<p>When rankings are as close as Duke and Brown’s are, they are virtually meaningless (except for bragging rights w/ friends). When it comes down to it, Brown has a lower endowment, but more of a focus on its undergrads. So I’d say its better to go to Brown undergraduate, and Duke for graduate school.
Also, just so all you know, Gailforce and DeanaL are the same person. She likes to do this often to seem to have support for her posts.</p>
<p>How exactly is Brown better than Duke for undergraduate education? They are both praised by USNWR for their Teaching Quality and have similar S:F ratious and Class Sizes. Duke is better than Brown in most graduate disciplines but definitely not all like Applied Mathematics and Computer Science.</p>
<p>I have great respect for both schools and think they are peers at the undergraduate level. Brown has a slight edge in Selectivity but Duke has a much higher Endowment and better Job Recruiting.</p>
<p>When you get to level of selectivity that include Brown and Duke, we really get to splitting hairs; ultimately, one’s intended major and study preferences probably outweigh slight differences in selectivity. For my son, the open curriculum and his intended major of CS/applied math make Brown the perfect choice while Duke was not even on his radar. Another student with different needs may well have logically chosen Duke and ignored Brown. Of course students at both schools will receive a superior education, although I doubt that the exact number of billions in their respective endowments will have any bearing on the quality of education undergrads receive. </p>
<p>I’m all ears about Duke’s supposed “better job recruiting.” How would you define that? What is your evidence? If it relates largely to graduate students with professional degrees, then it’s probably not applicable to most undergrad job seekers.</p>
<p>You clearly have way too much time on your hands to respond to this in such a wide scope. Brown remains, and will always be, one of the best schools in not only the country, but also the world. In terms of the USNWR rankings, 22.5% of the criteria gathered to make those rankings are prestige factors and a very small percentage of it is based off of whether Brown is enjoyed by its students. You can get the best education possible and end up higher than high if you do well at Brown. It is the top… Get over yourself…</p>
<p>Thank you DeanaL :)</p>
<p>And anyone who uses the word “deluded” in describing colleges needs to get her life in order.</p>
<p>Gailforce and DeanaL are the same person… LOL…</p>
<p>please get a life…
and don’t ever bash Brown… long live Bruno!</p>
<p>I love the moment when you get to college and ranks really stop mattering.</p>
<p>(And this is as someone who used to be obsessed with them)</p>
<p>Are you pre-professional (premed, prelaw, preMBDA/MSF/etc)? Then either school is a fine choice, granted that you get good grades and excel in your respective standardized tests for graduate school. If you mess up there, then your school isn’t going to carry you into grad school. Both schools have strong alumni networks, and don’t let people convince you otherwise. Brown provides funding for students pursuing unpaid summer internships; I’m sure Duke has something comparable. Brown and Duke both receive on-campus recruiting for big finance firms, and students interested in pursuing positions at smaller boutique firms (which they really should, btw) can tap into the alumni networks to make that happen. Alumni aren’t going to sit around and sniff your ass to get you a job, so it’s your job to make sure that you as a person (not the diploma that you’ll ultimately receive) make that happen.</p>
<p>Interested in Academia/a PhD? Again, both schools have opportunities for student research and collaboration with professors, but those go to students that take the initiative to reach out to professors and stand out. I truly believe there is something for everyone if they’re willing to go out there and get it. Brown has awards and fellowships such as UTRAs, the Mellon Mays Fellowship, and the Royce fellowship, which ensure that students can get funding to do the research that moves them. I’m sure Duke has something comparable, but these are the things you should be looking at.</p>
<p>Not interested in any of the above? In that case, you should research what you’re most interested in and reach out to students that actually GO to these schools and hear about their experiences. Brown and Duke are both amazing schools that excel at attracting the smartest and the brightest. At this point, if most things are equal, I would consider visiting and seeing how much of a fit either school is for you. Ask students about their favorite professors/classes/extra-currics, and decide based on which one feels more like where you want to see yourself in 4 years. If you’re making the decision based on which one’s rank will push you further in terms of becoming a doctor/lawyer/celebrity/banker/whatever, then you’re going about deciding the wrong way and should reassess what you’re looking for in a university.</p>
<p>I know many Brown kids (including me) who turned down Duke for Brown… much less the other way round.</p>
<p>@lapras, well put. Your post is one of the most mature on this thread, imo.</p>
<p>Duke is ranked 19 spots higher than Brown on the QS rankings, 28 spots higher on the Times rankings, 29 spots higher on the Academic Ranking of World Universities and 7 spots higher on the US News rankings focusing on undergraduate education.</p>
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<p>Brown is ranked 4th and Duke is 8th:</p>
<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Teaching | Rankings | Top National Universities | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching)</p>
<p>Why is continuing this argument so vitally important to you? Still sore that Brown rejected you?</p>
<p>Be careful about Gailforce, folks - on a UChicago thread (see here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1479650-im-curious-know-why-other-schools-arent-imitating-chicago.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1479650-im-curious-know-why-other-schools-arent-imitating-chicago.html</a>)</p>
<p>On this thread, it was pretty conclusively shown that Gailforce = DeanaL. This poster seems to take on different names, and posts needless, incendiary comments about other schools. Either ignore or approach with considerable caution.</p>
<p>^hahahahahahaha. I was expecting some meticulously documented investigation into posting histories and stuff to come to that conclusion. A little disappointed it was that easy.</p>