I was lucky enough to be accepted to both Duke and Columbia, and am having a difficult time choosing between the two. I am looking to study humanities in college, but am undecided on exactly what: my “hook” on my apps was politics, but I’ve really lost my interest and am looking more into philosophy/pre-law.
Columbia (likely Economics-Philosophy major)
Pros:
The Core Curriculum. I love the core. I know I want to study humanities, but I don’t know exactly what aspect, which makes the Core particularly appealing. I will surely receive an incredible liberal arts education at Columbia.
Diversity. I want to reach out beyond the bubble of my high school experience, and Columbia is one of the most diverse and worldly schools out there.
Location. New York City isn’t as much of a plus for me as it is for others, but I like being in the middle of everything and knowing that there will always be things to do on weekends.
A focused environment. I have never been in a particularly competitive academic environment (and while I will also this this as a con later), but Columbia has a very intellectual and hard working environment that I think would rub off on me well and motivate me to study to my fullest potential.
Campus. I love Columbia’s architecture. Incredible buildings, great quad area, and the main area is awe-striking.
Cons:
Cutthroat. I know that Columbia students are generally happy (99% freshman retention rate), but do I really want to study somewhere that drives students into the ground with stress and competition?
Limited community. Columbia surely doesn’t have the same school spirit as Duke, and I wouldn’t have the same experience attending athletic events.
Imposter syndrome. I know that Columbia is on equal footing with Duke, but I get the feeling that their students’ incredible hardworkingness may intimidate me at times.
Unfriendly students? This may be anecdotal, but I recently heard from a friend that when a Columbia student visited Duke’s campus, they were in love with it and commented how much nicer and less competitive Duke students were.
Duke (likely Political Science major w/ Philosophy, Politics, Economics certificate)
Pros:
Community. By far the biggest pro for Duke. I have no doubt that my social experience at Duke would be better than at Columbia. Duke students are much more similar to myself; they are smart but not “beat-myself-into-the-ground-with-hard-work” smart like Columbia students. I have never really belonged to a community before, so belonging at Duke would doubtless be a great experience. I’m also a big sports fan and was involved with sports journalism in high school, and it would be cool to continue at Duke.
Stellar Academics. Columbia excites me more in this regard, but Duke has incredible academics nonetheless.
West Campus architecture. It’s beautiful, I love how cohesive it is & it adds to the community feeling really well.
The quintessential undergraduate college experience. Duke undergrad is a very typical experience, which I like— after all, I’m still a kid, and a lot of the conventional college attractions still appeal to me.
Low stress. When I visited Columbia, every student had a book in their hand or a laptop that they were clearly doing schoolwork with. At Duke, kids seemed to have much more free time and enjoyed conversations and meals with friends. (Bear in mind, I saw Columbia during the week and Duke on the weekend, so this may have had an impact).
Cons:
Research. Not necessarily a con, but I’m pretty disinterested in research & I know that research opportunities are one of Duke’s major appeals, which would be wasted on me.
Far away from everything. Columbia is in the middle of the northeast, just a few hours away from tons of major cities. I have a lot of friends going to school in the northeast and it would be cool to go somewhere that has a lot of opportunities for others to visit.
-East campus. I did not love the freshman dorms at Duke, they were a little disappointing after having seen West campus.
Students too much like me? A pro for Columbia is that it’s very worldly and will me up to new perspectives and ideas. At Duke, I fear that a community of students who are very similar to myself may make me stuck in my ways.
I know that I will be happy wherever I end up, but I’m struggling on this decision. I visited both schools this week and loved them in different ways. Columbia’s small campus was gorgeous and the prospect of being in a culturally rich city was exciting, but I similarly enjoyed the spaciousness of dukes campus and the feeling of belonging to a community.
I’d pick Duke, if only for truly awesome college experience without sacrificing prestige or academics. But Columbia is a great school in a great city (if you want to be in nyc)
There are number of big differences between the two schools. Do you want more of a rah-rah college experience? Or being able to explore a big city with small groups of friends? Do you want to spend more time on campus? or off campus?
Are internships important for you? While both schools have great summer internship placements, many Columbia do nights/weekend internships during the spring and fall. This is mainly possible due to the proximity of being in NYC.
