<p>Hey folks --- it's crunch time and I'm seriously considering both schools. Howevs, Duke and Berkeley are like night and day (but I'm oddly attracted to both), and I need to make a decision soon.</p>
<p>Pros for Duke:
Excellent student/teacher ratio
Passionate profs who are willing to sacrifice time for you
FOCUS program
Unpretentious people (all of whom are undeniably smart)
K-ville :)
Well-rounded social sciences department</p>
<p>Negs for Duke:
It's in Durham. In North Carolina. In the South.
Limited amount of majors
Accepts 2 AP's
Low ranking on world's top 500 best universities?
Conservative slant in Social Sciences (what I'm planning on picking a major in)
Awful music scene</p>
<p>Pros for Berkeley:
In San Fransisco
Plethora of majors
Accepts loads of AP's
Prepares you for the "real world"
Apparently, number 2 for top 500 best universities
OK Go visits, and I love OK Go (they are the stuff of GODS!)</p>
<p>Negs for Berkeley:
Fairly homogenous student body
I stupidly applied for the Environmental Design school which I don't think I want to go to anymore---hassle of transferring?
Impersonal profs
Cut throat environment
Extreme liberal bias for Social Sciences</p>
<p>Connyfoo, I think you just listed alot of the stereotypes for each school. There will be many stupid people at Duke (no matter how define the word), as will there be stupid people at Berkeley. There will be good and bad professors at both schools too. There will be pretentious and unpretentious students at both as well. I'm not trying to say the two schools are the same, but rather I'm saying that the points you mentioned aren't all together true. My opinion is that, first, throw out those world university rankings as a tool to pick a college. Second, get as much information from that is germane to you personally. Third, it doesn't sound like you are, but don't discount issues like which school will have the best concerts or films or whatever. I might not sound too important right now, but once you move somewhere you will, with out a doubt, need to have fun. I won't say which I think you should choose, but I'll warn you not to come here unless you've really decided that you're up for it.</p>
<p>And I take offense at the slam against the South. The South has some of the nicest people in the world and the things associated with it (racism, backwardness) are for the most part, in the past. I've faced much less racism in the South in white suburbs and mixed-race neighborhoods than I have in Berkeley's ghetto inner-city environment.</p>
<p>Conny, you're too cool to spend 4 years in Durham. Berkeley/Oakland/SF has a great music scene and tons of cultural activites. I played soccer at Cal with Johnnie Marr once (he signed all my Smiths LPs!), had beers with Billie Joe and Mike from Green Day (they hung out on campus and played often; they were cool back then), went out with Nedelle (my friend on my soccer team, comp lit major, dated her and was in her band.) As an undergrad, i saw the Smiths live on campus and countless other great acts at the Greek Theater on campus or in SF. KALX is the best college station in the USA, you can DJ there if you volunteer for a year or two, or just hang out with fun people (amazing treasure trove of music, from vinyl to MP3s.)</p>
<p>It's all about fit. I'm going to Duke this fall, but from your post, it seems like you have someting against the entire Southern region of the United States, so I'm gonna say go to Berkeley.</p>
<p>go to duke. i'm from the south and i'm choosing between berkeley and emory because i didn't get into duke, but i know if i had gotten in there would be no argument as to which school i'd choose. living in the south isn't as bad as most ppl make it out to be and plus duke is a private campus, so its pretty isolated. </p>
<p>i personally believe that duke is amazing and that you should definitely go there unless you live in cali. PLUS NOTHING beats duke basketball.</p>
<p>BTW, Cal is 2-1 vs Duke in basketball. We brought down one of the best Duke teams of all time (Laetner, Hurley, Grant,...)</p>
<p>Cal Athletics >>> Duke Athletics. </p>
<p>This being said, if you like to be in an isolated Southern private school, Duke is a great choice, better than Washington&Lee, Emory or the other ones. It's just a matter of personal fit.</p>
<p>Actually, I'm originally from Alabama so I'm pretty familiar with the Southern scene. But since moving to Minnesota, I'm just a lot more comfortable with the midwestern nicey-nice atmosphere - so Duke would be in some sense a culture shock. I'm not trying to harp on anyone about the South and definately not trying to generalize. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.</p>
<p>CalX --- ahh! Thanks so much for all of that. It may seem stupid to some, but the music scene is really important to me. I can't imagine not being able to attend concerts and see some of my favorite musicians. This is definately something to consider now.</p>
<p>And GentlemanandScholar, I realize that many of my pros and cons are stereotypes, but I've garnered these from the forums at college confidential. I'm sure that they are not all true all the time, but these issues (impersonal profs, etc) come up quite frequently.</p>
<p>But also, Berkeley appearing #2 isn't just about prestige --- there's obviously lots of good things happening here that would give it such a rating. Although this isn't the make-or-break factor, it's something to consider.</p>
<p>But the most important thing is that I'm not completely sure about what I want to do. Is double majoring encouraged at Berkeley?</p>
<p>Is it encouraged? No more than any other schools.</p>
<p>Is it possible? Certainly, if you go about it intelligently.</p>
<p>I don't know if you're in the same situation, but I personally practically have to double major if I'm not to have an exceedingly boring four years due to AP classes. </p>
<p>But in any case, if you research into what classes and requirements there are, I'm sure you won't find double majoring all that strenuous.</p>
<p>It's more encouraged than it is at the private schools, certainly, since Berkeley's breadth requirements (equivalent to private school Core classes) are quite easily fulfilled with your major requirements. Unless you want to toss most of your social life away (I don't know about Duke specifically, but generally for private schools), double majoring in a private school is not the most prudent course of action.</p>
<p>I know what you mean conny. It's very important. Especially when you're very young. What other groups are you into? Any good shows in Minneapolis this year? I saw Metric, Ladytron and the Arctic Monkeys lately.</p>
<p>Also bear in mind that the music scene is just a symptom of the broader culture spectrum, you will be enthralled with the rest of that spectrum and broaden your horizons at Berkeley.</p>
<p>Berkeley is a great place to be if you love concerts because of SF, the Greek, Oakland Arena, and places such as Mountain View (a bit of a trip, but worth it).</p>