Duke or Columbia?

Applying to College
1

<p>If you had a choice, where would you go? Duke's rated higher but Columbia's an ivy league university. Which would employers like better? Which would take me farther? More opportunities? Best overall? Your experiences at duke or columbia? Kids experiences at duke or columbia? Most prestigious? If I wanted to go on to get a law degree at Harvard which would get me there? If I wanted to go on to get a mba at Harvard which would get me there? If I wanted to go on to medical school at Harvard which would be better?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>What do you want to do with your life? Both are fantastic schools. Both are really awesome at different things. They're fundamentally different schools. Do some research, think about what you want to go into, and the answer will be obvious.</p>

<p>(hint: prestige has nothing to do with the eventual answer)</p>

3

<p>If I were deciding I would say: Columbia > NYU > Duke. I guess you got the point, and ranking or being an Ivy has nothing to do with it.</p>

4

<p>The South is very different from New York City. I think that alone could help you make your decisision.</p>

5

<p>Visit the schools. Their campuses are both drastically different. Columbia is surrounded by the city, and duke is located in/around a small town. </p>

<p>both are outstanding schools. i wouldn't get too hung up around rank or "ivy league" status.</p>

6

<p>Columbia probably has a little bit more prestige overall, except maybe in the area of biomedical sciences or biology.</p>

<p>One of my friends got a Harvard Law degree after a bachelor's at Duke. I'm sure he got straight A's at Duke and aced the LSATs (top 1-2%, I'm guessing.) But it's perfectly realistic to aspire to go to Harvard Law from Duke. </p>

<p>Harvard Business School depends more on your job after graduation than your undergrad degree (although your undergrad degree can help determine your job). I'm not sure about which one would place you better in terms of an investment banking/business job. My guess would be Columbia. I defer to those who actually followed this path, though.</p>

<p>I'm not sure if there would be much of a difference with medical school. You probably would be more likely to get a rec from a well-known person in the field at Duke, although I'm not sure that matters with med school. Again, my guess is that Columbia might be preferred slightly. </p>

<p>I agree with the above poster that the campuses are so drastically different that you should base your decision on how you feel about the school rather than slight differences in prestige.</p>

7

<p>this is so me 2 years ago when i thought that the array of colleges was limited to the top half of the first page of the usnwr rankings.</p>

8

<p>They are both in the ghetto</p>

9

<p>Yes, but both campuses are almost entirely separate from the communities they are around. Duke's campus is totally separate from Durham, and Columbia is gated from the rest of the city</p>

10

<p>if you plan on going to medical school, it doesn't matter where you go as long as you get a high gpa (>3.5) and nail the mcat.</p>

11

<p>You should go where you will be happier and your undergraduate performance will be your best. At any elite law school, students come from great schools all over the country. What got them in was a strong undergraduate record.
Hopefully, you have visited both schools. They are such different environments that I'm having a hard time picturing the student who would be equally happy in either place....you must feel a greater connection with one or the other.</p>

12

<p>These two schools are pretty much the "same." Columbia is no HYP; Duke is one of the best non Ivy. It just location, size, and overall feel.</p>

13

<p>Personally, I would choose Columbia, hands down. It all boils down to a few things:</p>

<p>-location, location, location = opportunities galore
-your personal connection with the school (#1)
-the professors/atmosphere/environment/amazing faculty
-reputation
-genuinely happy students who love their school
-diversity/the international spectrum at Columbia still astounds me
etc, etc.. I could probably go on and on.</p>

<p>Let us know what you decide as you have a difficult decision ahead of you but are very fortunate to have such universities to choose from :] Good Luck!</p>

14

<p>If given a choice between Columbia and Duke for college, I'd chose the one located in the place I wanted to spend four years. </p>

<p>I've attended a rural university (Cornell), a suburban one (Stanford), and a fairly urban one (Berkeley). The experience of attending each one had more to do with its surroundings than anything else. </p>

<p>People have different tastes about these matters. Choose the school that suits yours.</p>

