<p>I visited both of these schools this winter and loved them both, but I am having a very difficult time choosing between them in which I want to apply to for early decision. I know that Duke has a stronger academic reputation while Vanderbilt has a better social life, but I was just wondering what everyone's opinions are on these two schools. Any input at all helps.</p>
<p>Duke! GO BLUE DEVILS!</p>
<p>Duke is stronger academically, and it has a very active social life (large frat scene similar to Vanderbilt).</p>
<p>I would say that the difference in terms of placement/academics/student strength is pretty significant between the two, while the social life isn't that different.</p>
<p>O B J E C T I V E D A T A </p>
<p>UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT<br>
Duke 6330 Vanderbilt 6378</p>
<p>% AND # OF STUDENTS WHO ARE IN-STATE
Duke 15% (950) Vanderbilt 16% (1020)</p>
<p>% OF FEMALE STUDENTS<br>
Duke 49% Vanderbilt 53%</p>
<p>% OF WHITE/NON-HISPANIC STUDENTS<br>
Duke 52% Vanderbilt 61%</p>
<p>% FROM PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS<br>
Duke 65% Vanderbilt 60%</p>
<p>% OF STUDENTS IN GREEK LIFE (Male & Female)
Duke 29%/42% Vanderbilt 34%/50%</p>
<p>TOP MAJORS AT EACH SCHOOL (acc to collegeboard.com)
Duke 34% Social Sciences, 15% Engineering, 10% Security & Protective Services, 9% Psychology, 7% Biology, 5% English
Vanderbilt 29% Social Sciences, 15% Engineering, 7% Psychology, 7% Foreign Languages, 6% English</p>
<p>IS & OOS COST (Tuition & Fees)<br>
Duke $33,963 Vanderbilt $33,440
Duke $33,963 Vanderbilt $33,440 </p>
<p>TOTAL COLLEGE ENDOWMENT AND PER CAPITA (undergrad and grad)
Duke $4.5bn ($385,079) Vanderbilt $2.9bn ($253,846)</p>
<p>AVERAGE HIGH/LOW IN FEBRUARY<br>
Duke 54-30 Vanderbilt 52-31</p>
<p>GRADUATION RATES<br>
-% OF STUDENTS EXPECTED TO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:
Duke 93% Vanderbilt 85%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO DO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:
Duke 93% Vanderbilt 88%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE IN 4 YEARS:
Duke 87% Vanderbilt 83%</p>
<p>FACULTY RESOURCES<br>
-% OF CLASSES WITH <20 STUDENTS
Duke 71% Vanderbilt 66%
-% OF CLASSES WITH 50+ STUDENTS
Duke 5% Vanderbilt 7%
-FACULTY/STUDENT RATIO<br>
Duke 8/1 Vanderbilt 9/1</p>
<p>STUDENT SELECTIVITY<br>
-% ACCEPTANCE RATE<br>
Duke 21% Vanderbilt 34%
-SAT/ACT RANGE (Middle 50%)<br>
Duke 1380-1550 Vanderbilt 1280-1460
-% OF STUDENTS RANKING IN TOP 10% IN HS CLASS
Duke 87% Vanderbilt 79%
% OF STUDENTS WITH HS GPA > 3.75 (Unweighted)
Duke na Vanderbilt 46%</p>
<h1>OF NMS FINALISTS IN 2005 (% of student body)</h1>
<pre><code>Duke 142 (8.7%) Vanderbilt 183 (11.4%)
</code></pre>
<h1>OF 1500 STUDENTS ENROLLED (% of student body)</h1>
<pre><code>Duke 2282 (35%) Vanderbilt 1026 (16%)
</code></pre>
<p>ALUMNI GIVING %<br>
Duke 44% Vanderbilt 27%</p>
<p>S U B J E C T I V E D A T A </p>
<p>PEER ASSESSMENT<br>
Duke 4.5 Vanderbilt 4.1</p>
<p>On virtually every metric, Duke has the quantitative advantage over Vanderbilt and shows itself as the premier school in the South and among the very top in the country. In the South/Southwest, I would place Duke as the clear #1 with Rice #2 and then followed by a near dead heat for #3 between Vanderbilt and Emory. Given prejudices in academia and the media, IMO if Duke were located in the West rather than the South, I believe that the expression would be HYPD rather than HYPS. I think that Stanford is Duke's closest peer school. </p>
<p>Qualitatively, Vanderbilt has nothing to apologize for with high (and quickly improving) student quality and arguably the best social scene among the USNWR Top 20. (I'll leave it to current students at both schools to compare the social lives of these two schools, but my impression is that the Greek scene is far stronger at Vanderbilt which could be a good or bad thing depending on your point of view) Vanderbilt has changed a lot over the last decade as the current President came from Brown in late 90s. The school now has a much more diverse student body, both geographically and ethnically and the school's status is much improved over that time. However, Duke has greater placement strength (particularly in the Northeast) and Vanderbilt's national reputation is comparatively lower. </p>
<p>Both of these schools are among America's finest universities, but in the direct comparison, Duke has the stronger statistical record and overall school reputation.</p>
