Duke vs. Vanderbilt

I can’t decide between Duke and Vanderbilt.

I understand that Duke is ranked higher and is slightly more prestigious. However, I really like that Vandy is in a city, whereas Durham is a lot less lively than Nashville. I like the school spirit of Duke, which I feel like Vanderbilt has less of. I also worry that Vanderbilt is less diverse and more conservative-leaning; a diverse and inclusive student body is important to me. Balance is also important. I like to go out and want a lively social life. I’d like to potentially be in Greek life, but I don’t want the stereotypical super exclusive sorority/frat vibe (any insight as to if either school has that?). Any advice is appreciated, especially speaking from experience.

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Are you choosing which of them to ED?

Can’t go wrong with either. What are you looking to study and pursue after college? Duke revolves around basketball and Greek Life, Vandy has Nashville.

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yes

Not sure what I want to pursue, so I want to be able to figure it out at university. I like how Vanderbilt is in a city. I want a vibrant campus culture with a lot to do, and I don’t want to be locked up studying all the time.

These 2 universities are similar in many ways. Historically, Greek life has been fairly important at Duke and maybe slightly less so at Vanderbilt. Duke is currently undergoing some controversy and structural changes related to their Greek system, so the influence of Greek life may remain fairly important or it may fade a bit over time.

Since it was stated that this thread relates to an ED choice …. If you end up without a clear favorite, you could have your cake and eat it too … choose Duke for ED1 and Vanderbilt ED2 since Vanderbilt is one of the few T20 schools that offers ED2 (although the Vanderbilt ED2 acceptance rate is less than their ED1 acceptance rate).

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I visited Vanderbilt twice with my kids, and while both ultimately went elsewhere, they both would have been happy at Vanderbilt. Beautiful campus, relaxed vibe, known for “happiest students”, and in a really cool city.

I also visited Duke. One thing in its favor is that it had the best on campus dining food, by far, of the roughly 20 plus colleges I visited with my kids. But note that Duke’s school spirit is largely tied to the fortunes of its basketball program which was due to coach K. With his retirement a few months, the future performance of Duke basketball is uncertain.

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Our S22 looked at both schools as a transfer student . He had friends at each and was able to spend time on both campuses while classes were in session. His key takeaway was there was a much better work-life balance at Vandy. His words that Duke was a pressure-packed campus. He didn’t end up at either school.

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Have you visited Nashville? We visited both Duke and Vanderbilt and my daughter ended up not liking either. She took both off her list. I personally favored Duke.

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We visited both last Summer. Both my kids (with different interests) loved Vandy. And in fact, it was very diverse. We spoke to a number of students and most were diverse. Maybe check the actual numbers and see? We also loved Nashville and the location of Vandy.

We also visited Duke, neither one liked it. There were a couple of issues which raised a red flag. We also didn’t care for the area around Duke. It was like an isolated campus. Crime was also higher than we were comfortable with (property and rape #'s were high-again check to see what you find). Personally, I didn’t like the architecture of Duke. One of my kids liked it a lot, the other didn’t. I felt it was pretentious but I’m more of a classic brick building kind of person. We’ve heard from kids we know at Duke it has good food and lots of cliques but didn’t pursue it further.

My '22 did not end up at Vandy but did think it was a great place. We are from NE so it was a different cultural vibe. But my '22 could see going to Vandy.

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You prefer Vanderbilt, so what’s the problem? It’s a terrific university.

Everything you have written here indicates that you prefer Duke as a college over Vanderbilt. As an undergrad, you will not be spending all that much time in the city, and four years is not long enough to go through all that Durham has to offer, not to mention Raleigh being just next door.

So choosing Vanderbilt because of Nashville does not seem a wise choice.

You’re picking a college, not just a place to live for the next four years. What do you want to study? All schools have their relative strengths and weaknesses academically. No two schools are the same academically even if you’re undecided and the schools are regarded as “good enough”.

@hebegebe and @Htas both wrote great summaries. Nashville is much more vibrant than Durham as a city. The State of Tennessee has also been supporting startups in various sectors, so the city has been growing fast over the past few years. You will definitely feel the boom as soon as you set foot in Nashville.

