<p>I can't decide between Duke and Vanderbilt, but I want to ED to one of them. Can you give your opinions on the schools in comparison to each other? Also, how is rushing for sororities at both schools? Thanks.</p>
<p>Also, Duke and Vandy are my top two, and I would have a much better chance at either if I applied ED. I visited both schools, and I love both campuses. Also, I’m from New York, so getting an internship or job in the city would be important to me and I don’t know my chances of that at either school.
I realize both schools are challenging, but I want to have an overall good college experience, so is there a good balance between academics and social life at both schools?
I think I would rush at either school, but I wanted to know about the processes at both and whether or not there is any hazing.</p>
<p>Go with Duke ED. They have a better rep when it comes to employers. They still have a good balance between academics and social life. Vanderbilt is great as well, but Duke is rated higher and still people have lives. Also Vanderbilt is known as just straight up southern, whereas Duke is a place everyone knows and respects all over the country.</p>
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There is so much wrong with what you just said. Yes, Duke is a higher ranked school than vandy according to USNWR, but the difference in academics between the two schools is almost negligible. When choosing between schools like these, other factors such as location, campus vibe, career goals, major path, etc. are much more important. OP, what ae you looking for as far as other factors?</p>
<p>We have a Duke 09 grad and a Vandy student. There is a drastically new level of difficulty in admission to Vanderbilt in the last five years, with Duke still somewhat harder as an admission. Vandy used to have ED2? I am too lazy to confirm. </p>
<p>Greek life is important at both institutions with Vanderbilt having a much higher interest in sororities than Duke. Duke women have quite recently won the right to have turf in the dorms for sororities even though frats have long had this privilege. There is no Greek Row at Duke like there is at UVA and Vanderbilt re physical houses. </p>
<p>Our Duke son went Greek and this has been an important part of his life and in his ability to weather the academic challenges at Duke with a supportive set of very smart and motivated brothers. The post graduate networking advantages that come with Greek life have been helpful to him as well. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt son is completely not interested in Greek life although he will attend parties when asked by sorority girl friends now and then. He believes that Nashville is waaaay more fun for independents like himself than Durham is for independents. </p>
<p>Duke’s sporting life is superior to Vanderbilt’s as long as we are not talking about football. For that matter, Duke’s sporting life is superior to scores of colleges. Duke son loved that aspect of his life on campus and as a graduate. Vandy son doesn’t focus on sports and won’t as an alum either. Not rooting for your classmates at Duke is unheard of as you will go to school with world class female and male athletes. </p>
<p>Your concerns about landing internships in the NE cities is not grounded in reality. Duke and Vandy have VERY large segments of the student body from the NE. Duke is considered to be full of Yankees by the locals including my Virginia and NC friends, which I think is backwards as an outlook but there it is. Go Chapel Hill and Go Hokies.
(I was naive and didn’t realize that the Tar Heels and Hokies pretty much dominate the region for fan base…and Duke is considered to be full of people from “other places”)
Vanderbilt is getting tons of applications from the NE corridor. That said the Duke Clubs up that way and out in California are older and have been established longer but Vanderbilt has way more reach into the NE and the West coast than you recognize. </p>
<p>I honestly think you should go with your gut feeling. And you must also realize that getting in is Problem number one. Picking your final destination is the task for after April first. Getting into either school you name is unpredictable at best. Vanderbilt used to be much more predictable but no longer. </p>
<p>good luck, and focus on what is in your control now. first term grades, extra SATIIs, references and essays</p>
<p>Vanderbuilt still has ED2. </p>
<p>This is information only. I am not a big proponent of binding admissions, so I wouldn’t advise applying ED to either university.</p>
<p>Binding admissions by going ED to Duke or Vanderbilt can be very smart if you want a No Loans financial aid package based on your family’s estimated cost of attendance and you expect to get significant assistance. Not really that many colleges in the USA can offer no loans, and of those blessed colleges, most of them are very difficult admissions challenges. However, time to get into a family pow wow and to get serious re estimating your FAFSA plus factoring in your CSS Profile. keep in mind that each institution interprets your ability to pay differently, so you can’t expect uniform figures. You MUST be willing and ready to pay your estimated cost of attendance. It is tough to be realistic and not to get carried away…take it from a family that watched the economy tank while putting a son full price through Duke. Loved Duke, sorry we were so foolish. Second son took a merit offer to Vanderbilt with deep gratitude and forgot about his admissions to what were formally his “fave” colleges where he did not get merit or need aid. Get real about grad school costs with your parents…ie Law MBA etc are usually not subsidized and are tough job markets as well. Engineering undergrad…a different risk factor entirely. don’t neglect the family pow wow early and soon.</p>
<p>Do the research. Figure out what the differences are in the departments. Look at department size, curriculum, prof/student ratios, etc. It’s all out there. They are comparable schools anyone who says otherwise hasn’t looked closely at the USNWR methodology. Depending on the department, you might be splitting hairs. Finally, think about the money. If you’re bright, you’ll want a graduate degree. Think ahead financially.</p>
<p>Hi, i am also very interested in Vanderbilt.
My brother went through this decision also. He now attends Duke. After he was rejected from nearly everywhere (including ED Penn w. legacy), and many of his safety schools, he got into Vanderbilt and was wait listed at Duke. After he visited Vandy, he fell in love with it. He loved Nashville and the area around Vanderbilt. Then he got into Duke off the wait list (only one ever to get in off the wait list from our school). He loves the Vanderbilt campus much more than Duke (but it’s just our whole family’s opinion). He would much rather be in Nashville rather than Durham, being that Durham is not a very “lively” city, compared to Nashville. He ultimately decided on Duke because it is; much more prestigious, is extremely well know all over the world, he knew that it would give him many more opportunities than Vanderbilt. Not that many people know about Vandy, which isn’t the greatest when looking for a job. Personally, I would have chosen Vanderbilt over Duke because of the campus, Nashville, it isn’t quite as competitive as Duke and I fell in love with it the second I visited with my brother. But thats just me…
GOOD LUCK TO WHEREVER YOU WANT TO GO!!!</p>
<p>The Idea of prestige is silly when comparing Vandy and Duke. Grad schools/employers will look at your resume in its totality. What is your major, GPA, lab experience, and/or work experience. If you’re in the top 20 schools, you really ought to think about fin aid/money, resume building experiences, tech/lab skills, etc. For instance, there are mainly Ivy grads teaching at such private institutions as Princeton Country Day without the juicy benefits of public school teaching job. Equally, there are plenty of state U grads with large salaries in science and engineering. Look at Purdue grads for example. Seriously, number 17 or number 9 based on USNWR rankings? Are you really going to base your decision on rankings, and not fin aid or opportunities? Without knowing your particulars—Duke might be right for you, maybe Vandy. Find some better more quantitative reason other than “prestige” to make a decision.</p>
<p>Just a note on having increased chances when applying ED. Last year, i talked to some counselors about it, and was told that in some cases you have LESS of a chance of getting in when applying ED. Depending on how many ED applicants there are/the strength of the pool during your wave, you may be put up against applicants that are statistically stronger than the regular decision applicant pool. I’m not advocating for or against, just throwing that out there.</p>
<p>As a note, Vanderbilt has a policy of not deferring to regular decision if you are not accepted under ED. It’s accept or reject.</p>