Duke or Brown? Help!

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>Some background first. I really love biology and would most probably be studying bio as my major. I just got rejected from MIT, accepted to Duke and Brown. Only applied to those three. Oh, yes btw I'm Singaporean. </p>

<p>SAT I CR750, M800, W630
SAT II Bio M 800, Chem 800, Math IIc 790</p>

<p>A Levels: AAAA, Distinction,Distinction, A1
for
Bio, Chem, Physics, Math, Bio S paper, Chem S paper and General paper in that order.</p>

<p>International Bio Olympiad Silver and Singapore Bio Olympiad Gold</p>

<p>Ok so I really need help with my options. Should I wait and reapply this year cos MIT was my super super dream school. I have 2 more years before going to uni (singaporean men have to serve 2 years of national service after high school so we only go to uni 2 years later) OR should I choose between Duke and Brown and leave the whole admissions game behind?</p>

<p>If I reapply, do you guys think my chances at the other unis are good/ok? for example HYPSM? I don't need Finaid btw.</p>

<p>If not based on your own experiences/anecdotes/preferences is duke or brown a better school in terms of:</p>

<p>academics: you know, the usual stuff like professors and how well the classes are taught. How challenging is the load. Research opportunities and the like. Basically the whole package.</p>

<p>Social life: Is it FUN? </p>

<p>Prestige: my parents are paying quite alot for my education. Though it true that people say that one shouldnt choose colleges by name but by how good the match is, inevitably, employers and society are rather shallow. So the degrees still got to have some recognition and prestige.</p>

<p>Thanks alot for your help!</p>

2

<p>talking abt prestige u dont have to care a bit abt that with duke or brown...
Looking at your stats i would feel that it is safe for you to teapply...i think u can get in..and as u dont need Finaid then even more so...aply to better bio programs at Harvard,JHU etc...
Oh and by the way HYPM are need blind so u dont have that much of impact on them if u can pay...but iu do increase your chances A LOT at many other schools like JHU,Columbia,PENN,Cornell,UC Berkeley, Caltech stanford etc etc....i really feel u can easily get in at any of the top schools and since as u say your parents are spending so much and as u have to anyways stay behind for 2 yrs...just reapply</p>

3

<p>Not really, he's not going to increase his chances much by saying he can pay... coz first of all, most singaporeans are financed by government scholarships (which come with a evil long bond) anyway - that means most don't require finaid anyway. In fact, the converse is true. If you apply for aid at schools like that (which are immensely popular with singaporeans), you might as well not apply, okay unless you have really impressive credentials which visceral_verve seems to have, academically wise at least. Well yeah I suffered from that fate. Got into Brown without aid, but in the following year that I applied for aid, I was denied outright. </p>

<p>The point about reapplying. I know many of us do that (thanks to NS - that seems to be the only good thing about NS. it gives us second chances at uni apps), but consider that it is not ethically right to accept one school and reapply to others. And it may actually be of detriment to our juniors in the long run (though i doubt many will care)...</p>

<p>My suggestion is to leave the admissions game behind. It's really too tiring. I personally have been in this for two whole freaking years, and possibly another next year coz one college deferred the consideration of my application to next year... Just spend the time doing more constructive things. Besides, Brown and Duke are great options! Academically both seems on par (and I have the impression that both are really strong at biology), only that Brown offers a whole lot more flexibility than Duke and almost any other college in US. And it really seems like a fun place to be at! If you are concerned about prestige, you can even tell ppl you are going to the same college as a president scholar and the defense minister's son! Just in case they haven't heard of Brown. Singaporeans I mean. </p>

<p>One thing though. Brown doesn't run on a GPA system and offers only letter grades without pluses and minuses. So if you are the ambitious type who likes to well, compare GPAs - like most Singaporeans do - you might want to choose Duke.</p>

4

<p>Id say take whichever one suits you better, and then transfer to MIT after a year if you want to... But once youve settled down, you might not even want to transfer anymore...</p>

<p>Turning both down are risky... You might not get in next year and then youre fu(ked.. Taking whichever one suits you better and then transferring if you want is probably the safest option..</p>

5

<p>I'd choose Duke- much more well known for its biology/premed program</p>

6

<p>On the contrary... If you're talking about premed, Brown probably has one of the best programs in the country... It has an extremely strong bio departement also..</p>

<p>As far as being well known overall, Brown has the IVY tag to it too.. </p>

<p>Id pick brown...</p>

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<p>Brown Brown Go Brown</p>

8

<p>I'd pick Brown as well, because, as watercannon said, it has a good pre-med program which suits your interests and second, brown has the most flexible programs of study thats possible, so even if you want to do something else other than/with bio, brown allows you to follow your passion.
So, i'd say - BROWN</p>

9

<p>I guess both schools are different in their characters. I find Duke more like a party school though. Whereas Brown students are more quirky. But you can't go wrong with either school. Good luck!</p>

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<p>just pick one of the two, and defer your admission by a year. apply to MIT next year and if u get in- go to MIT. if u dont, go to the school you deferred admission to.</p>

<p>not sue if ur allowed to do that if uv deferred admission for a year though.</p>

<p>between Duke and Brown- depends on ur interests, but i'll say this for Duke- its recognized not only in the North, but also in the South- which opens up a whole world of opportunities. also Duke is right next to the Research Triangle Park- a place full of biomed/biotech research.. (highest concentration of PhD's in the WORLD). also, Duke University Hospital. need i say more? one of the best medical centers in the world.</p>

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<p>Oh my, you guys have given me so much good advice. Now the choice seems much much harder to make. Oh to add on, I really like photography, got a few pretigious national and school art awards and got employed by the ministry of education to take photos. </p>

<p>My application to univesities were filled with a portfolio of photos each and I guess they helped showcase my passion in concrete terms to them.</p>

<p>In this context, would duke or brown seem better for its arts scene?</p>

<p>Keep it coming guys! thanks for your help!</p>

12

<p>Dont know too much about the duke arts scene... But Browns open curriculum should help you there... You could major in bio and take as many art/photography classes as you want, since there are no core requirements.. If you are just interested in them but dont want to take them seriously, you have the option of taking them just pass/fail, for no letter grade... If you are, you could double major... The visual arts departement is pretty good..</p>

<p>Love the open curriculum..</p>

13

<p>At Brown you can take courses at RISD (rhode island school of design) if your interest in photography continues. Both schools are great choices. I would choose one or the other and not reapply as a freshman applicant to MIT. Transfer is and option but most people decide against this.</p>

14

<p>I say accept both. Lots of people do that. Unethical or ethical, it doesn't really matter. </p>

<p>Apply to HYPMS during first year of NS and deferred admissions to the 2nd year if admitted. You got perfect scores. Shloud at least get into one or two of HYPMS.</p>

15

<p>perfect grades you mean. and trust me, they don't gurantee anything. and gee what's the point of accepting both?! he's gotta make a decision eventually and it might as well be (or rather it has to be) now. </p>

<p>yes alot of people defer and then apply to other schs, but no, not alot of people accept places at more than one university. dat wld be even more unethical, selfish and perhaps worst of all, pointless.</p>