<p>I'd go to Duke.
Probably better med program.
Better climate.
Cameron Crazies.
Enough said...</p>
<p>Fountainsiren, I don't think he meant "cocky" in a sexual way...I think he meant "stuck up" or "conceited"</p>
<p>Both schools are more than good enough to lead you into a good med school, so I wouldn't focus so much on perception of med program (especially considering the number of people going into pre-med vs those coming out pre-med is much different). These schools are close enough on academic respect that I would basically go completely on fit, after all NH & NC have very different environments to them; which should not be ignored by mostly meaningless things like one school is ranked #5 and the other #8 (or whatever it is currently).</p>
<p>yeah....dartmouth = the most arrogant students i have encountered</p>
<p>Cornel is a great school
you must feel very lucky to be there.
Good for you. </p>
<p>I have a number of friends at Cornel--but even they may appear arrogant to those suffering the distemper of low self-esteem perhaps some of them, even now, are suffering the acrimony of one of their pouting classmates; god bless em all, they're certainly made of stronger stuff than that.</p>
<p>buddy--i wont be at cornell next yr, i got into a # of highly respected schools, and i have a lot of respect for cornell, but it wasn't the right fit for me.....</p>
<p>
[quote]
"buddy--"
[/quote]
That would be "lady," as I am not a man and we are not friends.
[quote]
i wont be at cornell next yr, i got into a # of highly respected schools
[/quote]
You should feel good about that, as I'm sure we all do for you: the world, it seems, is your oyster, bball87 and still, I am not sure that you would be well equiped to give advice concerning Duke or Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Don't listen to Bball- seriously. He's never even been to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is full of some of the most happy go-lucky, down to earth, brilliant people anywhere. The "cocky" aspect bball refers to is ridiculous, you'll find students like this anywhere and I would argue of any top 10 Dartmouth has the least of them. </p>
<p>Academically, both are equals, they will absolutely get you an equal look by the top med schools. Dartmouth's Nathan Smith pre-medical society is great and the advising is superb. My friends with over a 3.7 all ended up at top 10 med schools like Harvard, Yale, JHU, Cornell, Penn, etc. It seems like everyday I hear someone else is going to a top 5 grad school. But Duke is equally great in this area.</p>
<p>The biggest difference between these two schools is Dartmouth feels very much like a a LAC. Its also one of the most unique schools in america. Most people at Dartmouth love it, and with good reason. </p>
<p>I'll give a personal example: Dartmouth paid for my thesis research in the pacific ($10K), gave me TWO thesis advisors, I had 7 classes with less than 5 people, and when I started a company they gave me office space and a whole network of contacts + access to funding! How many schools do that for their students? I had lunch with Ang Lee with 5 other kids, met Broken Lizard (Super Troopers and other movies), etc in my film classes. For my "outer space" class I met with astronauts and every lunch they took 10 kids out with the guest speaker who was often amazing. I probably have visited 7 Professors houses. </p>
<p>Dartmouth is hopping every weekend and people are very inclusive- everyone is invited everywhere and people are all out at once. It feels sort of "festive" on the weekends. Also, Dartmouth has a "big weekend" every term, people love getting excited about the place. Dartmouth students embrace the environment and the beautiful campus: they also play in the snow in the winters, jump in the river in summers, have a ski slope, run around bonfires, and hsng out and act silly in dorms. Its a laid-back environment, and its a total 'college experience.' </p>
<p>The D-plan is a major distinguishing factor - and a plus in my book. Study abroad is HUGE at Dartmouth (2/3 study abroad, 1/3 go THREE terms), but what makes it special once again is Dartmouth's special way of interacting with its students. At other schools to go abroad requires signing up for a program run through another school. At Dartmouth, 100% of the students on your program are Dartmouth students, you get a professor as an advisor on your trip, you go on special excursions every weekend with that professor, and there are trips, etc with the whole group. Dartmouth feels like the opposite of the red-tape bureuacracy you get at other schools.</p>
