<p>I got accepted in Stanford in early admissions with 70% financial aid. I also got AB Duke schlarship which is more than a full ride. I will major in public policy or international relations. Now it is difficult to choose one - my first choice or the one which is almost equally good but paying more. Parents asking me not to worry about $ in taking the decision.
I met all 49 AB Duke finalists and they were all accepted either in Harvard or Princeton or Stanford. So they must be in the same situation as I am. I am inclined towards Duke, but would like to know your opinion or experience from either one of them.</p>
<p>Public policy. Just because where it is, my guess is that more D.C. policy makers would make the ride to Tobacco Road than Palo Alto. So, you are likely to get more guests on campus. As far as the schools go, can’t miss either way so I would just go with your gut. </p>
<p>If your parents say don’t worry about the money, ask them if they will fund you (post-graduate) with the money you saved undergraduate. Think kid, think. ;)</p>
<p>Where do you live? Logistically, which school is going be harder to get to/from for 4 years?</p>
<p>If you don’t care so much about prestige, go to Duke.
But it’s hard to resist the 70% discount at Stanford.
Personally, I would go for Stanford.</p>
<p>
Duke
[ul][<em>]Full scholarship
[</em>]Comprehensive supervision/coddling for four years
[li]Top 5 public policy program[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Stanford
[ul][li]70% COA[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Both
[ul][<em>]Laidback feel
[</em>]Great weather
[<em>]Great athletics
[</em>]Top 10 political science program
[li]Extremely prestigious (top 15 worldwide)[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Duke is a no-brainer.</p>
<p>you win either way but i like the idea of a full ride. stanford is overrated anyways. go with duke.</p>
<p>If I were in your shoes, I would pick Duke.</p>
<p>Might want to think about schedule issues and whether either school would be particularly helpful that way.</p>
<p>Stanford’s on a quarter system, and except for freshmen, doesn’t start classes much before the tail end of September. Quarters have a very different pacing than semesters – some people like it; others don’t. One nice thing about the quarter system is that if you decide to do an internship or study abroad program, you can do something from late June (Stanford doesn’t finish until mid-June) through the end of December – a full six months, and still get Winter and Spring quarters (2/3 of an academic year) at Stanford. That might make it possible for you to do two away falls if it would help your international credentials.</p>
<p>If you felt that you fit in at Duke, then go to Duke. Stanford would cost roughly 60K more over the 4 yrs and that is great but a full ride at Duke is great too. Duke is not for everyone, the south, the community is a bit of a culture shock for people coming from other parts of the country. </p>
<p>I think Duke is the best choice here.</p>
<p>
Yes, it must be quite a shock to be around so many laidback and friendly people. :D</p>
<p>California is very much a culture shock for people too.</p>
<p>IB I agree, (especially if we were talking Cal-Berkeley or UCLA), but Stanford is very much a “bubble” and you can pretty much avoid the rest of the Bay Area if you choose to (which is a culture shock to people within many parts of CA BTW).</p>
<p>Congratulations on being in such an enviable position. But you’ll love Duke and being an A.B. Duke Scholar is tough to beat.</p>
<p>The triangle area in NC (Carrey, Durham, Ral) is not much of a culture shock. Duke, no brainer.</p>
<p>Duke. The AB Duke will open doors for you…</p>
<p>If you were a sciences major, I might answer differently though.</p>
<p>…and public policy is a great school at duke with great access to washington.</p>
<p>I would go with Duke</p>
<p>Rima0613-</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations on acceptance to Stanford and being recognized as an academically talented and multidimensional student with a passion for learning via the AB Duke program! You are among the most elite of applicants this year and you have found yourself in a most enviable position.</p>
<p>My D was in the same situation last year, although without any financial aid from Stanford. She has an interest in engineering/science and is heavily involved with a varsity sport. Stanford was actually an afterthought when she chose the schools to which she would apply. She was also in at MIT, her dream school through high school. She bonded very profoundly with her fellow “AB maybes”. Her final decision came down to a large pro/con spreadsheet with a fairly comprehensive list of criteria.</p>
<p>I won’t offer comparisons between the two schools or the criteria that my D used. These are factors that are very unique and personal to you, whether they include finances, academics, social life, or sports (participant or fan).</p>
<p>In the end, the decision is yours and you WILL make the right decision. Hopefully you are at the Stanford Admitted Weekend program this weekend to get a more intimate feel for Stanford Life to compare and contrast with your Scholars Weekend at Duke. I am sure you will find them to be very different but the overall experience of each will touch you in ways that only you can best assess.</p>
<p>I know this doesn’t give you specifics to help you make a decision but in the end it is going to be a matter of “gestalt” and which school you fall in love with more.</p>
<p>My D is ecstatic with her final choice (I won’t tell you where because it is irrelevant to YOUR choice), but I will tell you that she and all the last year “AB maybes” tried to meet up and catch up over spring break at their various schools and none of them have regretted their choices to Duke, Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale, etc. Just know that you will be equally content.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your comments here. I went to Stanford admit weekend last month and finally decided to go to Duke. In my comparison sheet for the two schools, the only thing which I am going to miss in Duke is the Creative Writing dept of Stanford which has no match in Duke. But that will not be my major anyway.</p>
<p>Congrats, Rima! What a great choice.</p>
<p>I think you’ll find the creative writing options at Duke to be more than adequate – and with no lottery involved.</p>
<p>D-u-k-e!!!</p>
<p>If you like Duke and think you’ll fit in that’s great. However, I know many grads of Duke who were not fans whereas virtually every Stanford alum loves it. </p>
<p>I agree with someone else above who said that Duke is not a place fo everyone. It tends to attract a certain type.</p>