Duke vs. Vanderbilt vs, Northwestern

I need to apply ED somewhere ASAP. My parents want me to have the best shot at a top tier college and I cannot decide. Please share any thoughts/opinions/statistics/experiences you have! it’ll help me so much!

What’s most important to you? What do you want/like in a college?

Big/small? Urban/suburban/rural? Geography? Weather? Which one can your family afford? What is your planned field of study?

All three of these schools are known for providing a nice boost to ED applicants. But if you are picking these three schools just because of that, that’s about as dumb a reason to pick a school as you could come up with.

Unless the only only only thing you care about is attending a T20 school. : )

Do you have the stats for these schools?

Why each of these three?

Pretty sure you won’t like my opinion, but you need to decide this for yourself. YOU are the one who is going to live there for 4 years.

I’ve looked at the stats, my stats fall in range but are not exceptional. I like these three because they seem like a good balance of work hard-play hard. I was settled on Duke but my gut is not speaking to me at the moment.

It is the main thing my parents care about. I am perfectly happy with UT Austin. I either want International Relations or at Vandy the law and society major. I choose these schools because they seem like a rigorous course load that people still enjoy and have a social life at

The other questions are hard. I have lived in CA then TX so I am not experienced with the cold of Chicago and my brain thinks i can handle it in theory. I really liked NW location but the quarter system scares me.

So, stats are ok, but not great - lower half of the middle 50%?

Do you have something that makes you stand out to them? What do you bring to the party- ie, what do you have that would make you a positive asset to the college community?

Yeah bottom 50% I have 1490 SAT. The rest of my applications is strong in terms of extracurriculars(particularly founding United Sound- teaching special needs students to play musical instruments), great GPA, top 3% of my class, rigorous course load, my essay is strong- one of the best things i’ve written and unique, and my recs should be strong as well. I sell my pottery and donate 70% of the proceeds and reinvest the 30% but all three of these schools have 1-2 short answers so it was hard to fit that in rather than just mentioning it in my essay

Have you visited any/all of them? If so, what stood out?

So I just visited NW, loved the campus but tour was not the best, did not feel like I saw everything or got too much info I couldn’t get online. I visited duke when I was entering my freshmen year with older my sister and loved it, but that was a long time ago. I normally have good gut feelings but I have not had a clear idea yet.

These are 3 somewhat different schools (certainly different in terms of campus atmosphere and weather) and all very challenging to get into, even applying ED. I think it’s nearly impossible for someone to tell you where to apply to ED since it is a binding decision. You need to really be sure. I assume your family can afford them all since they are all quite expensive?

I wouldn’t base your selection on a tour or the tour guide.

What I’d focus on is the two characteristics you mentioned in your OP. Weather and quarter system. Can you overcome both “fears”? My kid steered away from a school or schools with quarter systems. As for weather, that all depends if you can adjust to NU’s winter. My kid is from CA and now goes to school in Ann Arbor.

Durham, Nashville and Evanston are VERY different environments. Also, Duke is NUTSO about their basketball team. Does that matter to you, one way or another?

yes, they have been saving for college since before my conception lol…I am very realistic about it, I know the odds are that I don’t get in- especially because my scores are meh for these schools, but there is always a chance and that freaks me out! got a lot to think about in a short period of time!

Strongly advise against applying ED to someplace you haven’t visited &/or don’t have a strong sense of. It is a binding commitment.

I love sports. thats another reason for my top three. Most people tell me quarter system is good because I am not 100% dedicated to one subject. I am very flexible, I’m applying to Michigan! I NW is still in the running bc I did like it and have the highest chance of getting in

Thank you, that helps

Since the budget is there, get yourself on a plane (asking why you haven’t done that already is tempting but pointless). It makes no sense to commit to a $275,000 investment w/o doing the due diligence.

Ok thank you, the problem at the moment is time& frugility, it’s a top 20 school or in state at UT, but thank you, I will look at flights to nashville

Frugality over a few hundred $$ vs $275K is penny wise/ pound foolish!

Come back after you have been to Nashville & let us know how your thinking is evolving…

ok thank you for your help, and i know, we are a foolish folk, as you can see by my last minute attempts to decide haha