UCLA vs. Duke?

<p>So tough decision to make. Everyone seems to be bashing Duke a lot lately and I just really don't know where to go. I live in San Diego, so it would be a lot cheaper to go to UCLA. I didn't get financial aid anywhere, so Duke is going to cost me and I'm not sure if it's a worthy investment. Any thoughts?
I'd like to work in government, so I'll probably double major public policy or political science (one of the two) and economics or something...</p>

<p>If you can afford to go to Duke, then go there. You're not sacrificing much in terms of weather/social scene but are gaining tremendously in quality of education/job placement/advising/connections/strength of student body/etc.</p>

<p>Most Duke grads end up either going to top-notch med schools, working in non-profits/think tanks in Washington DC or on Wall Street for i-banking/consulting. Obviously, UCLA is a great school as well but go to Duke unless money is a factor.</p>

<p>It's not worth the investment. Sorry. There are WAY better ways ot invest that kind of money (I assume we are talking upwards of $120K over four years).</p>

<p>UCLA has a better basketball team. :)</p>

<p>Duke is not worth it with no financial aid. If it was equal I would say Duke because you get smaller class sizes but UCLA is one of the top schools in the country at a fraction of the cost.</p>