So I just got back from Owl Days and attended Blue Devil days the week before. I think I have a great feel of what the two schools are like but am having a hard time committing to one. What I love about Rice is the fact that there is no Greek life and that people are generally friendlier. I love everything about Duke, including the weather, campus, and Neuroscience dept., except the freshman dorm set-up and the fact the the Greek life may be segregating. I am a Hispanic and I loved the diversity I saw at both schools. However, I am seriously concerned about the social life at Duke, especially after frosh year. Duke is offering me more for Financial Aid than Rice, which is another factor that has me leaning towards Duke. Please help me out, as May 1st is quickly approaching.
I used to live near the Rice campus, so I’m fairly familiar with it. I also went to Duke. The greek life at Duke is like anything else: it depends on what circle of friends you create and maintain throughout college. You can avoid the greek scene if you so wish. There is even a substance free dorm on the East campus for freshman who want to avoid this. After freshman year at Duke, you will join the rest of the main campus, so there are lot more options for housing/socializing. Durham is relatively small compared to Houston, but lends itself to being a more intimate environment. Duke is much more recognized nationally and internationally, whereas Rice is more well known in the south.
Rice, being in Houston, has a much larger hispanic population. However Rice is basically confined within the shadow of the Texas Medical Center. Houston is much more spread out than eastern cities, so there really is no ‘downtown’ to go and hang out. Most of the Rice students just hung out on campus. The summers in Houston are scorching, so its virtually impossible to do any outdoor exercise between June-Sept unless it is late at night or early morning. The winters are very mild, so there is very little change of season.
The biggest difference between the two schools is the school spirit and focus on sports at Duke. I went to a few Rice football games and there were no more than 30-40 people in the stands. Just about all the major sports at Duke however have lots of people who attend. in fact during basketball season the entire school revolves around the team. This may not sound so appealing if you’re not a sports nut, but has its advantages because it creates a much stronger sense of school spirit and loyalty. I frankly never met a Rice graduate who felt so compelled to tell me how great their college experience was. But at Duke, virtually everyone will.
Both schools are great options, so in the end you can’t go wrong, best of luck
OP: CONGRATULATIONS on these outstanding acceptances. I highly respect both universities and I know your will very well severed by attendance at either, in the long- and short-term. With this said, I do not agree with your comments re Greek life at Duke being “segregating” (socially, or in any other manner). You may wish to consider that Duke’s undergraduate housing concept centers on small group living, in the sophomore through senior years, with MUCH of it being non-selective. Further, it is my multi-decade observation that, since Duke’s undergraduate population is relatively small (approximately 6,500), you will soon find a fairly large group with whom you have immediate connections and closeness AND a far larger group with whom your develop friendships over the four residential years. Frankly, I have never seen any basis to suggest pseudo-segregation of any type at Duke (Greek-based or otherwise).
Honestly, I think that you could pick either school and be completely fine. In my personal opinion, I would pick Rice. When I attended BDD, I was honestly disappointed - the academics seemed fantastic, but the social scene seemed to be spread out and (from what I heard from students) the Greek life having more of a presence than it should. The whole three campus thing was just not for me (also, central campus looked really unappealing aesthetically). Being a sports nut, the Duke basketball scene seemed great…until I was told that you have to camp out for tickets for most of the bigger games - there are no “season tickets”. I would agree that the Rice students I met with were very friendly; the Duke students came across as unnecessarily condescending and arrogant. I also noticed a lack of visible diversity on Duke’s campus, even thought their class profile would seem to indicate otherwise.
OP, having visited both, you need to think about what feels right for you, and what you want out of your college career. Additionally, consider your financial situation. Duke would be a fine choice, as would Rice. For me, I could definitely tell that Rice was the better fit, but it’s all about the individual person. Different people thrive in different environments.
Am biased as on of my s’s attended (and LOVED) Rice. He also spent 2 summers at Duke, on both east and west campus. Rice students do go off campus, often to Rice Village, and I seem to remember several late night runs to House of Pies (or something like that). The biggest difference is the size of the schools, and the residential housing model at Rice. Agreed that aside form the strong baseball tam and watching the entertaining Rice MOB (marching band) you are not going to see a huge turnout for many other sporting events.
NC gets hot too, but probably not quite as humid as Houston can get in the summer months, if you plan to stay in town for summer internships.
Have you asked Rice for a FA reconsideration?
@jym626 yes we went to the FA office and met with them one on one…it was a bit weird because when we told them that Duke had offered me more they said “Congratulations, that’s a great school!” and they couldnt match it…
I agree that this choice should largely be based on fit, but I’ll stand up for Duke based on the previous comments that I take a little bit of issue with…
While the p-frosh “visit days” are certainly a good way to get a feel for the campus and get a general vibe, they certainly do not give you a full sense of what it’s like to be a student at a particular school and making strong generalizations based on interactions with a few students is probably not accurate. Duke is an EXTREMELY welcoming, diverse, and community focused place with a caring, enthusiastic, passionate, and intelligent student body. I found the student body overwhelming helpful, kind, fun, and collaborative.
