed across all fields. JHU for example spends large sums on biomedical and government-related research. </p>
<p>When you consider research expenditures, or endowment size, it makes sense also to consider the college population size. Amherst’s endowment per student is much larger than Duke’s endowment per student ([Reach</a> High Scholars - College Endowments](<a href=“http://www.reachhighscholars.org/college_endowments.html]Reach”>College Endowments)). There may be economy-of-scale advantages from the absolute numbers. At any rate, I don’t think research expenditure is a very meaningful metric for an undergraduate History student.</p>
<p>curvyteen - 1) your 16 or 17 year old ‘know it all’ overconfident attitude is just plain annoying. 2) you’ve never actually been to college and you’ve been doing this for how long? Your knowledge is actually very limited.</p>
<p>Duke is an excellent school, I agree. I applied there and was admitted. I found it to be overrated and overhyped due to its sports teams, but that’s just me. And for my area of study, it was actually quite poor. </p>
<p>Admit rates tell you nothing about the quality of a school, I’m sorry. Cross-admit ‘battles’ only tell you where students prefer based on perceived prestige, environment, fit, etc. it doesn’t really reflect on the school in relation to its quality. </p>
<p>Duke is a research university, not a liberal arts college. Because of that, a student at Amherst will have more opportunities to spend time with their professors. Additionally, professors will only be looking for undergrads to assist with their research, not postgrads. There is no attention competition between grads and undergrads at Amherst, whereas there is at Duke. </p>
<p>PhD production on a per capita basis is higher at the top LACs than top research universities. More students at LACs are interested in pure academia than at comparable research universities. </p>
<p>Graduate schools are well aware of the prestige of Duke, which is an excellent school. However, the top LACs have a larger endowment per student than Duke - meaning they have more money to spend to provide their students with opportunities than Duke. Also remember that the majority of Duke’s funding is going towards it’s graduate students and research being conducted by professors, what’s left over, while that is a substantial amount still, is funneled toward undergrads. </p>
<p>The student in question here is interested in pursuing an academic career - if Amherst has a better track record for PhD production, why shouldn’t the OP go there?</p>
<p>I don’t really get the curvy hate right now. I think Duke and Amherst are a coin flip for most students, depending on if a student would rather go to a LAC or a university. I think the people that say one is clearly better than the other are the ones who are wrong.</p>
<p>Part of the problem with these kinds of comparisons is that, in many instances, we could tell you much more clearly what the better choice is for you if we actually met you for 10 minutes. Otherwise, we’re all guessing, but based on what you have said about yourself and your preferences the pick is Amherst. It sounded like your only concern is whether Amherst is prestigious enough, and despite all the obfuscation about that in this thread, that absolutely is not an issue. Anyone who picks at Amherst’s prestige is picking at air.</p>
<p>NYU2013, you went to NYU over Duke? I’m just curious to know since not many people would do that. Also, I hope the irony of calling Duke overrated dawns on you. Many people would say that NYU is the most overrated school in the world (that doesn’t mean it is).</p>
<p>Because Amherst sucks and Duke is awesome, that’s why.</p>
<p>Seriously, we’re comparing apples to oranges here. Does the OP want a smaller, more undergraduate-focused LAC, or a larger, more lively and active research university? Each have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. </p>
<p>Amherst students will get more attention, but they won’t have breadth of courses that a large research university like Duke could provide. While faculty at LACs might be less research oriented, they’re also likely to be less famous than professors at top research universities. (This will be important for letters of rec. when applying to PHD programs.)</p>
<p>OP, i’d personally recommend Amherst, as it is an elite LAC which will give you the attention (likely from renown professors) to hone your skills as a writer. This will help you produce a good writing sample, which is crucial for acceptance into top PHD programs. </p>
<p>I would like you to know that many students change their majors in college. If you decide to change your major in college, Duke may have significantly more to offer you in terms of potential majors than a small, more intimate LAC like Amherst would. </p>
<p>Let’s do away with the foolish and overly used generalizations. Duke is not better than Amherst in the same way that Amherst is not better than Duke. They’re different institutions. Both are highly prestigious schools, whose names will reverberate at most, if not all, graduate schools.</p>
<p>Since the OP wants to pursue a career in academia, I think he would benefit from the intimate attention available at Amherst. I don’t know exactly how much individual attention students at Duke receive, so I can’t speak on such matters. However, I do know from several friends who have attended Amherst that professors involve and invest themselves in the well-being of their students by establishing personal and academic relationships. How great would it be to have a mentor-like relationship with several professors? Call me crazy, but I think that would make for a great experience – and help with recommendation letters as well. Furthermore, Amherst, like most LACs, emphasizes the importance of writing – a valuable tool for all students. Given the small class sizes at Amherst, professors can actually familiarize themselves with your unique writing styles, and can help develop and hone your skills. Lastly, at Amherst, professors are there to teach. Now that may sound odd, but at many research universities, teaching is the byproduct of conducting research, and as such, is often seen as a nuisance. </p>
<p>I think that you will do well at either school. And as I stated before, they’re both fantastic in their own ways. I, however, would choose Amherst. </p>
<p>Excellent choice! I was just about to start ranting about how it’s not even a contest, and Amherst is the better choice hands down. Congrats on admission! I’d love to be in your spot :)</p>
<p>Re-read Beyphy’s post (#67 in this thread). This is the advice I was going to give, but stated better than I would.</p>
<p>Anyone who says that Amherst isn’t one of the top schools in the US is Crazy.
Anyone who says that Duke isn’t one of the top schools in the US is Crazy.</p>
<p>They provide different experiences. Some may prefer the Duke Experience, others Amherst. There is no right or wrong here, just which you think will work better for you.</p>
<p>Here’s the good news – you are in a no lose situation, whatever you choose will be fantastic.</p>
<p>Thank you so much everyone! I’m absolutely humbled and so excited to be attending Amherst. I feel like I made the best choice possible. And, again, thanks for all of the help~</p>