<p>I'm still not 100% sure which school to go to...Duke is my dream school and I never thought I'd be accepted so I really wanted to go there, and then when I was chosen as an Echols Scholar and College Science Scholar, UVA kind of moved up a little more on the list for me. I didn't get a chance to go to the April 9 scholars day at UVA but I did just get back from Blue Devil Days at Duke. I'm interested in majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry or Neuroscience. I'm also really big on science research so wherever I can get my hands on good opportunities is where I want to go (hence why I'm leaning a bit towards UVA with being a College Science Scholar)...Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Does being an Echols Scholar give you a full ride? Would going to Duke be a financial burden or did you receive good financial aid? While the College Science Scholar program may give you access to research opportunities, it’s quite easy to do undergraduate research at Duke as a “normal” student. So, I don’t think that should be a huge factor. But if you’re really excited about the UVa program and it’s a good deal financial, then by all means go for it. Both are great choices. Did you at least visit UVa on another weekend?</p>
<p>Yeah I’ve been to UVA before earlier this year. Echols does not give you a full ride, basically all it is is that you get exempt from first year requirements and they kind of isolate you from the rest of the kids since you’re only living with other Echols Scholars. Duke is giving me A LOT of money to go. It’s basically the same cost to go to Duke as it is for UVA at this point so money isn’t really the main factor. When I went to Duke for Blue Devil Days, a lot of people were telling me that it’s so incredibly easy to get research at Duke since that’s their main focus, and the classes would be smaller than UVA, so that’s a plus.</p>
<p>UVA was my backup, I got echols too, Duke is so much better it isn’t even funny
The culture is so much more welcoming at Duke (UVA has a very specific type of student that dominates the student culture)</p>
<p>I mean if you went to BDD I can’t imagine you didn’t already hear Duke’s selling points so I guess I’m confused as to what you want to hear?</p>
<p>I promise you that you’d never regret coming here and Duke has so many more opportunities and connections than UVA (due to it’s private/giant research U status, UVA’s ties to VA make it great in-state but less connected to the rest of the US/World).</p>
<p>Best of luck! Look through my past posts and you’ll see how I see Duke. These comparison threads are too time consuming to answer them all in-depth, but based on what i’ve said in past posts and the fact that I picked Duke over UVA should help you make your decision :)</p>
<p>I hope you come to Duke!</p>
<p>Haha, yeah BDD did have a lot of good selling points I think. I’ve thought about both of the schools for a couple of weeks now though and I think I’m going to come to Duke. :)</p>