15

<p>zebra: may I be frank? Your seeming obsession w/prestige and rank and "what looks better" are exactly the characteristics that lead applicants to the top schools to be rejected. I've interviewed 6 kids for my HYP alma mater this year. Three of them wanted to go because of the name -- could offer very little of what they could contribute to the school's mission. I'm sure they're bright kids but their shallowness was very apparent and I clearly wrote such in my report to the admissions office. Given the extremely low admit rates, I'd find it most probable that these three have little to no chance of admission.</p>

<p>I sure hope for your sake that you have more depth to your academic pursuits than this chasing after the "right" external look. The ultra elites are winnowing out the pretenders and want those who are really hungry to learn and contribute -- not just get on the bus ride for the next stage in life ($, job, presitgious grad school). </p>

<p>Your questions about Harvard Extension School (which is really, really creepy) and other items seem to go against other advice you've been given (especially in light of your stated intention applying to rigorous grad school programs -- again a list of "names" versus showing a real desire to be a great lawyer or physician or businesswoman). The best advice for you is this: go to the school that fits best financially, socially and academically. No "name" will propel you into a graduate school. It's about what you'll be able to be able to bring to the table -- whether Columbia, Duke or some other so-called "less ranked" school.</p>

<p>Nonetheless, good luck to you.</p>

16

<p>Go where you want to end up working in the end. If you want to end up working in the Northeast, go to Columbia. If you want to end up working the South, go to Duke. If you want to go to graduate school in a specific discipline, look into the specific department at each school and pick the best one/most suited to your interests.</p>

17

<p>The campus environments are totally different. Depends on what you like. Big city or not. What is the major? If I were indifferent to life style I would look at the quality of the respected progams you are interested. I don't think it matters for "general" pre-law. In which case it is kind of a push. As for HLS, go to the one you can be a superstar at.</p>

18

<p>I would choose Duke in a nanosecond, not because there are great differences in academic reputation and quality (IMO, there are not), but because there are great differences in what they can offer outside of the classroom. I also believe that the post-graduate placement, Wall Street, graduate school and otherwise, is exceptional from both and there is no clear advantage to one school or the other. </p>

<p>Earlier someone alluded to "genuinely happy students who love their school" as a factor in Columbia's favor. I'm not doubting the connection that Columbia students feel to their school, but this is one of the very greatest of the strengths of Duke. The students, the alumni, the entire Duke family are rabid about the school. (Also, note Duke's greater percentage of alumni donors over Columbia-52% to 35%) </p>

<p>Some of the key non-academic differences that I see are:
1. the athletic life that Duke offers (and the experience of attending a Duke basketball game cannot be remotely matched by anything at Columbia);
2. the active social life that Duke offers as part of its campus. The differences could not be more stark between what happens socially on the Duke campus and what happens on the Columbia campus and their relative dependence on the local city to provide that;
3. the cities in which they are in-here Columbia would have a huge advantage for those who want a big-city college experience; and
4. Geographic origination of their students. I think that it may surprise some how these two compare:</p>

<p>COLUMBIA
14% International
26% New York
18% New Jersey
16% California
8% Massachusetts
5% Pennsylvania
4% Connecticut
4% Florida
4% Ohio
3% Texas
3% Virginia
2% Washington
2% Georgia </p>

<p>DUKE
7% International
15% North Carolina (this high percentage is partly a function of the bylaws in the establishment of the university)
10% Florida
8% New York
7% Texas
6% California
5% Virginia
5% Maryland
4% New Jersey
4% Illinois
3% Massachusetts
3% Pennsylvania
3% Connecticut
3% Ohio</p>

<p>Here are some of the other statistics that some folks will use to compare the two colleges:</p>

<p>O B J E C T I V E D A T A </p>

<p>UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT<br>
Columbia 5260 Duke 6330</p>

<p>% AND # OF STUDENTS WHO ARE IN-STATE<br>
Columbia 26% (1368) Duke 15% (950)</p>

