Trying to decide between Michigan, Stanford and Duke(PLEASE HELP!)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I was all set to go to be in the Michigan Class of 2013 until I got off the Duke and Stanford waitlists recently. I am stoked beyond belief but now I have an extremely tough decision to make. Do I go to Michigan (the school I have fallen in love with), Duke (the school I grew up loving) or Stanford (better for my prospective major)? I plan to be an Economics major and want to go into either finance, public service or law school after graduation.</p>

<p>Normally I don't like going on to forums to get help, but I'm not sure what to do. I come from a poor Detroit suburb where most people DON'T GO TO COLLEGE at all. My guidance counselors are clueless and my parents didn't go to college and aren't very educated(I'm a first-generation).</p>

<p>Stanford and Duke are cheaper for me(full-need scholarship) even though I'm instate for Michigan. Michigan is only 1K a year so money isn't too big of a deal so my parents are letting me choose.</p>

<p>My brain says Stanford, my soul says Duke and my heart says Michigan.</p>

<p>PLEASE HELP!</p>

2

<p>In terms of job prospects and opportunities, Stanford is the no-brainer. It is essentially considered among Harvard in terms of prestige. But aside from that, it’s really your call. If you love another school, go for the other school. And just going to Stanford will not have you set; you have to work hard where-ever you go. Just keep in mind that Stanford is arguably the most prestigious school in the nation.</p>

3

<p>I can somewhat relate to your situation because I was in a similar situation back in April when i got my acceptance letters. I got into 3 schools that I loved: Rice, Duke, and Emory, and it was EXTREMELY HARD to make that decision. In my case, my brain said Rice, my soul said Duke, and my heart said Emory. I ended up choosing Rice because of the smaller classes, better accessibility of professors, and the tremendous scholarship they offered (26000 a year cheaper than Duke and 13000 a year cheaper than Emory). In other words, I followed my brain.</p>

<p>Stanford was my dream school, but I did not get in. If I were in your shoes, I would choose Stanford. Those are all great schools, so you can’t go wrong. But, Stanford is AMAZING!!! Nice weather, BEAUTIFUL campus, amazing students, and the prestige (although they are all similar in prestige). I wouldn’t worry about your majors because that will probably change. However, being in Stanford is a California paradise. However, be prepared to work your tail off if you go there… it’s a lot of work i heard (but then again, so is Duke and Michigan).</p>

<p>Anyway, if I was in your situation, I would choose Stanford… just because I like it better than Duke and Michigan and for the reasons I mentioned above. However, I am not you, so I can’t really help you with your decision.</p>

<p>However, try to see if you can visit Stanford and Duke again (look for cheap plane tickets), and that will help you tremendously in making the decision. That is the best way to go with making the decision.</p>

<p>I know this type of decision is extremely difficult to make (I was in your same position 2 months ago), but this is a decision that YOU have to make. You got to do some soul searching and determine which is the best fit for you. However, as I said before, visiting will probably be best to help you decide, if possible. Also, check out the following student review websites (VERY HELPFUL!): </p>

<p><a href="http://www..com%5B/url%5D">http://www..com</a>
<a href="http://www..com/%5B/url%5D">http://www..com/</a>
[Get</a> Current Student Reviews, College campus information and campus gossip at theU.com.](<a href=“http://www.theu.com/college_reviews]Get”>http://www.theu.com/college_reviews)</p>

<p>Best of luck in making the decision and rest assured that you CANNOT GO WRONG with whatever decision you make! Many applicants would love to be in the position you are now.</p>

4

<p>Unfortunately, the other two college review sites are not posting. Google ***** and College ******* in Google and you will find them.</p>

5

<p>This is a very difficult decision. I highly recommend that you visit both campuses to get a feel for the location. Once you have seen all places in person, then you can make a wise choice on your undergraduate education. Go with your gut feeling</p>

6

<p>The censorship of other helplines is pretty funny, but anyways, I’d go to Stanford out of your choices purely for the better programs in what you’re interested in. The prestige doesn’t hurt either but it isn’t really that big of a difference.</p>

7

<p>Stanford over Duke.</p>

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<p>TPL09, do you know what these other college review sites are censored? Even when I typed in the name itself, they got censored. SHAME ON YOU COLLEGE CONFIDENTIAL AND SHAME ON HOBSONS INC (the owner of cc)! YOU DON’T ALLOW FREE SPEECH! If they allowed free speech, those sites would not be censored… there is no offensive material in them.</p>

9

<p>You have superior and choices and they are CHEAPER. Send in the papers to Stanford and spend some of the $1000 you save on the bike that you will spend the next four years cruising around in 70 degree weather on. And just in case you somehow don’t like Stanford, Michigan takes a lot of transfers. Stanford only takes about 20 a year - this might be your only chance.</p>

