<p>What would you do if in my shoes</p>
<p>Cal, all the way.</p>
<p>In state or out of state?</p>
<p>What do you want in your college experience? What factors are most important to you?</p>
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In state or out of state?
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<p>Seconded - that's a very important question. Unless you're rolling in dough (so to speak), Duke doesn't make much financial sense over Cal in-state.</p>
<p>consdiering people choose UC Berk over Columbia Dartmouth Duke Penn etc. all the time due to finances, the situation depends on your financial situation more than anything</p>
<p>Well, if you're financially well off, I'd pick Duke.</p>
<p>The undergrad experience at both should be very different from each other. You should visit both to get a feeling, but personally, I would have a difficult time turning down the oppurtunity to go to Duke.</p>
<p>If you are out-of-state, Duke.</p>
<p>Purely on the basis of academics and school environment, I would definitely go with Cal over Duke. Or over Penn/Dartmouth for that matter. I've got friends who attended both Cal and Duke (grad), Penn (undergrad and grad), and Columbia (both levels as well). One actually transferred in from Penn, while another transferred from Cal to Columbia to follow her fiance. In all of these cases, Cal stood out quite favoribly. Actually, combining the two experiences in one's academic career is a great bonus, but I diverge.</p>
<p>Duke is barely one of the top ten private schools while Cal is a world-class university. Unless you're not attracted to Cal's environment and have no financial constraints, I wouldn't go with Duke.</p>
<p>I think there's more to it than money. Why does everyone reduce it to just that?</p>
<p>I wouldn't know many who would place Cal in the top 10 for undergrad, while people would definetely rank it among the best for grad...implying a large state school like Cal can be so definitively better than a smaller private like Duke doesn't seem so accurate</p>
<p>duke.
10 chararacters</p>
<p>I would actually also pick Michigan over Duke. The large school stigma is way overdone. Most of the blame for this in on USN&WR.</p>
<p>Duke offers better education with tremendous alumni network.</p>
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I think there's more to it than money. Why does everyone reduce it to just that?
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<p>Money doesn't have to be the only consideration, but for a lot of families, the difference between in-state tuition v. $44,000 a year is a big deal.</p>
<p>1- I don't that the Duke experience is anywhere as rich and stimulating as the set of opportunities and experiences that one is exposed to at Berkeley. Not by a longshot.</p>
<p>2- Berkeley's faculty is superior to Duke's, in nearly every single dept.</p>
<p>3- Berkeley's academic reputation is superior to Duke's, except in the South. No one has heard of Duke in Europe or Asia for example. Let's not kid ourselves with the USN&WR data, having a higher % of alumni who give or a higher grad rate (because everybody is rich and doesn't have to work at Duke) does not mean that Duke is better. No ACADEMIC ranking will put Duke ahead of Cal.</p>
<p>4- Duke's alumni network is not that great outside of the South and maybe the northeast.</p>
<p>I am fine with that, it just seems that some people put it as the most important factor, or their advice is solely referring to money. Also, oos state cost for Berkeley is still at least a few thousand dollars less than most private schools sans aid.</p>
<p>Duke's alumni network is national like a few Ivies, Cal is perhaps a lot more limited . Also Wall Street Journal rated Duke 5th or 6th best in elite grad school placement.</p>
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having a higher % of alumni who give or a higher grad rate <a href="because%20everybody%20is%20rich%20and%20doesn't%20have%20to%20work%20at%20Duke">b</a> **does not mean that Duke is better.
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<p>Wow, try to maintain at least some semblance of objectivity and/or rationality if you want people to take you seriously. That statement alone proves you're just spouting nonsense.</p>