<p>% OF FEMALE STUDENTS<br>
Columbia 52% Duke 49%</p>

<p>% OF WHITE/NON-HISPANIC STUDENTS<br>
Columbia 42% Duke 52%</p>

<p>% FROM PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS<br>
Columbia 49% Duke 65%</p>

<p>% OF STUDENTS IN GREEK LIFE (Male & Female)<br>
Columbia 15%/10% Duke 29%/42%</p>

<p>TOP MAJORS AT EACH SCHOOL (acc to collegeboard.com)<br>
Columbia 29% Social Sciences, 12% History, 9% English, 9% Foreign Languages, 9% Visual & Performing Arts, 6% Ethnic Studies, 6% Biology, 5% Psychology<br>
Duke 34% Social Sciences, 15% Engineering, 10% Security & Protective Services, 9% Psychology, 7% Biology, 5% English</p>

<p>IS & OOS COST (Tuition & Fees)<br>
Columbia $36,997 Duke $35,756
Columbia $36,997 Duke $35,756 </p>

<p>TOTAL COLLEGE ENDOWMENT AND PER CAPITA (undergrad and grad)<br>
Columbia $7.15bn ($310,861) Duke $5.91 bn ($506,017)</p>

<p>AVERAGE HIGH/LOW IN FEBRUARY<br>
Columbia 40-24 Duke 54-30</p>

<p>GRADUATION RATES<br>
-% OF STUDENTS EXPECTED TO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:<br>
Columbia 92% Duke 94%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO DO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:<br>
Columbia 94% Duke 94%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE IN 4 YEARS:<br>
Columbia 92% Duke 87%
FRESHMAN RETENTION RATE<br>
Columbia 98% Duke 97%
USNWR GRADUATION & RETENTION RANK:<br>
Columbia 9th Duke 9th</p>

<p>FACULTY RESOURCES<br>
-% OF CLASSES WITH <20 STUDENTS<br>
Columbia 71% Duke 73%
-% OF CLASSES WITH 50+ STUDENTS<br>
Columbia 9% Duke 6%
-FACULTY/STUDENT RATIO<br>
Columbia 6/1 Duke 8/1
USNWR FACULTY RESOURCES RANK<br>
Columbia 10th Duke 3rd</p>

<p>STUDENT SELECTIVITY<br>
-% ACCEPTANCE RATE<br>
Columbia 12% Duke 23%
-SAT/ACT RANGE (Middle 50%)<br>
Columbia 1330-1540 Duke 1350-1540
-% OF STUDENTS RANKING IN TOP 10% IN HS CLASS<br>
Columbia 93% Duke 89%
% OF STUDENTS WITH HS GPA > 3.75 (Unweighted)<br>
Columbia 69% Duke na</p>

<h1>OF NMS FINALISTS IN 2007 (% of student body)</h1>

<pre><code>Columbia 62 (4.7%) Duke 90 (5.7%)
</code></pre>

<p>% OF STUDENTS SCORING 700+ ON SAT CRITICAL READING<br>
Columbia 67% Duke 63%
% OF STUDENTS SCORING 700+ ON SAT MATH<br>
Columbia 60% Duke 68%
% OF STUDENTS SCORING 30+ ON ACT<br>
Columbia 55% Duke 61%
USNWR SELECTIVITY RANK<br>
Columbia 5th Duke 12th</p>

<p>USNWR FINANCIAL RESOURCES RANK<br>
Columbia 16th Duke 14th</p>

<p>ALUMNI GIVING %<br>
Columbia 35% Duke 52%
USNWR ALUMNI GIVING RANK<br>
Columbia 15th Duke 2nd</p>

<p>S U B J E C T I V E D A T A </p>

<p>PEER ASSESSMENT<br>
Columbia 4.6 Duke 4.4</p>

19

<p>Wow, thanks hawkette! Great information! Which do you think would be the less competitive? like with school work and such.</p>

20

<p>I don't think Duke has a 23 acceptance rate...</p>

<p>edit: oh crap it does. i thought it was closer to the single digits</p>