Until now I thought I wanted to apply ED to Rice, but now I’m second guessing myself. I have visited both schools and really like both of them. Academically, they are both very strong in science and research so that is not a factor for me. It comes down to the student body and experience.
I know that Rice’s residential system creates a tight knit community, especially with Rice having such a small undergraduate population, but I don’t know if that would be a good or bad thing. I go to a high school where most people know each other and it gets exhausting. Obviously Rice is infinitely better than the high school I go to, but I don’t know.
Duke on the other hand has a larger undergraduate population and probably has a more active social scene. However I’ve heard that it is more preppy and can get cliquey. But I like it’s school spirit and I like that it does have more students.
I know I don’t have to apply ED to a school, but I don’t want to risk not applying ED to either and most likely getting rejected from both. I’m also not sure which school I would have a better chance of getting in ED, although the rates may be close. If someone could give me some input that would be awesome.
I graduated from Duke, while my daughter is soon to graduate from Rice.
Duke had/has a very frat-centric, pre-professional vibe. As an independent and a humanities major, I felt fairly alienated from the main flow of campus life during my time there–though I was hardly alone in that feeling. If you are a gregarious and fairly conventional “joiner” who is already thinking about how to parlay an engineering degree into an IB gig and then a spot with a venture capital firm, you’ll probably love Duke. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a place to undertake a process of intellectual and personal self-discovery, you might well find that Duke is not a good fit.
Based on [what I know of] my daughter’s experience at Rice, I would say that this school does of much better job of integrating a diverse array of personality types into a shared social and academic community. The residential college system is key in this regard, for it makes possible a rich social life (including lots of public, open-to-all parties) that is not weighed down by the elements of exclusivity and exclusion that can mark Greek-focused campuses like Duke. If you think of yourself as being even the slightest bit quirky or introverted, I would say that Rice is much more likely to provide you with “an active social scene.”
As for school spirit, consider this: I knew many people at Duke who, for one reason or another, didn’t really like being there or didn’t really identify with the school (even though they might root for the Blue Devils come ACC Tournament time). At Rice, by contrast, virtually everyone my daughter knows identifies with the school and feels a part of the Rice community . . . even if they don’t show up for football games on Saturday afternoons.
In sum, Duke can be a good launching pad for the right kind of student; however, I think there are many other students who would be well served by giving Rice serious consideration as an alternative. Good luck in your deliberations and applications!
This wasn’t my experience at all, perhaps largely because Duke has changed quite a bit over recent decades. Duke has gone to great strides to foster a more inclusive and intellectual environment on campus in the last couple of decades – offering funding for students to take professors to lunch (FLUNCH), for example, and implementing a house system on West campus.
FWIW, I was an independent and a humanities major (and science double major) who chose Duke after my top choice (Chicago) offered woefully inadequate financial aid. I found a great group of quirky, nerdy friends, took stimulating classes, nearly all of which had <20 students, and was very well prepared for getting my PhD afterwards. On a more personal note, I’ll add that I came out while I was at Duke and found it a wonderfully accepting and supportive environment. It seems bizarre to me to say that Duke isn’t a good fit for anyone looking for “intellectual and personal self-discovery.” There’s students of all stripes on campus.
I won’t dispute that Rice sounds like a great fit for OP - quite possibly a better fit than Duke. (S)he can definitely find those students at Duke too, however.
Fit is very important. What did your gut tell you after you visited each school? If you want Greek life, go to Duke. If you want a school that has big time sports victories, go to Duke. Rice has residential colleges as opposed to Greek life and does not excel at major sports, particularly football and basketball.
If you think you could be happy at either school, then look at the numbers. If you want to up your chances to get in Duke, you should ED to Duke. Duke takes a higher percentage of its class ED than Rice does. Duke is very yield conscious. If you are a legacy at Duke, the legacy card is most valuable in the ED round. You can hedge your bets by going ED Duke and RD at Rice. https://today.duke.edu/2017/12/duke-accepts-875-early-decision-applicants
The principal question to ask yourself is If you get in Duke ED would you happily attend and could your parents comfortably afford to pay whatever the price is.
@warblersrule: “This wasn’t my experience at all, perhaps largely because Duke has changed quite a bit over recent decades.”
Naturally, everyone’s experience will be different, and I would agree that Duke has restructured its social life in significant ways over the years. When I was there, East Campus was basically independents, while the West Campus quad (i.e., what most people think of as “Duke” proper) was reserved for Greek houses. That structural dichotomy in living arrangements tended to exacerbate the element of alienation among some students that I referred to.
Of course, I was able to find good friends at Duke, but these were overwhelmingly drawn from the East Campus residential crowd, and they tended therefore to reflect a somewhat “alternative” perspective on Duke.
I’ll stand by my comment about the lack of intellectual atmosphere at Duke during my time there. Indeed, I found the atmosphere somewhat anti-intellectual (especially among the pre-finance frat set that dominated campus life). Perhaps I was simply unfortunate in terms of the other students whom I chanced to meet. Still, from what I’ve been able to suss out about the state of Duke’s culture today, I would recommend the school primarily to applicants who possess a strong sense of self and purpose, and who already have a fairly clearly defined vocational trajectory in mind. As a launching pad for professional success, Duke is an appealing target.