<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>These two colleges are very different in their own, respective ways. But, I've come down to these two amazing schools, and I certainly have a very tough decision to make this month.</p>
<p>Without any bias, I'd like your opinion on each school and what aspects of a school stand out above the other. Finally, I'd like some input on where you feel is the better choice.</p>
<p>I'm interested in studying Economics and French.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>i’m in the exact same dilemma- it really is a tough choice even though they are so different </p>
<p>what i’m thinking about with the schools comparatively (i partly posted this on the duke 2013 fbook group too):</p>
<p>Williams:
in a way seems like it has a cozier, more nurturing atmosphere because of the size, and bonding created by really cold weather
i’ve def heard people rave about teacher-student relations (though i’m sure this is good at duke as well)
winter study is a plus
higher ranked “feeder” school for alot of pre-professional grad schools if you’re interested in law, medicine, etc (but only one above duke, so i dont think there’s that big of a difference)
negatives, though:
read on another thread that Williams is “notably weak in french”, which is worrying because thats an academic interest of mine, as well
then, personally, i’m not sure i could deal with the weather, and i didn’t quite feel the same connection to the school that i felt when i visited duke
Duke:
better weather, gorgeous campus, better name recognition (though mostly to the average person, not necessarily to grad schools), i really like the idea of DukeEngage, love the whole school spirit thing surrounding basketball, looked like there were alot of interesting things going on judging from all the posters i looked at (i love the fact that flosstradamus performed there!)
negatives: i asked various family members and friends for their thoughts on the places i got into and alot of them mentioned that duke can be very cliquish, segregated :-/ people seemed friendly when i visited, though
no A/C in a lot of freshman dorms (doesn’t really matter to me, but if you want to get nitpicky)</p>
<p>i’m personally kind of leaning towards duke right now, but i guess the most important things to think about are: how big a deal is the weather, presence of Greek life, size of a school, etc because those seem to be the main differences- i would definitely advise visiting if you haven’t yet, because thats where you get a feel for the more intangible things like “can i see myself living here?”
sorry if this isn’t very helpful, i’m obviously trying to figure out what i want out of college too at this point haha</p>
<p>just a little side note to the OP, but duke’s french department is one of the strongest french departments in the country. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[NRC</a> Rankings in Each of 41 Areas](<a href=“http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc41.html#area5]NRC”>http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc41.html#area5)</p>
<p>Great academics, great weather, really exciting campus environment with programs like Duke Engage as a terrific counterpoint to the more traditional sports, Cameron Crazy stuff. Almost everyone who ends up at Duke ends up being glad that made that decision. Williams is a great school, but you really have to want to be at a very small school in rural Massachusetts. It’s a great education and experience, but I just think Duke offers much more.</p>