<p>I have a question. Which one is better? I don't exactly know what i want to major in, but I want to attend a school that has a variety of everything. I went to collegeboard and it seems that Vandy has more choices. However, Duke seems to be a better school. Is there something that I am missing? I might be majoring in Engineering or biology (to be a pharmacist).</p>
<p>Both are great schools but,
Nashville > Durham.
Vandy Girls > Duke Girls
Vanderbilt Parties > Duke Parties</p>
<p>Basically:
Vandy = Zach Morris.
Duke = Screech.</p>
<p>anyone else...</p>
<p>That's actually a very, very accurate analogy.</p>
<p>"Both are great schools but,
Nashville > Durham.
Vandy Girls > Duke Girls
Vanderbilt Parties > Duke Parties</p>
<p>Basically:
Vandy = Zach Morris.
Duke = Screech."</p>
<p>Ouch. Clearly you attend Vandy so your answer might be slightly biased ;) I'd have to say that Vandy has a lot more Southerners and feels like much more of a southern school than Duke, which you may like or dislike. For example, at Vandy, lots of guys wear shirts and ties to football games, while many girls wear flower dresses (at least, this is what occurred ~5 yrs ago, it might be shifting a bit). At Duke, you would never see that happen. To back this up, according to the admissions site, Vandy's student body is 46% from the South, while Duke's is 34%, but the schools might define "South" differently. Duke gives a state-by-state breakdown (e.g. Texas and Kentucky are are considered Southern, but I can't find a similiar thing at Vandy).</p>
<p>RE: TheOC89's assertions. I'd agree Nashville > Durham. Although Durham, Chapel Hill + Raleigh is better than you'd expect. Vandy Girls > Duke Girls is debatable. If you like the Southern belles with blonde hair and blue eyes, then yes, Vandy wins hands down. Duke is a much more diverse. Vandy is ~23% minorities,Admissions:</a> Vanderbilt University while Duke is ~43%.Duke</a> University Admissions: Class of 2011 Profile Big difference. Duke also is very Jewish (although no official figures are given, people estimate ~10-15%), while Vanderbilt has been actively recruiting Jews for a while.... Duke girls also are pretty attractive overall, and I honestly have seen only one obese female in my four years. Duke is a very athletic campus and people work out a lot....and care about their looks...some people think others care too much.</p>
<p>I've never been to Vandy parties, so I can't really talk about that...The social scenes I've heard are fairly similar and mostly dominated by Greek life. But both schools belong to major sports conferences and have a good social/academic balance. Both schools are fairly preppy, although Vandy is even moreso than Duke. Both schools are strong academically, but Duke is a bit harder to get into. Vandy ACT range: ~29–32; Duke ~30-34. Vandy SAT: ~1300-1470; Duke ~1400-1550. Vandy acceptance rate = 34% and Duke = 21%.</p>
<p>I think you'd find more similarities between Vandy and Duke than you would find differences. Duke bball > Vandy bball.....and, yes, I know Vandy football > Duke football, but that's not saying much....</p>
<p>Edit: RE: Jewish population at Vandy. According to this 2004 article,Vanderbilt's</a> Jewish population flourishing - Tuesday, 04/06/04 the freshman class was 8% Jewish in 2004, while it was <1% in 1997.....So I guess their recruiting is working...</p>
<p>The stats that you have listed for Vanderbilt don't take into consideration the differences between schools. Peabody, Engineering, and Blair have higher acceptance rates because the applicant pools are more self-selecting. Vandy's stats for A&S are probably more comparable to Duke's because the applicant pool is larger... the acceptance rate this year for A&S will probably be a low 20-something percent.</p>
<p>This is all completely subjective and isn't a strong indication of the reality of the school, but I was personally turned off by Duke because it seemed really unfriendly and overly focused on sports and Greek life (both of which seemed to have a negative presence). I know Vanderbilt has strong Greek life but for some reason it seemed more positive and welcoming, and the school spirit was fun (not hostile or intimidating). Also, the admissions office was extremely unfriendly at Duke, my tour guide was a nightmare, and.. the freshman campus?? Oh my god. I guess this isn't really a fair comment because it's (unfortunately) based on one bad personal experience I had, but Durham and "East Campus" were big enough turn-offs alone.</p>
<p>It's obviously still an incredible school, though. I guess it depends on your fit. My cousin goes and he likes it, but I could never see him at Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>To the OP: What kind of academic and social experience are you looking for?</p>
<p>Sure, US News lists Duke as a "better" school than Vanderbilt, but you have to do your own rankings. For me, Vanderbilt surpassed Duke by far. Duke fell short in terms the most important things that I wanted, so it would have been a really poor choice. It didn't have ANY of the academic programs I was looking for, but Vanderbilt's programs were stellar across the board - the best in the country (for me and my goals, obviously), without exaggeration. It had <em>exactly</em> what I was looking for in terms of so many different things, so it was a perfect fit across the spectrum. The other pieces fell into place perfectly from there: the balance (HUGELY important), social scene, and location kept me hooked (among other things). I applied ED and I'm really excited for next year. It really depends on what you're looking for.</p>
<p>how about the reputation? and recruiting for firms in northeast? and job placement? and pay?</p>
<p>There used to be a joke that the Duke rejects come to Vandy. I don't know if that is still true or not. Since we live in Nashville, I have always been under the impression that Duke academically is still better than Vandy. More Northeastern kids attend Duke than Vandy.
