<p>Anybody can - including the use of the Robertson Scholars bus - the link from the UNC side is at: <a href="http://regweb.unc.edu/students/interinstitutional.php%5B/url%5D">http://regweb.unc.edu/students/interinstitutional.php</a></p>
<p>Thanks Egr93! Thanks to all that have posted useful information!</p>
<p>carolinaheaven: As DukeEgr pointed out earlier, though, a student (unless a Robertson Scholar) is rather limited in how many courses he or she can take at the other schools--it has to be a course that is not offered at your home institution. So that agreement might be somewhat limited. (Correct me if I'm wrong here, somebody>)</p>
<p>Jack - that is true, it must be a course that is not offered at "home." I think the important courses to look at are the upper level electives where each school has particular faculty members offering courses that are unique to them. Especially seminars, though I would imagine those would be particularly difficult to get into...</p>
<p>.... People walk around with their heads down at Duke? What? The only person I have seen staring at the ground at Duke promptly ran into a stone column. I don't think she ever did it again.</p>
<p>I went to Chapel Hill once to get my hair cut at the Aveda Institute (great place) and for performing at a dance benefit there, and here were some of my observations. I am trying really really hard not to be biased here.</p>
<p>The facilities were pretty amazing. Page Auditorium at Duke is pretty mediocre in comparison to ummmm... Memorial Hall? I think?
SO MUCH WALKING. Dear god. So much walking.
Good food.
Less preprofessional than Duke. Lots of seniors I talked to there were pretty aimless about after college life than Duke seniors. I thought it was really .... different that the freshmen I talked to (not a blanket judgment, just the ones I talked to) didn't have the internships and jobs that my peers had.
Lots of red bricks.
There was a volleyball court thing outside a dorm. That was pretty cool.
THERE'S A PLANETARIUM. That is friggin sweet.
Lots of kids from NC. Duh, but it makes a difference. I like Duke's geographic mix.</p>
<p>People from North Carolina pretty much hate Duke, which was really strange for me. I come from Southern California, and no one really hates USC over UCLA, or Stanford over Berkeley. There's a lot of bitterness toward Duke because we're from out of state for the most part. The bitterness is mainly because UNC grads tend to stay in the area and contribute after they graduate. Apparently Duke students, on the other hand, only rape and pillage the countryside and detract from North Carolina. This is one of the things that saddens me about Duke's relationship with NC. I could go on about how Duke does great things for Durham and North Carolina, but I'll save that for another day. </p>
<p>On the same vein, UNC students hate Duke more than Duke students hate UNC. For MOST Duke students, this intense rivalry does not really extend beyond basketball, whereas it seems that because UNC students are from in-state, they have some sort of indoctrinated hatred of EVERYTHING Duke. I don't really get it.</p>
<p>Wow...way to dredge up a really old thread pri. </p>
<p>Now that my d has finished her freshman year at UNC, and a couple of her friends have finished theirs at Duke, I think I can comment on the rivalry thing as well as a few other issues. </p>
<p>Rivalry....It's pretty much confined to basketball, imho. My d tells me UNC students pretty much don't care or think about Duke other than those two weeks before and after a UNC-Duke game...and that it's some sort of fantasy in Duke students' mind that they are on everyone's radar all the time. She said UNC kids actually 'kinda' feel sorry for Duke...between unfair negative attention on the lax thing, cheating at Fuqua, and drug stings at the dorms, they feel Duke is getting 'kicked while they are down' in the media.</p>
<p>And not every Duke student is into the rivalry either. My d's friends don't even know the names of the basketball players on their team. When my d got together with friends recently, a discussion was started about Gerald Henderson's cheap shot against Tyler Hansbrough...and her Duke friend said...'wait...who is Gerald Henderson...is he on OUR team?' lol!!</p>
<p>So much ado about nothing on that front.</p>
<p>Both are great schools academically with the added bonus of having top-notch sports programs. As far as rankings go, Duke is usually in the top 10 among all universities in ranking that is top heavy with private universities, UNC is usually in the top 5 among all public universities. </p>
<p>Regarding the general population's feelings toward Duke, I'm not sure. We are from oos. But I will tell you those ladies working at the Bed, Bath and Beyond near I-40 are rabid Duke fans and made booing noises when we bought some UNC gear. lol!</p>
<p>Walking - doesn't the Duke campus have a larger footprint than the UNC campus? Maybe it's the hills that are getting to you, not the distance. It is Chapel HILL after all. ;)</p>
<p>Internships, ambition, etc... - pri - you are talking to the wrong people. Plenty of driven, high achieving individuals and internships at UNC. Top-ranked study abroad program too....300 programs in over 70 countries. On my d's hall seems like every other kid was accepted to Duke and UNC.</p>
<p>Just trying to correct a few misconceptions. My observation as a parent is the kids do seem to be genuinely happy at UNC. We were amazed at how polite and open UNC students are and how they will go out of their way to greet and offer to help a perfect stranger. I cannot stress how impressed we were on this front. My husband made the comment that these social skills will serve them well out there in the real world.</p>
<p>pri430: I'm a native North Carolinian, and I really think the Duke/UNC rivalry is more about basketball than anything else. I honestly don't think "people from NC pretty much hate Duke." Most people I know either went to Duke or to UNC (or, ultimately, both-- at one time or another-- when you consider graduate or professional schools). The others went to NCSU or Wake Forest, mostly. (Then there are all those out-of-state schools to consider, too.) Actually, I met a small group of people a few weeks ago who all went to Wake Forest, decades ago. Now if you really want to hear people complain about Duke, UNC, and NCSU-- talk to a Wake Forest alum. Seriously. </p>