The social scene of Duke has historically been seen as one of the major POSITIVES of the university that distinguishes it from others of similar caliber. I was not in the Greek system and did not feel excluded or segregating from that world at all – in fact, I still attended sorority functions that I was invited to, had friends who were Greek, in SLGs, and independent, attended basketball games and other events, ventured off campus all the time, and had a great social experience which balanced nicely with academics. The social/academic balance that Duke achieves is one of the very appealing aspects of the university. I had friends from all over the world from various backgrounds – both rich and poor – while I myself relied heavily upon financial aid. I just visited a Duke friend when I was traveling in Hong Kong, my sophomore year roommate was from Japan, etc. (I’ll admit that Rice certainly has a larger Hispanic population than Duke, however, being in Texas and all. But I had plenty of Hispanic friends at Duke as well – Mi Gente has a large presence on campus too).
The multiple campuses is not a big deal at all. Buses run all the time and, in fact, having a freshman East Campus is one of the things freshman learn to love because they really get a strong sense of community with their peers. It’s an even more welcoming environment and only 1.5 miles away from West. Central Campus is not the prettiest, but serves its purpose to house students and has some other nice facilities (tennis courts, basketball, etc.). The Duke campus is beautiful (once construction is over…ugh!), offering beauty in the Duke gardens, accessibility to the Medical Center just off of West, and a fully sufficient freshman campus within walking distance to downtown Durham and plenty of bars and restaurants.
I have not personally been to Rice, so I cannot speak about the campus or academics there, but I have been to Houston over 40 times and it’s not my personal cup of tea. However, I have heard great things about the housing model at Rice (similar to Yale’s, I believe) and in general students do seem to enjoy it there, so certainly see the appeal and I would see nothing wrong with choosing such a great institution as Rice. Having said that, Duke alumni are overwhelmingly PROUD of their school, have a great sense of community, and an enthusiasm that cannot be matched by hardly anywhere else. The school spirit is off the charts! The vast majority of Duke students love their undergraduate experience based on any measure you can look at – student happiness, alumni giving, etc. – so I’d say it’d be hard to suggest that the social scene is segregating or dissatisfying. There is such a wide swath of individuals at Duke, that the super nerdy intellectuals and fraternity jocks alike can find their niche and other people just like them.
This is incorrect information. You have to camp out for AT MOST two games during the entire year (UNC and then sometimes one other). For every other game, you can typically get in line about an hour before tipoff, and then get into the game for free with your student ID. The time you need to get there certainly depends on the quality of the opponent, but there were many many games this year that the student section wasn’t even full, so you could have walked in 5 minutes before tipoff. The commitment is really overstated by the masses/media, just to show how “dedicated” the Duke students are – it’s really just for the UNC game and “tenting” is a rite of passage and a lot of fun! (For the “easy” tenting, you have to spend only two nights in a tent and then perhaps ~15 hours over the course of two weeks. Then there’s a party atmosphere for the two nights before the game. You can study during the day easily and just hangout with your classmates.)
For football, likewise, you simply show your ID to attend, and football attendance has risen in recent years due to the team’s success. ALL Duke sporting events are free for students unless it’s part of the NCAA tournament competition that happens to be on campus. I went to tennis, lacrosse, and soccer games at least once in addition to attending nearly every basketball game (and a few football games…we were terrible when I was there).
Either way, you cannot go wrong though! Both will provide you with a challenging, enriching environment that will help you grow. Good luck!
Well its clear that students will feel strongly about their schools.OP, have him make a list of what he likes/dislikes about each school. Then read the Yale Daily New’s “Insiders Guide to Colleges” for a feel of what its like to be a student at each school.
One other big difference between the two schools: Rice does not offer a neuroscience major (only a minor). At Duke you can major or minor in neuroscience (plus the option of a BS or BA).
@sgopal2 YES and students at Rice have confirmed that in fact the Neuroscience major at Rice will be offered in a year or two, by the time that I have to declare my major but for interdisciplinary research I think Duke has a better foundation, I talked to one of the profs in the Neuroscience dept. at Duke and the program seemed very diverse.
My kid (a sophomore) confirms that Greek life is still a big part of Duke, thought the college is trying really hard to move kids towards SLG - Selective Living Groups. Academics are top notch like at any other top school, no difference here. Campus is HUGE and beautiful, and buses run all the time - there is actually a student built app that you can use to check when the bus will be near you. There is also a Robertson Bus - connecting Duke with UNC, enabling students to take courses at both. I think that Duke has a much more recognized name than Rice .Like someone has said above, students have access to majority of the games for free and with no lines. And if you want to have a court view, join DSB 
I think your choice is obvious! Go Blue Devils!
I would not worry so much about a major at this point. My kid went in pretty much decided what to do, and now we are hearing about the changes , for the third time 
I believe the internationals RS selection is on a different calendar and announced before US.
This whole “Neuroscience” obsession sweeping many undergraduate campuses is quite puzzling! I am convinced that a great many students are drawn to it because of its faintly lofty and specialized aura, without having any real grasp of why they want it, or what it might accomplish for them. It is relevant for Pre-Meds, I suppose, but for the rest, it is a vaguely defined club they wish to belong to. God knows what the majority of them will end up doing with this silly undergraduate concept. How did this get started?