<p>Okay, this might sound like a ridiculous question but...thoughts? opinions? I think I'm going for psych, although I'm not sure. I just look at the oodles of awards some kids list in their stats before coming into Harvard and it's so intimidating! I'm still waiting to hear about financial aid- that'll certainly be a factor. Maybe it's because I live 20 minutes away from Harvard...am I crazy?</p>
<p>Harvard is better than Duke, by far. That’s an easy one. This will sounds crazy, but I’ve found Harvard kids more down to earth than Duke kids, because Duke is a lot of Harvard-rejects who are just obnoxiously competitive. </p>
<p>Maybe I’m not being fair, but this is what I’ve seen. </p>
<p>I go to Davidson (which is actually harder to get into than Duke, regular decision), and every Duke student I’ve ever spoken to has said, “Oh. Davidson. That was my back-up school.”</p>
<p>They can be snobby. </p>
<p>Also, Harvard will probably give you better aid.</p>
<p>Get the emails of a couple of psych professors and go to the weekly department open house-you will know quickly where you fit in. Keep in mind that your graduate school in psych will likely not be Harvard if you decide to go there. Duke takes their own, but Harvard usually doesn’t so check that out if it is important to you.
By the way,I love Davidson. We have Harvard, Duke, and Davidson in the immediate family, and the best education of the three is Davidson because of the degree of accessibility of the faculty. Duke and Harvard are both quite large, and so it is possible but much harder to spend serious time with a prof if you are not at the grad level. In fact, Harvard still hasn’t completely figured out how to make the undergrad experience more personable. When I spent time there, the biggest problem was avoiding t/a’s for classes. I’ve heard it’s better now but not perfect. Duke is much better in terms of contact, and Davidson is without peer in this regard.
As a negative, it took me two years at Harvard to realize that everyone on campus was not better than me- and socially that was a very lonely time. I will say that athletics at Duke are incredible if you care about school spirit-it’s a unique combination of East Coast Academics and Big 10 athletics. Anyway, spend time with your chosen department and you will know your answer.</p>
<p>Duke does have a nice balance of social life and academics. Plus its in the south = warm weather.</p>
<p>Well…warmER weather. It’s still pretty cold in the winter in NC.</p>