<p>Any help or ideas? If you applied to Duke, what were your safety schools?</p>
<p>UNC and UVA</p>
<p>not safeties but rice, emory, vandy, etc are considered Duke’s peer schools in the South.</p>
<p>Not safety schools by any stretch, but WashU and Northwestern</p>
<p>If you’re Duke caliber and seek a similar environment (good social life, school spirit, strong academics and excellent athletics), then UVA, Michigan, Texas, USC and UT-Austin would be considered safety schools for you. All of the other universities listed on this thread are way too selective to be considered “safeties”. Good luck and Go Duke!! :)</p>
<p>A few suggestions for a strong Duke applicant, roughly in the order I would recommend them:</p>
<p>(1) Rhodes - Potential safety. Similarly preppy, good mix of academics/pre-professionalism, good location, Gothic architecture. Lacks big-time athletics.</p>
<p>(2) Wake Forest - Match or safe match. Good mix of academics, social life, athletics. </p>
<p>(3) Miami - Safe match or potential safety. Good academics and athletics, great social scene. A bit more pre-professional than Duke. </p>
<p>(4) Tulane - Match. Good mix of academics and social scene. Lacks big-time athletics. New Orleans is amazing.</p>
<p>(5) Richmond - Safe match. Similar to Wake but a bit more pre-professional and not quite as good in sports. Beautiful campus.</p>
<p>There are others that resemble Duke to some degree but not as closely as those above and are mostly matches rather than safeties. These include American (potential safety), William & Mary, Bucknell, and Colgate.</p>
<p>Syracuse has similarities on paper like a good basketball team, big social scene, and similar academic strengths (e.g. public policy and environmental science), but I don’t know enough about it to say that it actually feels similar to Duke. </p>
<p>About the other suggestions – USC has a good social scene and a famous football team, but it nevertheless feels very different from Duke, and I’m not sure a student would like both. Emory and Rice are much less similar to Duke than some non-southern universities like BC and Georgetown. Vandy is pretty similar to Duke. WUStL is a more laidback and less fratty/athletic version of Duke. I agree with the suggestion of UNC and UVA, though they are not safeties except for in-state students.</p>
<p><a href=“3”>quote</a> Miami - Safe match or potential safety. Good academics and athletics, great social scene. A bit more pre-professional than Duke.
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Probably a stupid question, but I assume you’re referring to Miami University (OH), not University of Miami in FL, right?</p>
<p>^Probably Miami (FL)</p>
<p>
No, Florida. I’ve spent a fair amount of time at Rosenstiel and found it not unlike Duke. </p>
<p>I hadn’t thought of Miami (OH), but I can see why some would draw that comparison. The colleges it is most similar to (Lafayette, Lehigh, Furman, Villanova, etc.) have certain aspects in common with Duke as well. I don’t think it’s as similar as some of the others I suggested, though.</p>
<p>Ah, I’m glad I was wrong then, because UM is currently the top choice school of the 6 that I’ve gotten into. I’m still waiting to hear from three, Duke being one of them. I never in my mind drew any comparisons between Duke and UM, though I haven’t yet visited Duke (I will if I get in).</p>
<p>Interesting that you’re comparing them, though. Pleasantly surprised!</p>