<p>For the past two weeks, I've been going back and forth between Duke and Northwestern, and I really can't make a decision. I'm planning to visit both schools later this month (April), but only for a short period of time.</p>
<p>Here's a little information about me:
I want to pursue corporate law in the future, so I'm considering majoring in economics. I'm definitely more of a city type and I enjoy exploring the neighborhood with friends (especially at night). I don't know how well I would do in humid weather (I do enjoy the sun though). I dread the quarter system (I don't think I'd like taking so many classes and exams so frequently). I really want to attend a school that is fairly cohesive, where people are friendly and supportive, and like to do things together, rather than go off on their own all the time (I'm a pretty social person). I'm not a huge sports fan, but I do like the idea of a unified student body. If I get accepted to the MMSS program at NU, I would go there, but I didn't apply, and don't want to risk going to NU and potentially make a mistake just to SEE if I get accepted to the MMSS program sophomore year.</p>
<p>So far, here are the pros and cons I've come up with from each school.
Northwestern:
Pros: Location (Lakefront and Downtown Chicago), Highly ranked in economics, lots of internship opportunities
Cons: Quarter system, people are more independent, small amount of grade inflation (harder to 4.0), less financial aid than duke</p>
<p>Duke:
Pros: Unified student body, people do things together on campus, more highly ranked in terms of overall school, more financial aid than NU, more diverse (85% out of state)
Cons: Humid and can be overbearingly hot, not much to do in Durham, not much nightlife (I'm definitely a night person)</p>
<p>Anything to add? Please help me in this decision. I am so stuck!!! (Current students' advice would be GREATLY appreciated!)</p>
<p>I was in a very similar situation last year. I’m also an econ major wanting to do some sort of finance/ corporate law in the future. My choices were Duke, Penn,Cornell, NU, UChicago, UCB, and LSE (a school in UK). And in the end, I chose Duke.
The thing that confused me was whether I should look at the school with “higher ranked econ department” or the one that is better in terms of the whole school. My obvious choices in the former were UChicago, NU, and UCB. However, after talking to many many econ professors and people in the finance industry, I learned that at an undergrad level, the econ ranking doesn’t matter. They are mostly based on phD / grad rankings and thus depend on the research/academic output of the professors, which does not translate to better department at least at an undergrad level. Just because you go to a “higher ranked” econ department, doesn’t mean the professors will tell you the secrets behind modern econ or anything like that. Learning in major like Econ takes place mostly in the form of classroom instructions, so you’ll learn more at wherever there are “smarter” classmates. But since Duke and NU are so similar in these respects, in this case, you should go with fit. If you are interested in law, the “prestige” of your undergrad institution doesn’t matter much so you will be fine with either choices.
That being said, go with where you will be happiset. I know this sounds cheesy but seriously, you are likely to get a better GPA in wherever you are happier, which will translate into better law school admissions four years later. And ceteris peribus, choose the one with better financial package if that’s any significant to you.
And I’m not too sure if MMSS will be a best thing for you if you are set on law. It’s obviously really quant-based and it will be hard to get a realy good GPA.</p>
<p>I visited Duke for Blue Devil Days not too long ago and I have to say it seems like they’ve got a fair bit of nightlife. In fact, it seemed like a significant portion of the social scene revolved around it. Apparently some restaurants in Durham convert to clubs at night.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!
