<p>Echols Scholar and College Science Scholar at UVA, if it matters. It provides me with guaranteed freshman research and an open curriculum and priority registration.</p>
<p>Invited to Duke Up Close, so I'll be visiting in a couple weeks. And UVA soon thereafter.</p>
<p>I'm a really social, liberal person. Not into frats but love going to games. Most likely going to study neuroscience and public policy/econ. Diverse interests, likes to explore new things. Definately need a mall and lots of places to just stretch out/play frisbee... got to be an accepting social atmosphere, not clique-y or dominated by jocks/frats (yea, hard for these two schools). Also, gonna prolly apply to med school.</p>
<p>Where's best for me? What are your reasons I should attend that school?</p>
<p>I'm personally from Charlottesville, so my viewpoint is probably a little biased...i want to get the heck away from here, but if i were from anywhere else, UVA would probably be a top choice. Charlottesville is a really inviting city...there's not really a good shoppoing mall, but there's the Corner where a lot of UVA students hang out, and there's also the Downtown Mall, which is basically this span of stores that goes on for like 6 blocks that is just an outside mall area...it can be really cool, especially in the Spring when they have Fridays After Five every week, which is pretty much where bands come and play at what is called the Pavilion...there are lots of places on the UVA campus where you can play frisbee and hang out...there's a big party scene as far as i know, but i don't think the school is dominated by greek life...i'm not sure what else i can tell you about C'ville...if you have any questions or anything about it, send me a personal message and i'll be happy to respond. </p>
<p>in terms of your decision, you should look at which university has the best programs in terms of where you want to concentrate academically...if i were in your shoes, i would choose Duke, but that's just because Duke is my DREAM SCHOOL. unfortunately for me, however, it's still telling me that my "admissions decision is still pending or unavailable"....</p>
<p>good luck with your decision and i'm sure you'll get a better idea of what you want to do when you visit both campuses!!</p>
<p>Congratulations on both your acceptances! both are fine schools and you really cant go wrong with either.</p>
<p>I would still like to do a pitch for Duke though- Duke's top ranked in both neuroscience and pub pol/econ- plus it is extremely easy and encouraged to double major here. As for freshman research- while its not a guarantee- its still pretty much assured if you're interested and motivated in finding the opportunities for it. Undergraduate research is becoming very important at Duke and as an econ Major, you can do independent research for a honors thesis in different concentrations like finance, macro, micro or econ history as early as your junior year. </p>
<p>You pretty much have an open curriculum here- in fact you are encouraged to take a diverse set of classes here.</p>
<p>There is a pretty decent mall quite near campus and as far as Frisbee playing goes- well you have to visit Duke to realize how unparalleled it is for this. Heck, we even have an Ultimate Frisbee club sport team!</p>
<p>I am an international student and in a frat, and I have to say that a lot of stereotypes about fraternities are actually quite misplaced.While some things are true- they aren't necessarily as big of an issue as they are made out to be.Coming into Duke, there was no way I was going to join a frat, but I have to say that doing so was one of the best decisions I made in my life.I have experienced more diverse experiences with my brothers this year than I did as a freshman, and thats because all of us are so different and yet are willing to engage and learn from each other.
And while Duke's social scene certainly seems dominated by frats, it really is not the case. Most people are extremely friendly and non-cliquish.</p>
<p>And about the med school bit,you do know that 85% of all Duke pre-meds get into a med school right? I think its supposed to be one of the highest percentages for any college</p>
<p>Are there a lot of core/required classes at Duke? And I was talking more about science resarch...</p>
<p>I know Duke is a difficult school...do you find that many motivated and hardworking students just end up slipping in grades? Like... is it a school where (in the sciences, at least) the professors are out to get you?</p>
<p>And the frats thing is certainly encouraging.</p>
<p>Professors are very engaging and friendly in science classes. They make themselves available to you, take notice of you, and make sure that undergraduates are a priority.</p>
<p>That's not to say they'll coddle you all the time, although... frankly, sometimes they do. Which is good. But it does mean that they really want you to learn the material.</p>
<p>My AB friends mostly have a nearly-perfect high school track record, but, let's face it, this is Duke; that's nothing particularly special.</p>
<p>The key is to be extraordinary in some other way. The AB's I've met mostly have extensive research experience as high school students -- in particular, many of them are RSI's -- although occasionally I've met a student or two who was granted the scholarship on the basis of particular artistic talents or such.</p>