<p>Hi everyone,
I've narrowed my decision to Duke or Gtown (school of foreign service), and I need some help coming to a conclusion. I was recently as BDD and I loved it. But the surrounding area, and Durham in general, was a major turnoff to a kid coming from southern California. Which school is better, in your opinion?</p>
<p>overall, duke is definitely better than georgetown. sfs, however, is the premiere program at georgetown and if you are dead-set on foreign service then it might be worth looking into. doubt you will sacrifice much coming to duke, though. i know plenty of politically oriented people who have done really well with internships, and there are tons of duke grads working in DC.</p>
<p>Georgetown SFS hands down.</p>
<p>As a general observation, I think prospies make too much of the "surrounding area" when deciding on schools. College isn't like high school, the town is not your life outside of the house or the place you go to hang with your friends. You LIVE with your friends. College life is pretty consuming, and you'll have less time, need and desire to be off campus than you think. </p>
<p>And ditto what incollege88 said.</p>
<p>Georgetown is much weaker overall than Duke. Check out international rankings (since you are interested in foreign service):</p>
<p>THES</a> - QS World University Rankings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>UNC is only a 15 minute bus ride away, plus Duke has a massive campus which has lots of stuff to do nearby. </p>
<p>You can live in DC after graduation - lots of Duke alumns are in DC.</p>
<p>go to duke</p>
<p>I mean, Georgetown SFS is one of the premiere programs in the nation. Duke's public policy/poly sci/whatever else cannot compete with it, I'm sorry. If you're dead set on foreign relations/international affairs, Georgetown is the better choice, in my opinion. But I prefer Duke for pretty much everything else. ;) Yes, many Duke students get internships in DC during the summers and after college, but people at Georgetown can get internships during the year and that just gives them the extra leg up.</p>
<p>Georgetown SFS is almost an iconic program, whose reputation extends well beyond academia. With faculty and alumni that include Heads of State, former cabinet officers, and the individuals who have run everything from the AFL-CIO, and CIA to the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, it is truly a very special place. I couldn't imagine anyone with the opportunity to attend SFS giving up its access to being part of the current and future action in Washington and other world capitals.</p>
<p>I got into Gtown SFS early action and turned it down in a second for Duke...Duke is seriously just better in every way - stronger students, better recruiters, better international name...its not even worth comparing the two schools unless you really love DC and don't want to have a real college campus.</p>
<p>I'm not sure I would go as far as some of these people. Just make sure that you want to go into politics if you choose Georgetown over Duke and make sure that it's the right place for you. You can do great here doing Pub Policy or polisci and if you decide to do anything else Duke will definitely be better than Georgetown for it. Overall, Duke has a more highly qualified student population and is more challenging than Georgetown, and people know that.</p>
<p>"Georgetown is much weaker overall than Duke. Check out international rankings (since you are interested in foreign service):</p>
<p>THES - QS World University Rankings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"</p>
<p>To be fair, Duke was ranked #52 in 2004 (was Duke really that bad and improve that much), and this year Columbia and Chicago are ahead of Duke. Can this ranking really be taken seriously? Give SFS credit where credit is due. SFS is a consensus top 5 IR program. </p>
<p>Dubious rankings (which do not even mention India's Institutes of Technology) do not help the OP and did Duke a huge disservice in 2004. Honest opinions on campus culture, location, other academic offerings, Duke's other strengths and weaknesses are much more helpful.</p>