<p>I'm currently considering between an undergraduate education at Duke or Cornell. I am looking to study either Economics or Public Policy at Duke. At Cornell, I'm considering the AEM program.</p>
<p>Below are some of factors important to me, which I hope will aid in your assessment:</p>
<p>Strength of the programs by their respective schools.</p>
<p>Career opportunities and job placement: As with everyone else, I am keen on entering the banking/finance/consultancy industry.</p>
<p>Academics: I'd prefer if the school did not practice grade deflation, where it is possible for most students to do well without spending all their time studying.</p>
<p>Students: I understand that competition exists in every school. However, I'd prefer collaborative, compete-with-myself competition rather than cutthroat competition. I'd also like to be around students who know how to play and enjoy themselves.</p>
<p>Cohesiveness: I'd like it if the school was not segregated along any lines. I have also heard of negative comments in some schools of the divide between students in fraternities/sororities and those that are not. </p>
<p>Mobility: I wish to have the choice to work and be employed in different parts of the country and possibly overseas.</p>
<p>Much thanks to those who have provided me with advice previously. I would appreciate any additional comments or insights. </p>
<p>Since I'm a student at Duke, I can only talk about Duke feature's and point them out to you. In regards to job placement in the finance/banking/consulting industry, Duke is definitely among the elites as there are always tons of big firms recruiting during career fairs and summer opportunities fairs and things like that. And Duke's alumni networking is incredible. However, Duke's Econ program just completely revamped the major two years ago and made it a really weed out major since too many people became econ majors in the past. It's probably only second to premed in terms of kids weeded out so be wary of that. I'm not sure how likely Cornell is likely to weed kids out in their program. </p>
<p>In terms of competition, I've heard Duke's is a little less competitive Cornell. Cornell has been taged with the line: "easiest Ivy to get into, hardest to get out of". It's academic atmosphere is one of the most competitive and stressful. There is some division between frats and no frat men since the frat guys live together in their own seciton on West Campus, but it's not too extreme. Finally, Duke's overseas is pretty good. It has programs in New York made especially for Econ majors, which is really nice, so check that out. </p>
<p>In summary, if you're choosing Econ, you might research more about the competitiveness of Cornell's department since Duke's is pretty competitive (I got weeded out of the intro class), and you would be studying a great deal. If you're choosing Public Policy, I'd choose Duke because the program's pretty reputable and it's not that hard to do well as long as you put in the effort. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. I apologize for not fully understanding what you wrote. When you said "made it a really weed out major", "only second to premed in terms of kids weeded out so be wary of that" and "I got weeded out of the intro class"; Do you mean to say, (I am inferring) that you have to get certain grades in the introductory classes to be able to be an Econs major? Or, is everyone allowed to be an Economics major despite how you fare in your Econs classes?</p>
<p>Are you referring to Cornell with this statement?
[quote]
There is some division between frats and no frat men since the frat guys live together in their own seciton on West Campus, but it's not too extreme.
[/quote]
If so, it's not true... the fraternities are in West Campus and North Campus. Many of them are in West... however so are upperclassmen dorms and private apartments. The only segregation is with the Freshman class - they are entirely on North Campus - but Duke's Freshmen are on East Campus, so it's about the same, except Cornell's North is closer than Duke's East to their respective main campuses (I've been to Duke... it's incredibly beautiful!)</p>
<p>Also... this statement
[quote]
"easiest Ivy to get into, hardest to get out of
[/quote]
has been Cornell's reputation since the dark ages, but it no longer holds true. Pre-med and Engineering are notoriously hard, as they are in all universities... but it is not true for most majors. The OP is looking at the accredited business program at Cornell which is relatively easy to get a decent GPA for most students (the OP has previously stated that he is weak in math... so he will have to work much harder, but that would be the case in any course of business).</p>
<p>No, you don't have to get a certain grade in intro courses to become a major in anything. You could get all C-s in all your econ courses and still be a major if you wanted to. You could even get a D in intro econ and move on as far as I know. It's just the vast majority of students realize that the major is not for them when you perform poorly. But, if you want to continue despite poor grades, nobody is going to stop you unless you get put on academic probation (college is not like high school, and they're going to let you do what you want and not hold your hand while you do it).</p>
<p>@Tahoe. SriverFX was talking about the fraternities at Duke.</p>
<p>I never got a chance to thank you. I wanted to do so in the previous thread but feared I might be thread-digging considering it was so many pages behind. In any case, thanks for the advice you provided me previously. It was much appreciated!</p>