<p>I was accepted to Duke and my state's flagship school, the University of Florida. I'll go to the honor's college at UF on a full scholarship, but I'll have to pay an estimated 18k a year at Duke. I'm an undecided major, but I'll either choose between law school, business school, or Med School, with business being the most likely and Med school being the least. Bottom line, is it worth it to go to Duke?</p>
<p>Well I think Duke is definitely worth 18,000 dollars a year. I think you should go visit Duke if you have not yet and then base your decision on fit. I believe that Duke will provide a better education. If you like basketball, then I would definitely choose Duke over UF. Good luck with your college choice.</p>
<p>I agree with class2009college. Last year I was in a similar situation debating a full honors scholarship at University of Arkansas or Duke at around 35K/year, and I still chose Duke. Haha, so, perhaps needless to say, I think 18K is worth it.</p>
<p>UF is growing in both prestige and selectivity (I heard it only admitted about 25-30% this year?) and being in the honors college will put you alongside other especially bright, motivated students like the students at Duke. UF is also huge, meaning that it has a monstrous alumni network. Duke does speak for itself, but I don’t think this is as obvious of a choice as the two posters before me are making it seem. If you go to UF and still crave a degree from a “big name” school, then you could go to one for graduate school since you already seem to have plans to do so, and going to UF would make graduate school much more affordable down the road. Ah, but Duke is an incredible place as well.</p>
<p>I’d visit both if you haven’t already. To be honest, I don’t think that a degree from Duke will be superior to thriving at UF in the honors college in terms of marketing yourself to graduate schools and employers. If you really care about having a “big name” school, or if Duke just feels like an infinitely better fit than UF due to size/location/whatever, go there, but otherwise I think UF would be a pretty strategic move. Congrats on both acceptances.</p>
<p>IMHO, since you have clearly articulated plans to attend either graduate school or a professional school, I would focus less on your undergraduate career than on your graduate/professional one. The school you go to for undergrad will serve you in a variety of ways eg. exposing you to new fields, offering unique opportunities, broadening horizons etc, but where you went to undergrad will only be meaningful for another four or five years. Where you went to grad school/professional school will be relevant for the remainder of your career. I would suggest that you consider UF strongly and avoid the debt.</p>
<p>I have the same dilemma…with the same schools lol. IMO if you want to do med school, its true that u can save money by going to UF but at the same time if you pursue a business type degree in undergrad then you can do what I’m thinking of doing. I’ve planned to get a job or internship after undergrad, then maybe do an MBA later. And the job and internship thing is much easier to get if you’re from Duke than from UF…</p>
<p>Besides I’ve lived in Gainesville for 14 years…I’m definitely getting sick of it. If you don’t mind me asking, where are you from?</p>
<p>I’m from a Tampa suburb. To be honest, the hardest part about this decision is that everyone I know is going to UF, including my girlfriend, who is also going to the honors college on a full ride (turned down Notre Dame).</p>
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<p>This is EXACTLY what I’m thinking. It seems that most of the top business schools (HBS, Wharton, Sloan, etc…) won’t even look at you if you don’t have some working experience. I’m not sure that I’ll be able to land anything spectacular being just another one of UF’s 10,000 person graduating class.</p>
<p>I debated for a while between lots of scholarship money at one school (not my state school though), and paying more at Duke and eventually chose Duke for its smaller size and also its exit opportunities. I definitely have felt in my internship interviews (I’m a sophomore) that the Duke name has fostered an immediate sense of respect from my interviewers. That said, many of the other interns at the firm I will be at are from schools like Minnesota, Wake Forest, etc, so the name of your school certainly doesn’t mean everything. </p>
<p>However, next year when I try to get an internship at a consulting firm, the name certainly does matter, as the top firms only recruit at 15 or so schools.</p>
<p>But it all really depends on what you want to do. UF free might be a good idea, but going to Duke for only $18k is a pretty good deal. Congrats on your options.</p>