Little biased as a Duke alum that also wrote for the Chronicle, but I wouldn’t trade Duke for anything. Also as someone living in NYC with friends from Columbia (and Harvard, Yale, etc.), there does seem to be much more of a collective community amongst Duke grads than peer institutions, which weirdly enough does seem to be driven by having top tier sports. Most of my friends from other schools will talk to their friends from undergrad, but it’s not often they’re talking to other people at the firm from their school about their school. Duke people tend to gravitate together and stay connected because there are updates about the basketball team, which then feeds into other topics. In a lot of ways it’s kind of odd that it’s such a big selling point, but I’ve found it to be tangible. The other thing I’d mention talking to friends at Columbia is the relative focus of the school. Columbia does tend to be a more grad-focused university. That’s not to say that the grad schools aren’t a focus at Duke (the med school is amazing), but Duke as a whole is more of an undergrad focused institution. Most of my friends went to HBS, Wharton, Stanford Law, etc. for grad school, and very few stayed at Duke for a second degree. Anyway, long-winded way of saying you can always go to Columbia down the road (which I do view as a step up for professional degrees; undergrad wise, they’re equal prestige-wise in my mind). I don’t think you can go wrong with either, but I always felt I got everything I wanted out of Duke with the weather, sports, campus, academics, sense of community, and people.
Also East Campus may seem less desirable now, but having a partitioned off area just for freshman is a major bonus when you’re new the first few weeks. You really get to meet your class, and you’ll know the other people around you are in the same boat of being new.
If I was to do it all over again, I would only even consider Duke and Stanford knowing what I know now, and for finance (and to a lesser extent, pre-law), I do think Duke has the edge in placement in NY from my experience. But you can’t go wrong. Good luck!
I’d just say to remember that you visited Columbia during the week and Duke on the weekend. In a fundraising call, I talked with a Columbia sophomore this week from NC. He loved the core curriculum and was writing a screenplay with classmates.
What are average relevant outcomes like for both schools in your major? It seems like telling future mates at Duke that you turned down Columbia would carry more weight than saying the reverse at Columbia.
I have a friend who turned down Harvard for Duke … (he was from Boston and wanted to go away for school). I really don’t think it makes a difference in terms of “prestige”
I know 2 upperclassmen girls at Duke now. One has been very disappointed in the way her social life played out, mainly because she wasn’t invited to any of the sororities that would have opened the doors to what she imagined it would be. The other LOVES it because she loves her sorority and her friends and their activities. Of course, both are getting an excellent education!
This isn’t to say it’s all about Greek life, but I would make sure I understood that element of the school upfront and set expectations accordingly.
Columbia is probably at the other end of the vibe spectrum! You should trust your gut on this. Both amazing schools and you can’t make a bad decision.
Thank you for your advice. I may not have represented this well before, but I’m concerned that the disparity between academics at duke and columbia is as significant as the disparity between social lives at the two institutions. I know Duke is an incredible academic institution, but my interests are very well-geared toward discussion-based, writing-based courses within a broad liberal arts curriculum like Columbia, while they tend to clash with Duke’s curriculum that seems to be focused more on research and a typical academic experience. Are my concerns unwarranted, or is the social aspect going to end up being more important than the academic one?
A vote for Duke based on your strong leaning. I suspect every course in Columbia’s core will be available at Duke and they will still be discussion and writing based, so I think you can get the same experience. While others are doing research you can take extra classes.
If you are thinking you’re pre-professional (meaning you’re going to law school after undergrad potentially, or thinking finance or med school), I think you shouldn’t be concerned on the courses side. You’re going to get the same experience in the classroom. If you are thinking you like the core as you may want to be an academic, I’d be lying if I say that Duke would be a better fit. That’s not to say that Duke is bad for future professor types. But I think it highlights the general vibe of the two student bodies. Though if you care about sports at the level you indicated, you will find more of a community at Duke (and likely are a little bit less of a career academic type from my experience). Columbia might as well not even have sports from the standpoint of the average student
Also another way to put the above: there are students that struggle in choosing between Duke / Columbia, and students that struggle in choosing between Columbia / UChicago, but there are very few students that struggle in choosing between Duke / UChicago.
Columbia. Columbia. Columbia. It’s a great school. It’s a million times harder to get into now than when I went there, so congrats. NYC is a massive regional market for employment, so being at that top school in a regional market is good and the reputation is national. Columbia’s brand is so strong and doesn’t I’ve never experienced the reputational blowback the way you might at other schools.
Ended up going with Columbia. Went back and forth for a while and was really grateful for all the discourse on this thread, but I felt like the work-hard, play-hard culture at duke was less for me, so I figured my social life might end up being much more vibrant at Columbia. I also think I initially understated the appeal of New York— I felt like Duke might be isolating. In the end, the Core, proximity to internship and work opportunities in the city, and immersive social experience beat out the community and school spirit at Duke. I’ll definitely still cheer for the Blue Devils whenever I can, though.
