Duke vs. Vanderbilt?!

College Search & Selection
1

Hello :slight_smile:

I am considering APPLYING TO either of the two schools above and I can’t decide between the two. I have gone to a presentation about both schools, I loved the Vandy presentation and did not like the Duke presentation but I don’t want that to be my deciding factor.

I am looking for a middle sized school with lots of spirit, lots of research facilities, study abroad programs, graduate schools, a well respected reputation, a great student body, a school where sports games are well attended (Im not a sports person but I do like sports games because its a fun activity for friends), competitive academics, accessible teachers who are completely open to spending time with students, guest speakers from around the world, etc.

I know both schools have plenty of all of those characteristics. The deciding factor however, is location. I want an urban school and I know people don’t chose Duke for Durham. Nashville is an up and coming city, however I haven’t heard the best things about Nashville either.

Other schools Im sure about applying to:

Boston University, Emory University, UC Berkeley, George Washington, NYU, UCLA, UMiami, UPenn, Tulane, Syracuse

As you can see, I like schools in big cities because I’m a city girl from Los Angeles :slight_smile: I like going out and doing things, and that’s why I worried about Durham. I’m not really looking for a college town either, I’m looking for a city. But I also know that there would be plenty to do on Duke’s campus.

ACT: 30, gpa meh because my school is weird about AP classes (4.0)
incoming field of study: some kind of mix of: psychology, political science, philosophy, pre-law

Thank you :slight_smile:

p.s. If you were looking at these two schools yourself, what would be YOUR deciding factor between them?

2

Sorry for the length haha. I tried to use very easy vocabulary to help the reading.

3

As you said above that you were looking for good study abroads and a good reputation, Duke and Vanderbilt both have those. One thing I know about Duke is that they are crazy in sports. They go really hardcore and most people go to the sporting events.
I think Vandy would be a great school to go to because of Nashville. Honestly there is so much to do there. Durham doesn’t have as much as Nash but it is a really nice city. It is also not to far from Raleigh or the NC beaches.
I also think that you can defiantly get into both and they both fit your interest. You might want to go and visit them to see which one you like more.

4

Why not just apply to both, recognizing that those schools are reaches for everybody?

Your stats suggest you might want to focus on schools that are a better match, however. An ACT of 30 is below the 25th percentile for a lot of your target schools. Unless you have some exceptional hook, I would consider a lot of them long-shots. BU, Tulane, Miami, Syracuse, and GW are likely better matches, but they’re all very expensive and save their bigger merit awards for top-stats students, so you need to make sure you can afford to pay your EFC.