<p>
[quote]
while the social life isn't that different
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is bull. I have visited Duke and the social scene is much lamer than Vanderbilts. The girls are hideous in comparison and Nashville > Durham.</p>
<p>Both have 40ish percent Greek life, both have lots of drinking and partying, Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill is awesome - lots of bars, clubs, places to visit.</p>
<p>The girls...well, too bad you didn't like the 5 or 6 girls you saw on your visit. Duke girls are better than any school with similar academic caliber in my opinion (which again, is based on visits to friends).</p>
<p>I say Vandy Vandy Vandy. But I'm biased, as I live near Vandy.</p>
<p>I don't think the social scenes are that different, and Duke women are definitely beautiful. I think Duke is slightly better academically, but of course I'm biased also.</p>
<p>That was a great post hawkette, thanks for all the data and a fair assessment of both sides.</p>
<p>I'd go with Duke. Vandy is a great school and its a great college experience, but Duke is a level higher and its social life is pretty solid.</p>
<p>My answer is on my location!
The only reason why you would choose Vandy over Duke is if you were to get a full tuition scholarship there..
Vanderbilit is a great school academically but Duke is superior!</p>
<p>Well college2332, I visited Duke too and I would say that the social scene is not lame!! Probably about the same as Vandy's.. Vanderbilt has a higher percentage of students going Greek though (42%), whle Duke has 35%.. if that's what you are talking about!</p>
<p>Go with Duke. </p>
<p>Nashville is GHETTO!</p>
<p>actually SoCal, Durham is MUCH more ghetto than the area Vanderbilt is in.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is in a really nice area of Nashville. The midtown/west end area has tons of great restaurants within walking distance. Places like Bound’ry and Virago are extremely trendy. Cabana is on the VandyCard and it feels like an episode of the TV Show “The OC”. Demonbreun Street is simply heaven on earth. Go to the bar “The Tin Roof” and it will be filled with gorgeous, down to earth southern belles. The ratio in the bar is 50:50 and they have an awesome live band on the weekends (same with Dan McGuiness). Aside from Nashville, Vanderbilt brings in tons of great music. Rites of Spring is one of the best college festivals in the country (2 day festival – 20+ bands).</p>
<p>In terms of sports, Duke seems only to have basketball. For football, SEC tailgates are amazing and we have a good chance to go to a bowl game this year. We generally place Top 20 for basketball and have one of the elite baseball programs in the country. </p>
<p>I give the edge to Duke in academics, but the posters saying Duke has an equal social scene are delusional. Vanderbilt is only top 20 school ranked on Playboy's Top 25 list. They also arguably have the best looking girls in the country (or in the very least dominate any other academic school).</p>
<p>Duke tailgates are amazing too. Cmon, no one can actually compare Vandy and Duke's social scenes extensively, beyond a few generalizations, since no one has been to both schools. Duke was in Newsweek because of the party scene (and the lax hoax...so maybe shouldn't brag about that). </p>
<p>However, in terms of academics/prestige/placement, Duke is amazing and a significant notch above Vanderbilt. Compared to its academic peers (Penn Dartmouth Brown) it has a strong social scene.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what the average GPA of an accepted student at Duke is? I checked the Duke site, but they had no answer.</p>
<p>pvike-
The answer is simple. If you can't decide between the two, you shouldn't be applying early decision to either one. You should apply ED if you are totally sure of your choice. Since you aren't, I'd suggest you apply RD to both and see what happens from there. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>in contrast, apply ED to Duke</p>
<p>rschlegel, probably close to a 4.0. The median SAT is 1465, so whatever GPA you think goes along with that is probably close enough.</p>
<p>Thanks thethoughtprocess</p>
<p>"In terms of sports, Duke seems only to have basketball."</p>
<p>The Director's Cup Standings 2006-2007:</p>
<p>Duke #7
Vanderbilt #33</p>
<p><a href="http://nacda.cstv.com/%5B/url%5D">http://nacda.cstv.com/</a></p>