<p>Anybody out there who has made or is making this choice? My son is wrestling with this choice. He is a conservative, outdoorsy Southern kid looking to major in Economics, but with an eye still towards Medicine too. Eight days to decide. Fortunately money is not a factor. Your thoughts will be appreciated.</p>
<p>I honestly can't see why Davidson and UNC are being considered, but maybe I'm missing something.</p>
<p>If money is not a factor, I too am confused. All three are great schools, I just think its clear Duke is the best.</p>
<p>My daughter too had to make the same choice and while I at first feared she made the decision too hastily based on prestige (especially after being offered a partial scholarship to Davidson) I eventually agreed with her. She felt Davidson would be too much like high school due to its size. She also, like your son, is interested in medicine and liked the idea of having a medical center nearby. After visiting both campuses, I have to say Dukes is much more impressive. However, having said that, Davidson is a fine, fine school with an excellent reputation among graduate schools and has an excellent record with medical school placement. You cant go wrong I believe. Good luck with his decision.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the advice. There are many other factors besides academic prestige involved in the choice. If that were the sole factor, Duke is the choice. I personally worry about a climate where 80+ profs toss out the presumption of innocence, where a coach is offered up to the gods of political correctness, and the college president even gets in on the act. UNC has historically been rather left of center too. My great aunt was a socialist rabblerouser there in the early '30's. Davidson seems like a place where the profs know and want to know you and indeed has an excellent record for placement into grad schools. Davidson is quite small though and it might get old seeing the same faces daily. If I were choosing I would probably pick Duke because there are potentially more doors that can be opened with the contacts and degree from Duke. However, I don't know if I could stomach the PC drivel. The kids at UNC seem to me to have the most fun and that's important too. It's a quality school too, bigger, and Chapel Hill>>> Durham IMO. The only thing my son likes better about Duke is the academic reputation and environment. Is that enough? I don't know. It IS his call.</p>
<p>I don't want to make this into an argument about the way faculty handled the lacrosse situation, but many of the economics professors came out very strongly in support of the lacrosse players' rights throughout the ordeal. I don't know how much play this got in the media. I think they felt upset that they were being lumped in with the actions of some of the professors who came off less than flattering last year.</p>
<p>Here's the letter that they wrote to The Chronicle.</p>
<p>duke25,
Thank you! I didn't mean to paint with a broad brush. I would suspect that Econ professors along with Science and Engineering would tend to be less likely to rush to judge, but that too is a generalization. Since the boy is into Economics, it is encouraging to see that there are people who prefer to get the facts first. Thank you again.</p>
<p>Palmettoman, your situation is very similar to ours. I went to UNC for undergraduate school. Despite the liberal leanings that drive me crazy to this day and keep me from opening my wallet too wide in support, I loved Carolina then and still do. It is a beautiful campus, has a lot to offer, and its hard to beat Franklin Street. However, I steered my daughter away from attending college there because I would rather she have an advisor who knows her and smaller classes. The conservative environment at Davidson also appealed to me and I certainly have strong misgivings about the group of 88 professors at Duke who not only spoke out with great bias but are obviously not sorry still. I was encouraged by the stance of the Econ professors. I also realize my daughter, while open minded, also leaves home with strong values. Anyway, I think all three schools are fine choices; everyone needs to just find their fit.</p>
<p>If you think the Davidson or UNC profs wouldn't have done the exact same thing, you're deluding yourself. Professors don't compete for their positions. They are guaranteed a job forever. Thus, they do not interact in the real world. Thus, they are idealists. Thus, they are liberals. The exceptions occur in econ departments, government departments and some science/engineering deparments. The only large groups of conservative humanities/social science professors are found at the really crazy Christian colleges (Liberty, Wheaton et. al.) </p>
<p>I am a conservative, btw.</p>