Originpranks, on your statement about MMSS being really quant-based, do you mean focused heavily on mathematics? Mathematics was actually my strongest subject in high school, and I was fairly intent on engineering until senior year, when I decided I wanted to do something more social and interactive, rather than build things with my hands and draw models/etc. Do you still think it would be a bad idea? (I’m not really sure how hard MMSS is, so I really don’t know…)</p>
<p>Armistice, are these clubs only 21+? I’m not too sure how to get a fake ID haha. I guess the idea of downtown Chicago in comparison to Durham is so daunting…</p>
<p>No, none of the clubs in Duke to my knowledge require you to be 21(Shooters, Georges, Devines, Nikos, etc.) for the most part. And if you’re a girl, even getting alcohol isn’t too much of an issue.;)</p>
<p>All the clubs in Durham are accessible to everybody to get into; they just give you a wristband if you’re 21+. In Chicago, NONE of the bars/clubs are accessible by those under 21. In Evanston, there WAS one (The Keg), but the cops infiltrated it majorly, they completely redesigned it, and I think they’re more strict now. Note that downtown Chicago is like a 40 minutes El ride from Northwestern (yeah, the El is painful), so it’s not like Northwestern is IN Chicago, just as Duke isn’t in Chapel Hill (a 15-20 minutes bus/car ride). Lakeview/Lincoln Park, Chicago (where there are a lot more bars focused on the 21-25 demographic) is only like 20 minutes, though. I’ll concede that Evanston is vastly superior to Durham. Chapel Hill is fairly equivalent to Evanston. But honestly, if you don’t have a fake ID and want to go to bars/clubs, Duke is a better place than Northwestern. Both are VERY similar in terms of ON campus frat parties/Greek system. Both have a sports scene, although Duke’s is more intense since b-ball is far superior to Northwestern (have a good football team every once in a while, though, in recent years).</p>
<p>It’s 38 degrees (29 degrees with windchill) and rainy in Chicago now…yesterday in Durham it was 65…not saying weather is everything. Since you’re not at school in the summer anyways, I wouldn’t worry about humidity at Duke - it’s only bad for August/Sept when you’re there, and then it’s beautiful the rest of the time. Northwestern is a great school. Duke is a great school. Really comes down to where you can see yourself being the happiest. The things that I didn’t like about Northwestern where the quarter system (midterms ALL the time) and they get out in mid June compared to end of April at Duke. Yeah, they also start late, but getting out late is KEY in finding internships and jobs. Seemed like all my friends at Northwestern are stressed all the time, but that could just be those individuals. Both very good schools. I’d choose Duke personally, and they’re giving you more money than NU. But it’s mostly about fit.</p>
<p>My cousin works at Goldman, and says that they recruit from most top schools, but from Duke more than Northwestern. I’m in the same predicament. I’m Duke at the moment. I think you should pick Duke. And if nightlife is an issue for you, as much as it is for me, you can depend on greek life for partying. Plus, like they said above, its going to be hard to get into a club in Chicago anyway. </p>
<p>Wow, I guess I don’t really have to worry about nightlife then at Duke. Hahaha
(I’m not much of a clubbing type, but I do like going out at night and visiting places with friends.)</p>
<p>The thing I’m worried about at Duke is that I may find that there is really not much to do. I also heard that there isn’t too great of a transportation system there, which is why students stay on campus?</p>
<p>It seems that Duke has a lot of companies around the area, but are there many business/law firms in the area? I know Chicago is FILLED with them. But since internships are during the summer, I guess it wouldn’t really matter where the internship is since I wouldn’t be at school anyways?</p>
<p>I’m starting to think that it will come down to the money, but I am leaning a bit towards Duke now. Hahaa</p>
<p>How are the professors? And how hard would it be to 4.0 in an economics major?</p>
<p>(By the way, thank you to EVERYONE who posted in reply to this thread. All of you are REALLY helping a lot!)</p>
<p>Well, before coming to Duke I seriously thought there will be nothing to do here. But I was wrong. I mean there are more than 6000 kids here in the 18~22 age group. Simply by the law of supply and demand, there should be plenty of things you find interesting to do no matter what kind of preferences you have.
And yea you are right about that internship thing. Seriously, you’ll do most of your internships during summer, when you have almost four months of free time. Working at other places shouldn’t be any problem for you.
