<p>With the days winding down until May 1st, I've hit a wall in college decisions. I was wondering if you guys would like to weigh in on the decision (especially current University of Michigan Students).</p>
<p>I am currently interested in studying the intersection between Public Policy, Business, and Economics.</p>
<p>Duke Pros:
-Closer to home (4 hours driving)
-Individualized education through the undergraduate FOCUS program (learning clusters of students and faculty, formed around interdisciplinary learning topics, ex. Global Health Determinants and Solutions, Modeling in Economics and Social Sciences)
-DukeEngage (Duke partners with communities within the U.S. and abroad to allow undergraduates to participate in 8-week long, service oriented programs during the summer, ex. improving a community's health information infrastructure)
-Smaller class sizes
-Nice weather</p>
<p>Duke Cons:
-25k/year
-No undergrad business program
-Less diversity in majors, minors, and certificates
-Potentially more academically stressful/competitive
-May end up in a freshman dorm with no AC</p>
<p>Michigan Pros:
-18k/year
-The Shipman community would provide a close-knit learning/service community
-Would live in one of the nicest residence halls on campus
-Diversity in the availability of classes and majors, minors, certificates
-Ross School of Business and Ford School of Public Policy are highly ranked
-Ann Arbor</p>
<p>Michigan Cons:
-Farther from home (plane ticket costs add up)
-Larger student body, less individualized attention
-Cold, cold weather
-Seems to have less undergraduate focus</p>
<p>Would really appreciate any thoughts, opinions, or suggestions that you guys may have!</p>
<p>Go with your gut. The cost difference doesn’t seem significant, unless you need to take out a loan, in which case it could matter. Also, Duke is not more stressful or competitive than Michigan. Duke’s school of Public Policy is as good as Michigan’s. If you are preadmitted into Ross, I think Michigan is a very tempting option. If not, it is slightly riskier, but still worth it if you feel it is the right fit.</p>
<p>It really depends on how significant is that $7k difference per year. Winter in AA is not that bad although it sounds colder and snow more often than NC. AA is also better prepared for winter. We moved from Dallas to Ann Arbor many years ago. It just took us one winter to adjust. If it involves a merit scholarship in the financial aid, you may want to find out the requirement for renewal. Not that I think you may fail a class or something. But some merit scholarships are tied to the school. If one transfers to business school internally for instance, one may lose the scholarship. So you may want to put that “flexibility to transfer” into account too.</p>
<p>I just don’t see how you can put more than a grand or two on weather. </p>
<p>Can you even maintain a Shipman Scholarship, get a degree from Ross, and a degree from the Ford School of Pubic Policy in 4 years? I thought that the Shipman Scholarship program tied you to majors in LS&A and thus you couldn’t be in Ford or Ross. Also, I have never heard of anyone successfully double majoring in Ross and Ford or Ross and Engineering in 4 years.</p>
<p>You can double major in Economics and Public Policy and get a certificate in either Finance or Markets & Management Studies at Duke very easily with 32 credits. There is a lot of academic overlap and the Finance certificate is more of an extension of the Economics major and will give you “the core” of the business curriculum without forcing you to endure some of the fluff classes that are part of the undergraduate business curriculum like Business Ethics. Econ & Public Policy is one of the most common double major options that students elect to take at Duke.</p>
<p>I can’t speak to the differences in competitiveness between the two schools but the weather in AA is far colder than billscho seems to let on. The Raleigh-Durham never gets more than a few inches of snow total in the winter season and temperatures are often 20-30 degrees warmer on average than AA during the fall/winter/spring months.</p>