<p>Absolutely cannot choose. I'm looking to go into something mathy/sciencey (yeah really vague...i know) which I hear Chicago is better for, and I really like the fact that the city is close by, but I think I would fit in better at Duke and I love the school spirit of it all, which isn't there at Chicago. Pros and cons for each please?</p>
<p>If you want to study physics i would probably pick Chicago, for math they’re pretty much equal, and for the life sciences duke is better hands down. There have been numerous threads devoted to this discussion so I would definitely check them out, but at the end of the day I would always choose based on fit. Chicago attracts a particular type of student, and while i’m sure you could find a niche there if you tried reasonably hard, I would stick with the school that you are already comfortable with. If it was grad school, I would tell you to go to chicago for physics hands down, but a marginal difference in departmental quality at the undergraduate level is not worth sacrificing the intangibles that duke has to offer.</p>
<p>I would disagree with happyman2 about Duke Physics which I think is absolutely stellar. For my graduating class (2011), there are Duke students going to PhD programs in Physics at Harvard, Caltech, Yale, and Georgia Tech at least if not more and there are only 6-8 Physics concentrators at Duke per year at most.</p>
<p>At the graduate level, Chicago has the better department but I don’t think there’s a good correlation between graduate research output and undergraduate department quality. The success Duke Physics students have in getting accepted to the best PhD programs in the field is a testament to that.</p>
<p>I would just focus on the environments between the two schools when making a decision. Even though Duke is better than Chicago in Biology, Stanford’s PhD program (the best in the country) will not prefer a BA in Biology from Duke over a BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago even if everything else is equal between the two applicants which won’t be the case. The converse would apply in Physics where Chicago is better: a BS in Physics from Duke will not be considered inferior to a BS in Physics from Chicago at any time.</p>
<p>These schools are considered peers by graduate schools and every department will be stellar at both of these institutions.</p>
<p>It sounds like the personal fit at Duke is better for you so I would go there.</p>
<p>Can’t go wrong in science at either school so base the decision on other factors like Chicago v. Durham, temperature, school spirit and sports, core v. few required classes.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that Chicago as an obnoxious Common Core (though it’s not nearly as bad as Columbia’s). Also, the cultures at the two schools are different. Chicago is more scholarly while Duke is more relaxed.</p>
<p>Chicago is more prestigious if that matters to you.</p>
<p>^ Says who? your uncle who lives in hyde park? Stop being an imbecile, and get off the Duke boards. If Chicago is so much more prestigious why do cross admits overwhelmingly choose Duke over it? Trolling isn’t going to help with your insecurity, consulting a professional would be more prudent.</p>