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<p>I agree with tenisghs; visits are in order. Be warned that you will not get a very good feel for them, though, since students are mostly elsewhere for the summer. </p>

<p>The cynical side of me notes that all of the so-called advantages of Stanford (beautiful campus, nice weather, amazing students, prestige) hold equally well for Duke.</p>

<p>Let’s be honest…all three are fantastic schools. Choosing Michigan or Duke over Stanford is perfectly reasonable. Do yourself a favor and throw prestige out the window. Focus on other things, the things that will actually make a difference in your college experience.</p>

11

<p>

Duke has everything you listed besides slightly less prestige. You don’t make a very good argument.</p>

<p>Go based on fit between Duke and Stanford unless you want to stay close to home for some reason or airfare is a huge burden for you, in which case you can go to Michigan.</p>

<p>PROS OF STANFORD
slightly stronger econ program
more prestige among academia</p>

<p>PROS OF DUKE
slightly better undergraduate focus
better social life</p>

12

<p>“Fit” is even more important for the OP because he is a first-generation student. </p>

<p>I visited Duke, Michigan, and Northwestern when I was in high school. (I never visited Stanford because I didn’t want to live in California.) I was excited to visit all three schools. The culture at Duke seriously turned me off (bad vibe). I thought Michigan was too big. I fell in love with Northwestern (matriculated there, best decision for my needs.)</p>

<p>Keep in mind my views are over five years old. The point is it took visits to make me realize where I wanted to attend. Brochures and pictures don’t tell the entire story. The OP needs to decide (especially since Stanford and Duke may create a culture shock for him) which school is better for him.</p>

13

<p>NC gets chilly in December/January. And it gets really freaking hot in the Summer. Better the Ann Arbor, but ain’t no California.</p>

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<p>@ ring of fire: I never was making an argument for him to choose Stanford… I was just saying that if I was in his situation, I would choose Stanford. And in my opinion, I don’t think the weather or the campus beauty is the same at both Duke and Stanford. NC weather is nice, but it still gets humid in the summer and chilly (I visited NC both in the winter and in April), as lockn stated. I stayed at Stanford for a whole month in July of 2007, and the weather was PERFECT! Very little humidity in my opinion compared to the weather back in NC and Ohio; my friend goes there, and she said it does not get that chilly in the winter as it does at Duke. Also, Duke architecture is Gothic, whereas Stanford has Spanish architecture. In my opinion, the Spanish architecture is more beautiful than the Gothic architecture, but that’s my personal preference (part of the many reasons why I chose Rice over Duke). However, I do agree that both schools have amazing students… however, I feel Stanford has slightly more amazing people because it is almost twice as much selective as Duke (the difference is quite negligible though).</p>

<p>To the OP…
I would narrow it down to Duke or Stanford. While Michigan is an excellent school, it is not always that you get a chance to attend Duke or Stanford… another poster makes a good argument that you can always transfer to UMich later.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, as the others have stated, determine which school’s quality of life and academics is best for you. If possible, the college visits will be the best option to determine fit. The college review websites also help too, in my opinion. If Michigan is still the calling and what your gut says, then go there. If you realize you really like Stanford or Duke, then go there. Whatever choice you make, be prepared for the rush of second thoughts afterwards… you have such a difficult decision that second thoughts are bound to happen (like what happened for me). Just be prepared.</p>

15

<p>ring-of-fire: One of your pros of duke could be a con. I heard that Duke’s social scene was very segregated and dependent on greek life, which may not float everyone’s boat (mine, for one).</p>

16

<p>Supposedly schools like Duke and Stanford give some low-income students plane tickets to visit. Do they do that for people from the waitlist? Worst case scenario, you don’t like the college and you get a free vacation.</p>

17

<p>One last point about Stanford is that it is well-known for having overwhelmingly happy students, where as other tippy-top schools like Harvard tend to have a much high dissatisfaction rate.</p>

18

<p>Stanford would be the rational choice. It is the best of the three, but Duke and Michigan aren’t far behind. Unless you really don’t like Stanford, go for it. However, if you have a reason for loving one of those three schools significantly more than the other two, go for that one. </p>

<p>And Stanford is not significantly better than Michigan or Duke in Econ. Stanford is top 5 in Econ, Michigan and Duke are top 15. All three have awesome Economics departments, great faculties and excellent placement results.</p>

19

<p>Michigan…</p>

<p>And Stanford is not the rational choice. There isn’t a clear-cut rational choice. Michigan is the nation’s most prestigious public school, Duke is the south’s most prestigious private school, and Stanford is the west’s most prestigious private school. I loooved Ann Arbor. Durham is pretty pathetic compared to other college environments. Never seen Stanford…never even considered it…I’m not a West Coast type.</p>

20

<p>Berkeley is the nation’s most prestigious public university. Stanford is the best overall of the three. If you have a free ride there, go!</p>