<p>I agree that the UNC campus seems like you're walking forever to get anywhere, but it's such a beautiful campus. I rather like the brick, too-- and those buildings are true to their history/heritage, unlike Duke (and all those other universities in this relatively young country) that insisted on gothic architecture. I always found that a little strange.</p>
<p>All 3 major research universities (UNC, Duke, and NCSU), as well as the Research Triangle Park, have all done a lot for NC, though--most especially the Duke Hospital/Medical Center. We like Duke; we really do. As ldmom suggests, it really isn't all about you (ie, Duke). Honestly. ;)</p>
<p>It's been interesting for me growing up in NC. When I was growing up I remember hearing a lot about State and Carolina, but relatively little about Duke, even around basketball season. My family until recently wasn't a big UNC family and so I was really not exposed to the rivalry until my brother started going to UNC as I was a sophomore in HS.</p>
<p>Until this year I really had never thought too much about Duke. Several people from my school went there and I had noticed that everyone from my school at Duke was a big partier. Then this year started and as I applied for the Robertson, whoo-wee, everything changed.</p>
<p>Anyway, throughout this year tons of people have given me their opinions on the rivalry, whether it was their idea of which school is more academically focused, better at sports, which school is more serious about the rivalry, who has the inferiority complex, etc. It's been my experience that Duke fans will readily point to the fact that the kids at UNC are not as intelligent as those at Duke because of a few reasons. SAT scores, 82% in-state, public (I hope that people reading this will recognize the problems with all three of those arguments). UNC fans who dislike Duke usually cite that, though Duke is academic, it is filled with snobby kids. The reason people usually cite for this is because a lot of kids at Duke are from the NE, are rich, and because it's a private university.</p>
<p>I'm not sure where to stand on the issue. One might find a more rigorous atmosphere at Duke, in the same way as one would find a rigorous atmosphere at U Chicago or Swarthmore. But this doesn't necessarily indicate grad school success or even overall happiness of the student body.</p>
<p>The reason why I love UNC really has nothing to do with sports or its school spirit. It's because I feel like it's earned its title as a School of the People. I've seen them give chances to people of great character with rougher backgrounds and lower SAT scores. It has the highest number of graduates to go onto the Peace Corps, and is consistently rated as one of the happiest campuses in the country. To me, UNC isn't better than Duke because Duke is a bad insitution, but because UNC has a charm I haven't found anywhere else.</p>
<p>I think the first thing is never to believe what rabid basketball fans, or sports fans in general, say about their rival schools about anything, especially in season :-D</p>
<p>And more about those red bricks... </p>
<p>Love the brick....absolutely beautiful...gives the UNC campus beaucoup charm...often wonder if anyone has ever counted them....BUT PLEASE, is it some sort of joke on parents who don't know to occasionally look down for trip hazards?? Don't even ask how many times I have 'thrown a rod' walking on those brick paths. ;)</p>
<p>I think your D needs to visit and see which feels better. Duke is rated higher but UNC is always on the top of the list for public universities. I personally am not a private school person even though my husband taught at Emory for years. I just don't think you get the diversity that college campuses should have. UNC has a great track record for having a diverse campus and good relations. They are a role model for other privates on limiting debt or even providing debt free education to children from families with a certain level of income. Rice is a private that is very diverse and has great relations. Depends on what your D wants. My D wanted a diverse campus and all that it brings. The real world.</p>
<p>Duke is probably more respected than UNC although both are very challenging academically. Dukes' poli sci program is one of the best in the country as is the similar public policy department. Duke seems to have more resources and the students there seem to be more intellectual and devoted to their studies than UNC.</p>
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<p>I would be interested in your elaborating on whatever factual basis you might have for reaching this conclusion.</p>
<p>
<p>Love the brick....absolutely beautiful...gives the UNC campus beaucoup charm...often wonder if anyone has ever counted them....BUT PLEASE, is it some sort of joke on parents who don't know to occasionally look down for trip hazards?? Don't even ask how many times I have 'thrown a rod' walking on those brick paths.
At least they didn't go overboard on brick like NC State. :rolleyes: As for the bumpy paths, well, blame it on UNC's charming oaks and (Davie) poplars.</p>
<p>
Heh, you'd be surprised. A lot of people have an astonishing amount of venom when it comes to Duke. Oddly enough, I get more flak about my Duke attire in my hometown than I do while visiting Chapel Hill. It's usually people with no ties to either that hate Duke the most.</p>
<p>tyr: Based on chr100's previous posts, I gather he/she is still a high school student and has never attended either Duke or UNC. So I suspect he/she has no "factual basis" whatsoever in reaching that conclusion.</p>
<p>Jack: I never would have guessed!! ;)</p>
<p>No contest.
UNC.</p>
<p>For an interesting perspective on the two schools written in 2003 by one of the Duke Robertson Scholars, you might read this article: <a href="http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2003/02/20/Editorial/Commentary.Carolina.Blue-1462496.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2003/02/20/Editorial/Commentary.Carolina.Blue-1462496.shtml</a>.</p>
<p>That makes me really glad to hear. I always hear such great things about UNC. I'm excited for next year :)</p>
<p>Wait - "No contest"? Sigh...</p>
<p>I hate (yes, hate) zero-sum-games. I hate it when Duke or UNC people play them. It simultaneously diminishes both places, and both places have more than enough going for them than to rely on one-up-persons-ship to get by. Seriously.</p>