<p>Im not sure where to post this, but can anyone speak on the differences between UVA and Duke (social life, academics, reputation, "feeder school, student body)?</p>
<p>I visited both and i love em both. Im intrested in either science or buisness, and each has a top tier program in one (again making my choice harder.) What in your opinion is a better undergrad school?</p>
<p>(also posted in UVa forum btw...)</p>
<p>duke tends to have a better basketball program</p>
<p>^LOL (10char)</p>
<p>i don't know why i found that funny actually. but whatev :D</p>
<p>@ OP, are you serious?</p>
<p>Duke has infinitely more prestige than UVA. Virginia may be one of the top public schools, but Duke is among the top 8 schools in the nation, period.</p>
<p>@ OP, are you serious?</p>
<p>Duke has infinitely more prestige than UVA. Virginia may be one of the top public schools, but Duke is among the top 8 schools in the nation, period.</p>
<p>However, as far as social life goes, I would say they're fairly similar (simply from stories I've heard from current students at both). Work hard, party hard + preppy seems to be the general gist.</p>
<p>i thought the same first, that duke was much better academically..
but look at UVA's business school, its one of the top in the nation, duke does not even have a business major (it has econ..) </p>
<p>science duke wins hands down...
and i visited both and have talked to a lot of people, and it seems everyone who goes to UVA loves it, and everyone is laid back and happy..</p>
<p>duke gets mixed reviews, such as cliquey and pretentious..it kinda seemed like freshmen year at duke would be but at the end if peters off...at UVA seniors did not want to leave, not typical on college campuses...</p>
<p>any other takers please!!</p>
<p>I guarantee you that a 3.8 in Econ at Duke looks far better to a Graduate Business School adcomm than a 3.8 in business at UVA. Guarantee it. There is no comparison as far as national recognition goes.</p>
<p>agreed, but for the business world UVA is still prestigious </p>
<p>any other thoughts people! please</p>
<p>UVA vs Duke....UVA: best value, great rep ALL AROUND, infinite campus activities, a bit bigger but not too big....historic significance....Charlottesville is a GREAT college town...please visit both sites and talk to students. Also, Dean J (yes a UVA dean) is available to answer questions....good luck!</p>
<p>Duke is a better school and holds more prestige than UVA.
Duke also has smarter students, on average.
However, Duke is disgustingly cliquey and pretentious.
I am happy to have found a great group of friends that are not into that sort of stuff.
It is hard though- I was on my way to having a really crappy freshman year until I met my current group of friends and now I couldn't be happier to be here. :)
It is often a case of bad/good luck.</p>
<p>what do you mean by "disgustingly cliquey and pretentious"? could you elaborate a bit more?</p>
<p>There are some people on campus who will act like they and their group of friends are better than everyone else.
This is a small group though and a lot of people don't really care- it is mostly defined by money, I think...
I don't think this would exist at much at UVA simply because it's a public university.</p>
<p>i agree...like i said everyone seemed happier at UVA, not just happier than at Duke but in general i couldn't find a person who absolutely LOVED UVA and didn't want to leave</p>
<p>by the time senior years rolls around most kids are ready to leave, not the case at UVA</p>
<p>only one other school ive found like this, where people absolutely love it: Dartmouth </p>
<p>anyone else on the social life, academics, prestige...UVA is a very prestigious public university don't know why everyone is hating on it</p>
<p>On a side note, I personally loved UVA when I visited. I applied OOS and got in.
It seemed like a very fun school.
It is, along with Berkeley and Michigan, one of the best public universities in the U.S.</p>
<p>duke has the hottest people apparently :)</p>
<p>really..from what i heard, and from my experience visiting Duke im not so sure...</p>
<p>Everyone I know loves their Duke experience, independent or Greek. Nobody is outwardly mean to someone they don't know or anything like that. Some people are very selective with who they hang out with though, so the frat scene is somewhat segregated. I don't think this hurts the social scene. If you're a really fratty guy, you'll find you group of friends and probably hang out with kids who choose to have more exclusive social lives. If you're just a regular kid who wants to have a good time occasionally, then you have a much larger social outlet because the majority of the campus falls into that category.</p>
<p>I would say both are comparable in terms of respect and name recognition. Both have beautiful campuses! If you are VA resident, I don't know if spending the extra money for Duke would be worth it, of course, if money is important.</p>
<p>Fender Bender,</p>
<p>It sounds like you already have your mind made up, or feel better about UVA - don't post on the Duke site and expect everyone to fawn all over UVA at the expense of Duke...i.e. "why is everyone hating on UVA".</p>
<p>My daughter applied to both - loved both - is currently enrolled at Duke and loves the richness of the student body - kids from all over the world. Certainly UVA has international students, but there is no disputing UVA's concentration of instate students (many of whom are not as strong academically as the out-of-state students). UVA has a great reputation - in the final analysis, we didn't think it was as strong - overall - as the Duke brand. </p>
<p>Most importantly, my daughter fell in love with it, much the same way it sounds like you have fallen in love with UVA. Go Hoos!</p>