<p>@wgao…full disclosure, my younger son just chose NU over WashU in St Louis…older son chose WashU in St. Louis over NU (class of '11)…Duke is a wonderful place and I won’t knock it for a second…just want to make some counterpoints to the NU points that you made…the NU campus is beautiful…yes, it has some ugly 70’s buildings and doesn’t have the “gothic” feel that Duke’s main areas have…however, it sits right on the lakeshore and has a meandering feel to it…on a nice day, when you go for a run or walk by the lakeshore and you look back at the campus and the view of downtown Chicago, well, that’s pretty sweet…camraderie, well, I got a great feel for the pride people take in going to NU and found students to be really, really close…NU has a great, inclusive, greek system (and doesn’t make people that don’t join feel excluded) that is very social. NU alumni system is really, really good…there is definitely a “NU mafia” out there and alums (of which I know several) definitely look out for their students! As well, NU continues to make a concerted effort to integrate more and more into Evanston…we see a huge difference between now and '07, when we visited with older son. So, if you choose Duke—fantastic! Great school, great place…just wanted to point out some NU factors to consider. Good luck…clock is ticking!</p>