As for the 4.0 GPA… that really comes down to individuals. A 4.0 in trinity should be about top 3% or so (since about 3.9 is top 10%…). probably something less… And remember, there are kids who came here that got into HYMPS but chose Duke because they got full scholarships or sth like that. I don’t wanna say that performances from hs determines that of college, but it certainly is not easy. I won’t really comment on the gpa because it seriously depends on who you are and how much you are willing to commit yourself.</p>
<p>Well any subject that has quantitative aspect to it will be “less grade-inflated” because your grades will be determined by exams which in turn will be curved to a C+/B- for intro courses and B/B+ for later courses. But seriously, if you are really determined to work hard and manage your time efficiently, it shouldn’t be too difificult. I personally pulled off a high A in Econ 55 (second econ course) and am getting an A+ in Econ 105 (third econ course). If you really dedicate yourself and know your stuff, you will be able to “beat the curve.”</p>
<p>I attended both (undergraduate and graduate) and Duke’s a much more interesting place. My Northwestern friends barely talk about going there. My Duke friends talk about it all the time. Duke’s a much more special place – better weather, better sports, great academics, NC coast and mountains. Go to Duke.</p>
<p>You really attended both? For some reason, you remind me of a CC member who used to ■■■■■ aruond the CC board promoting Duke while bashing others under a different name.</p>
<p>I’m liking the way Duke feels, but I’m really worried how I will live there. I’m definitely someone who would enjoy going out to the city and exploring it with friends (but I know that at NU, there won’t be many “friends” to go to the city with.) Have any Duke students who are also city-types found themselves bored as hell in Durham?
How close by are the coast and mountains? Would it be realistic to go? If so, how often?</p>
<p>Also, I’m still so afraid that it will be hard to 4.0 or get a good GPA at Duke. Since I want to go to law school, I know that GPA matters SIGNIFICANTLY. Will going to Duke hurt my chances at a top law school? I know there isn’t any way to tell if I, personally, will get a 4.0 at Duke, but any students care to share how hard it is in general? Maybe in comparison to other schools?</p>
<p>Duke basketball is SOOO fun I bet…</p>
<p>(Thanks for the feedback, again everyone! It’s making my decision much easier!)</p>
<p>You do not need a 4.0 for law school. 3.5-3.7 will get you into almost any top law school depending on what else is on your resume. I am a current Duke econ major and if you work at least somewhat hard you should be able to get somewhere around a 3.7 which is really all you need for the best law school in the U.S. But you will probably not get a 4.0. Duke does not practice grade inflation as mush as a lot of other schools like the ivies got in trouble for a few years back (though it does inflate grates considerable compared to 1960s for instance). Econ is one of the hardest graded majors in Trinity behind only the core sciences really. I chose Duke over NU because I felt Duke was simply one step above NU but that was just how I saw it.</p>
<p>Oh gosh, the “hardest graded majors in Trinity.” Well, I shouldn’t be afraid of this. I didn’t apply to college to not study and work hard.</p>
<p>Are there any fun places to shop and hang out around Duke? I’m a big person on fashion and things like that. I know Durham may not have that much to offer, but what does it have?</p>
<p>I agree in that you don’t need a 4.0 even if you plan to go to Yale or Harvard law. For like the top 3, 3.8~3.9 should be more than adequate.
Well there’s a mall complex about 10 min. walk from the East Campus (where you will be living as a freshman). There’s also a huge mall about 10-15minutes by car/bus and I think there are buses running from campus to the mall like twice a month for that (somebody verify this).</p>
<p>Regarding the malls, they won’t have the kinds of stores that you might expect to find in Chicago. It’s a suburban mall, with such shops as American Eagle, Urban Outfitters, Hollister, not the designers that you might find in a city.</p>
<p>To my knowledge, the public transportation in Durham is horrible (though I may be wrong). The only public transportation is a bus system, but I’m not sure how good it is.</p>
<p>“I wish Duke was located in a city.” – People from NC will say that Durham is a city. People from the northeast, on the other hand, might say that it’s hardly a town.</p>