<p>We visited both with senior D. She hated Duke and loved Vanderbilt. Applied to Vandy and has been accepted with a Chancellor’s scholarship.</p>
<p>Both places were beautiful. Tour guide at Vanderbilt was a sorority girl…D does not intend to rush. Still liked the place and the people. She revisited earlier this month as an admitted student, and loved it there!</p>
<p>I will say that the idea of shuttling at Duke really was a turn off for her but she loved the commons area for freshmen at Vanderbilt that you can easily walk to…and she really preferred Nashville over Durham, hands down. Her younger brother, on the other hand, loved Duke. </p>
<p>I guess you can’t go wrong with those choices. You just need to visit.</p>
<p>I wondered about the Duke East Campus thing, too. The fact is that most classes are on West Campus, so the First Year students get the best of both worlds. There is a 3-year residency policy at Duke. The sophomores and juniors are living on West campus (a few on Central) and the First Years are on East. At many (most?) other schools, the majority of students move off campus Sophomore year, so the dorms are largely Freshmen anyway.</p>
<p>9th Street, where the restaurants and stores are located, is adjacent to East Campus; Whole Foods is across the street.</p>
<p>Our son made very good friends in his dorm Freshman year; they are still close 3 years later. It worked for him. And now that he has moved off campus, his apartment is…adjacent to East Campus. His room mate does not have a car and relies on the the buses. It still works for him.</p>
<p>I don’t know what Rocksville mom is talking about, but I actually go to Duke and her stereotypes don’t seem very accurate.</p>
<p>Both are GREAT schools, and people at Duke that I have met have all been really, really nice. As for people not having as much of a southern twang, that’s because people are from everywhere around the country. However, there are a good amount of North Carolinians (I am one of them) and one thing about Duke that I LOVE is being able to meet people from everywhere, including abroad.</p>
<p>Both schools are prestigious. Both schools will do a lot for your child. I would just visit, if I were you, and then decide! </p>
<p>The buses are not a drag at all. 5 minutes max most of the time. Living on East means that you form really right friendships with other freshman and aren’t pressured to conform to the upperclassmen as much as you would be otherwise. Also, the professors are great and are very concerned about you. Finally, basketball is AMAZING. Soooo much fun, especially now that we are in the Final Four.</p>
<p>As I said, both are great schools. I got into both as well, and it was a close call. I’m very happy with my decision, though!</p>
<p>I’ve been on both campuses recently and they have a different feel. Not better or worse, just different. There is no bad choice in this equation. Visit and see how your daughter feels. Congratulations!</p>
<p>But not at Vanderbilt. The official policy is that undergrads stay on campus for all four years. It is possible to request permission to move off campus for senior year, but there is no guarantee it will be approved. There is a variety of housing styles, to some extent anyway, for the on-campus housing.</p>
<p>First, consider that the difference is $5,000 per year PLUS cost of living differential each year. Thus, the total debt will be more akin to$25,000 per year</p>
<p>Second, this also assumes that the debt that you incur will be subsidized, which means that the interest will NOT accrue while in college. If the debt is unsubsidized, the total debt, plus cost of living could be over $30,000 upon graduation.</p>
<p>To put this in perspective: $30,000 of total debt @ 8.00% interest would cost you $364/mo to pay off over ten years! This is NOT insubstantial.</p>
<p>Third: both Vandy and Duke have very similar reputations. Thus, given the possiblity of a $30,000 difference, I would take the one that results in zero debt, unless you really dislike the culture of the school. I personally have seen Vandy and found Nashville to be a terrific place to go to school. They also have a great breakfast place near Vandy that you will love. Trust me on this: the reputations are very close and having no debt will be godsend.</p>
<p>Good luck to you. You have some great choices.</p>
<p>the Cost of living differential was used in the context of being the increase in tuition that occurs each year due to inflation. Thus, if you only have $5,000 in debt at the end of year one, you might have $5,300 in debt in year two due to the increase in tuition.</p>
<p>There is no meaningful prestige differentiation between the two, IMO. It all comes down to personal preference. Personally, I’d pick Vandy over Duke but neither is a bad choice. Congrats!</p>
<p>Both schools offer a great undergraduate experience. Vandy offers SEC football and Duke offers ACC basketball, so either way your kid is gonna have some great teams to pull for. Tough choice but you really can’t go wrong either way.</p>