<p>My daughter is trying to decide between Duke and UNC. We live in the area and I attended UNC many moons ago. Yet I also realize Duke is a GREAT school and so I am not influencing her choice in any way!! She's smart as a whip and her intentions are to go to med school. Here's the kicker. After receiving financial aid packages from both schools she can attend UNC for roughly $7000 and Duke for about $15000. Yes Duke is great....but worth TWICE the $$?</p>
<p>That’s a tough one, honestly. For me it would come down to how much of a hardship the extra money really is. For most of us, the swing is typically greater than that though! And given Duke’s pre-eminence in all things medical, the slope is even steeper imho. But UNC is one of the few best state schools in the country and if she compiles a stellar record there she will have her pick of med schools.</p>
<p>$8,000 is chump change relative to the importance of maximizing your daughter’s chances of attending medical school and compared to how much money she will be making as a doctor down the line. This should be a very manageable amount of debt so I think it would be unwise to turn down Duke unless she strongly prefers UNC for valid personal fit and social reasons.</p>
<p>I think a bright girl like your daughter will be able to better maximize her potential and benefit more from the stronger student body she can interact with on a daily basis at Duke. Also, will have a top 5 medical school at her footsteps to conduct medical research and some of the best pre-med advisors in the country guiding her as she applies to med school if she goes to Duke.</p>
<p>UNC is a stellar school as well like Southlandguy has pointed out. I think Duke is the clear answer here though unless your daughter just simply likes UNC a lot more and thinks she’s more likely to flourish there. It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s turned down Duke for UNC and it won’t be the last.</p>
<p>PM me if you have any questions about Duke.</p>
<p>UNC is hard to beat for pre-med. Lots of friends doing that track here and it is certainly a tough one, but rewarding if you are able to stick through it. </p>
<p>I’d recommend going to UNC and saving the extra $32k for med school, but I’m a little biased as well.</p>
<p>Agreed with Southlandguy–these kinds of decisions are always dependent on how much harder that additional $ is going to be for you.</p>