<p>Sophomore summer is also a great part of the experience. You get to know your entire class, and make friendships that last a lifetime in a laid-back, "summer camp" feeling environment. Lots of jumping into the river, parties under the stars, etc.</p>
<p>Duke is a larger school with more access to research, but less of the undergraduate focus and coddling. The town of Durham isn't college oriented at all, so parties happen on campus. Socially, Duke is more cliquey than Dartmouth but this might be good if you like cliquey scenes. Alot of the spirit is oriented towards sports (basketball!), which is a big part of the Duke experience.</p>
<p>slipper, as much as i respect ur advice, you totally ignore every single bad thing about dartmouth</p>
<p>i know plenty of students there, and not every kid there describes their experience there in the same light as you do</p>
<p>in fact, you are pretty biased, as you put down Columbia, every single time you have a chance. Columbia is a phenomenal school and I know a ton that love it there. Don't be so quick to judge places with your own lens. Dartmouth is a very isolated place, as was cornell. Dartmouth is even more isolated as cornell was.</p>
<p>Also, duke has a warmer climate. Personally, I would take Duke. I still think dartmouth is a great place, but not for everyone. It is pretty surprising that so many students pick between dartmouth and duke. They seem like totally different schools.</p>
<p>slipper, as much as i respect ur advice, you totally ignore every single bad thing about dartmouth</p>
<p>i know plenty of students there, and not every kid there describes their experience in the same light as you do</p>
<p>in fact, you are pretty biased, as you put down Columbia, every single time you have a chance. Columbia is a phenomenal school and I know a ton that love it there. Don't be so quick to judge places with your own lens. Dartmouth is a very isolated place, as was cornell. Dartmouth is even more isolated as cornell was.</p>
<p>Also, duke has a warmer climate. Personally, I would take Duke. I still think dartmouth is a great place, but not for everyone. It is pretty surprising that so many students pick between dartmouth and duke. They seem like totally different schools.</p>
<p>As usual, FountainSiren and slipper make good points (and repartee). I do feel obliged to comment on certain points, however. </p>
<p>With fewer than 4000 students (I think), Dartmouth is indeed "LAC-like." At 6000 students, Duke is considerably larger but still a relatively small school, especially if you separate Pratt and Trinity. Walking around the campus, you will see many people you recognize, so it's not you will be lost in the crowd. Living on East Campus as a freshman and things like FOCUS and pre-orientation programs make Duke seem close-knit indeed. Last year I became very familiar with six department heads and two deans (and numerous professors), all of whom were incredibly delighted to help a puzzled freshman. When I visited the Earth Science department head for the first time, she wrote down the email addresses of some current EOS majors- without having to look them up! My classes last semester had 9, 10, 10, and 14 students in them...not very large at all. My classes for the upcoming fall semester are even smaller. I have extremely broad as well as specialized interests, so Duke is perfect for me. Although Duke is unable to flaunt an Egyptology program, I was able to secure an Independent Study in Middle Egyptian with an extremely knowledgeable professor, who is also associated with Duke's Papyrus Archive. I can name countless other examples of this- Duke and its professors will bend over backwards for students. Even if Duke doesn't meet your needs, our inter-institutional agreement with UNC-Chapel Hill (and the Robertson bus), NC Central, and NC State should meet your needs quite nicely. I've attended a number of lectures at UNC as well as regularly using their library, and it's very little trouble at all. </p>
<p>Duke encourages study abroad to an extraordinary degree, and courses taken overseas or over the summer are easily applied to C2K or major requirements. Duke's Marine Lab is in itself a tiny microcosm of Duke, with only about 30 students during the fall and spring semesters. Beaufort is a nice town, and the spring semester classes (all of them) go to Bermuda in addition to having Duke (and basketball games!) within easy driving distance. The Earth Science department offers courses that visit geological sites, from Hawaii (volcanoes) to Yellowstone (paleontology) to Florida (marine geology). As for Dartmouth being a "little college in the woods," well, all I can do is point to the Duke Forest- is an 8,000 acre hardwood and loblolly pine forest not enough? </p>