Generally speaking, Duke might have an edge in recruiting, especially with old school firms such as Wall Street recruiters and consulting firms. They may also allow you to craft your own major/courses if you are creative and ambitious. Having said that, Vandy also offers a lot of flexibility across disciplines so you should look into the course offerings at both. New Vandy leadership under Chancellor Diermeier has been firing on all cylinders, and I expect it to become more visible in the years to come. The campus is also properly sized where you can move around on bikes/scoots, or foot. Duke is much bigger and driving/buses are required around campus.

Bottomline - you should visit both try to reach out to as many students/professors as possible and get your own feel. Both are great schools and you can’t go wrong with either. Good luck!

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My son visited both campuses and spent a night with former classmates. He found the schools to have a lot in common which reinforced his prior perception of them being academic peers with similar resources and comparable prestige. He did however note one differences that ultimately influenced his decision to apply to Duke (he was accepted but attended elsewhere) and not apply to Vandy. Please note your experience may vary.

The Duke kids seemed universally self confident and proud to be at Duke. He however described Vandy as feeling a bit like a southern version of Tufts. He mentioned how several of the kids would try and “sell him” on Vandy by mentioning they had other great options or had been waitlisted at Ivies, etc. As he described it they were almost trying to convince themselves.

It struck him as odd (just as it did when visiting Tufts) that kids at such a great school still seemed caught up in validating their decisions particularly given what great schools they are.

I only share this because you seem to want Vandy but might be falling into this same trap. Personally I would go with your gut but be self aware enough to consider whether you might experience buyers remorse if lucky enough to get in.

Quick addendum: My sons friend who attended Vandy is in his second year at a top 5 med school while his Duke friend is working 80 hour weeks as a second year analyst at Morgan Stanley. Point being they are both great schools and the kids and outcomes are comparable.

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I have to disagree, as I really do not think Vanderbilt is anywhere near the same league as Duke. Outside the US, Vanderbilt is largely unknown and quite regional… I would rate Vanderbilt in the same peers as Rice or WUSTL or Emory–good, but just not elite…

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This is so subjective. I consider Duke to be exactly the same level as Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, WashU, etc. I’m surprised you think it is more elite, whatever that means. Who cares what people outside the US think, unless you plan to work in a different country after graduation.

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Really??? Duke has been in the top 10 since the very first rankings in the early 1980s. Are any of these schools anywhere near that?

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Respectfully @observer33 and @me29034 it doesn’t matter what either of you think, what the rankings say, what international people think etc.

Reality is OP would be blessed to gain acceptance to either school, be surrounded by amazing kids, and benefit from elite resources while graduating with a prestigious degree that prepares them for future success.

What does matter is how the OP perceives themselves and these schools. We have all read the posts of kids who are disappointed retrospectively at being accepted at “lesser” Ivies because perhaps Stanford would have worked out.

Regardless of accurate perceptions or not OP should not apply in a binding format unless they will be thrilled to attend and comfortable that they won’t question the decision if lucky enough to get accepted. No one should employ a strategy in which success (ED acceptance) results in an emotional response of failure.

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Well, Vandy is certainly coming up. I think many on CC tend to over rate schools which they have a personal connection to ( alumni, parent, accepted student). We looked carefully at both schools and are in NE. Both appeared to us to have very similar recognition and job prospects as well as academic reputations. I don’t rate Duke or Vandy in different categories at all. I think they are very similar except for the vibe. Vandy SAT scores tend to be really high ( I think this might be based on a number of factors) and they have a lot of full merit based scholarships so they are certainly going to get a lot of kids applying on that basis. I think Duke may have had a strong merit program too ( my kid didn’t apply so don’t remember). What someone perceives as better or worse is mainly subjective. Naturally, someone is going to be able to say Harvard is more academic than a Community college. But for the top 50 schools in the country ( and even more), you can go anywhere you want and do anything you want. One isn’t better than another.

The OP should do his/her own due diligence. Also, look at demographics, like income and first gen, geographical representation. These things can matter esp if you are in a particular group or feel aligned to one or the other.

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