<p>Which and why?</p>
<p>It really depends on whether you're social or antisocial. If you're the former, go to Duke but if you're the latter, go to UChicago.</p>
<p>jimbob, I had to make the same EXTREMELY tough decision two years ago. You might want to read my threads.</p>
<p>Thanks. I'm leaning toward Duke because the only con for Duke on my list/pro for Chicago is location/proximity to family.</p>
<p>Edit: I read through both threads. I am pretty dead set on Duke :) They didn't end up offering me merit money although I was in the running...perhaps UChicago will, but even so I would pick Duke for the people, atmosphere, and social life.</p>
<p>Keep the advice coming, though.</p>
<p>I was also waitlisted at Stanford and Harvard...teeny weeny hopes for those!</p>
<p>JB,</p>
<p>This was my decision five years ago. I struggled a lot with it at the time. In the end, I felt strongly that while Chicago was a better place for academically-oriented people (I'll clarify in just a second), Duke was a better place for problem-solvers.</p>
<p>That is to say, if your eventual goal is a PhD, Chicago might provide a better climate for that. If your goal is medical, law, or business school, Duke might have a slight edge there instead. That was my feeling, and I couldn't be happier with the choice that I made.</p>
<p>(Although the $ from Chicago would have been nice. I ended up having to pay full-fare at Duke.)</p>
<p>My family is happy and able to pay for my Duke education. In that regard I am truly blessed. I am indeed looking to go to law school...</p>
<p>I guess my feeling was just that Chicago had more of an ivory-tower feel to it. That the advanced classes tended to have less and less of the real world involved in them as you moved on. That's good training for the kind of thinking that professors are often expected to do, but it's I think not the best way for a future lawyer to assess things. I remember sitting in on a class about how quantum mechanics affected sociological group dynamics. Part of me was thinking that it was a really interesting question. Part of me was also thinking that it was a really useless question. That part of me eventually won. (It wasn't one class session. It was an entire course devoted to this idea.)</p>
<p>That was my feeling, and it did seem to jive with the overall reputation of the school.</p>
<p>Both universities are of course powerful enough that you could get either experience at either school. But that's how I felt about it, and I don't think I've changed my mind in the four years since.</p>
<p>^Wow, you remind me a lot of myself in the way I feel about Chicago. So I must not be totally wrong about the school :) I am going to keep doing my research but I am pretty set on Duke.</p>
<p>bluedevilmike, you couldn't have said it better! Your example has been exactly my experience as well. I am always puzzled why the people from U of C (including the parents!..or maybe is just the CCers?) are always so irrationally defensive about it? A while back I replied to a post and made a similar comment in a U of C thread and I was vilified. Do not dare to make that comment over there! ... haha!</p>