<p>Cutting short my rambling ode to Duke, I strongly suggest visiting both schools- an overnight visit, if you can. Really, one should stick out as the better school for you.</p>
<p>Sounds great to me, warblersrule86.</p>
<p>Why does this debate seem all too common in my life?</p>
<p>Seriously! This is a question that has plagued friends and family friends for years-- and everyone I know is happy with their decision, regardless of school (except for one Dartmouth student told his younger brother to go to Duke over Dartmouth).</p>
<p>Both schools have similarities-- a closeknit campus, strong social scene (predominantly on campus), visible Greek organizations, gorgeous campus. Dartmouth has the D plan which I didn't seem to like, but my neighbor at home raves about. </p>
<p>Yes. Duke DOES have many graduate programs, but that in no way interferes with our undergraduate education or detracts from the undergraduate feel. I'm sure there are schools out there whose graduate programs are the true focus so they sort of turn a shoulder to the ugrads-- based on my experience, this is hardly the case. The only interaction I have with the graduate schools is if I'm doing research and I have plenty of new, additional resources at my fingertips. (Or if I want to have lunch at Fuqua). </p>
<p>Either way, you'll have a brilliant pre-med education and sooo many fantastic alumni contacts and connections (recently, I've discovered DukeConnect and it's wonderful in searching for jobs or internships or just to have a mentor in a specific career area! I love it-- but knowing Dartmouth, there's bound to be something similar)</p>
<p>Enough of all the rhetoric. You could nit-pick the benefits of these two great colleges forever and never get a clear choice using rationality. So, go down to your local supermarket and ask them if you can stand in their meat freezer for a 2 minutes. If you emerge saying, "Wow, that was refreshing!" go to Dartmouth. If you emerge from the freezer thinking you'll never turn the themostat lower than 80 degrees, go to Duke.</p>
<p>TourGuide, Thanks, I'm going to use that one the next time someone asks about the weather in Williamstown. :)</p>
<p>"Enough of all the rhetoric. You could nit-pick the benefits of these two great colleges forever and never get a clear choice using rationality. So, go down to your local supermarket and ask them if you can stand in their meat freezer for a 2 minutes. If you emerge saying, "Wow, that was refreshing!" go to Dartmouth. If you emerge from the freezer thinking you'll never turn the themostat lower than 80 degrees, go to Duke."</p>
<p>LOL! Thanks everyone for all of the great advice. I agree with warblersrule that I ought to do an overnight visit. I did the Dimensions program at Dartmouth already a few weeks ago. So I didnt really get to experience the cold. I LOVED the campus and library. I sat in on a few classes as well, which seemed okay. My hosts were nice, but I did notice that they did seem pretty cliquey (the room was a triple, and two of the girls including my host were badmouthing the third saying how she was weird, which I found to be a turnoff.) </p>
<p>I don't know if it will be worth it to go visit Duke. I heard that the school year was over already, so the students are out. So my visit would be pretty superficial ( i.e. just looking at the buildings and not interacting with students)</p>
<p>You HAVE to take a look at both places. Even with few students there, you will be able to get a vibe. </p>
<p>There are 2 other tie-breakers I can suggest:
1. Get a T-shirt from each school and take a jog around the block or go to a mall wearing one, and then the other. Which do you enjoy being associated with the most?</p>
<ol>
<li>Stand in front of a mirror and pretend you are 30 years old and somebody just asked you where you went to college. Say "I went to Duke" and "I went to Dartmouth." One of these statements will feel better than the other. </li>
</ol>
<p>If those don't work, back in the meat freezer!!</p>
<p>My point is that logic and weighing evidence rationally are wonderful tools to narrow the field down to a few colleges which seem to meet all your criteria.</p>
<p>I've seen little evidence that logic and weighing the evidence are useful in making the final choice. That final choice is not unlike picking a spouse--emotion and unexplainable forces are at work, and should be at work. So I say use logic to narrow the field; use emotion to make the final choice.</p>
<p>Run, what field do you want to go into?</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Duke seems to be one of the most common decisions among CCers</p>
<p>Pre-Med, probably a humanities major: history, maybe anthropology?</p>