<p>I am an in-state student and a received the UNC Chancellor's Science Scholarship. It is worth $10,000 annually, plus they give you the preparation needed to pursue a PhD in research science. I applied to Duke, and I believe I was accepted due to several likely letters. I am not sure why I applied to Duke because UNC is definitely my first choice. But now I am rethinking this because my school counselor said I should go to Duke because it is more prestigious. </p>
<p>Go to UNC. The bump in prestige is not worth the extra $40,000+ per year you’d be paying for Duke, especially since you seem to like UNC better! The only reason to realistically consider Duke at this point is if they give you a financial aid package bringing the total cost of attendance down to around what you would be paying to go to UNC.</p>
<p>Since you want to do a science PhD, I will say that my research experience at UNC was quite exceptional. I had a great lab and was able to apply for grants through the UNC Office for Undergraduate Research to support my research. This support helped me co-author 3 scientific publications as an undergraduate at UNC, which was more than most of my friends at other highly ranked schools.</p>