If you are still unsure, if you can manage it, try to do an overnighter at both schools to get a better feel of both.
Vanderbilt is in a very safe area in a basically fairly safe city and the music scene is unbelievable.Yes, we have much more than just country music here!
Greek life is pretty important. Vandy will be opening its new Commons residence for the freshman class starting in 2008 and it is supposed to be great.
We will be checking out Duke in March during my D spring break so we can compare the two better after that
Either way,you have 2 great choices</p>
<p>You are talking about two excellent schools.
Duke has always been ranked higher, but both are first-rate, so unless rankings are of the utmost importance to you, you should be governed by where you feel the most comfortable and by which school offers the particular academics strengths of interest to you.
If you were talking about, for example, Princeton vs. NYU, I think the difference in ranking/academic reputation would compel one to choose Princeton, even though NYU is also a fine school.
As between Duke and Vandy? If you like them equally, I would choose Duke (and to answer Optimistic's question, there is little doubt that Duke has a more impressive reputation in the northeast for recruiting purposes); but if Vandy appears stronger in the particular areas of interest to you, or if you feel like you belong there more than you do at Duke, then I'd go with Vandy. You need to consider where you, as an individual, will thrive; not where the kid down the street will thrive.
The good news? You really can't go wrong either way.</p>
<p>A friend just told me about this site, and I had to respond to this thread. I am a student at Vandy who TURNED DOWN both Duke as well as Harvard. Yes, Duke is an amazing school, but at 18 I was not ready to retire myself to Durham. When I visited(as a recipient of one of the much-desired "likely letters") I could feel the stress on the campus-it was truly palpable. As for H-yuck! It was soooo depressing there, and my tour guide told me "you don't look like you would go to Harvard"...(I happen to love fashion and model part-time, but I assure everyone that I was more than capable of being a student at H...) My advice-make sure you/your kids visit, talk to current students and alumni, etc. Bottom line: find a school you love, not a name you are in love with.</p>
<p>hope4freeride, I lived in New England for 15 years before returning to the midwest a while ago. In my opinion, the fact that northeastern students prefer Duke over Vanderbilt says nothing about the relative "quality" of the schools or the education they offer. A lot of these kids just don't want to leave the east coast. </p>
<p>As for which school is "better", I can't really comment beyond what other posters have said: it depends on your priorities. Vanderbilt has a reputation for valuing its undergraduate program very highly, its faculty members are very engaged with their undergraduate students, and the administration puts a lot of time, attention and money into the undergraduate program. In my personal opinion, this aspect of Vanderbilt puts it head and shoulders above many other highly ranked institutions.</p>
<p>Students need to think about what sort of overall experience they are looking forward to, and then visit with those priorities in mind. My son is very happy and successful at Vanderbilt, but he has friends who can say the same about Duke.</p>
<p>
I'm only familiar with Vanderbilt, but I believe that Duke students are more sought after by investment banks and probably the big 3 consulting firms.</p>
<p>I was just talking with a very high ranking officer of the largest investment bank in Europe, and he was telling me that he looks at HYPS and MIT in the same category, and then he looks at schools like Dartmouth, Brown, Duke, Vandy, and all the other schools in this type of range pretty much the same. He was telling me that as far as rep that is how he looks at it, he is a graduate of Yale and USC.</p>
<p>I would agree that Nashville > Durham
Vandy girls > duke girls</p>
<p>BUT Duke is 15 minutes away from UNC Chapel Hill. Enough said. UNC Girls > Duke girls + Vandy girls</p>
<p>It is worth it to go to Duke, just to be close to the UNC parties.</p>
<h1>Large public schools are overrated for undergrad. Also, the UNC troll is completely delusional about the better social scene. Playboy ranked Vanderbilt in the top 25 and UNC didn't even make the cut. UNC Girls may beat the strangely unfeminine girls at Duke, but they are not better looking than Vandy girls. </h1>
<p>Using an objective source for girls (CollegeProwlr):
Vanderbilt - A+
UNC - A
Duke - B</p>
<p>
[quote]
I might be majoring in Engineering or biology (to be a pharmacist).
[/quote]
I don't know much about engineering, except that I don't think either school has fantastic engineering programs (except Duke BME). I can comment on biology. </p>
<p>Biology is one of the strongest departments at Duke. The major offers no fewer than 10 concentrations. The concentrations that would most likely interest you are [biochemistry[/url</a>] and, somewhat uniquely at the undergrad level, [url=<a href="http://www.biology.duke.edu/undergrad/conc/pharmacology.html%5Dpharmacology%5B/url">http://www.biology.duke.edu/undergrad/conc/pharmacology.html]pharmacology[/url</a>]. If your interests turn to chemistry, the chem major also has concentrations in [url=<a href="http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/handbook.php#BSBiochem%5Dbiochemistry%5B/url">http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/handbook.php#BSBiochem]biochemistry[/url</a>] and [url=<a href="http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/handbook.php#BSPharm%5Dpharmacology%5B/url">http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/handbook.php#BSPharm]pharmacology[/url</a>].</p>
<p>Duke has put a great deal of money into science and engineering. [url=<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzpatrick_Center%5DCIEMAS%5B/url">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzpatrick_Center]CIEMAS[/url</a>], the [url=<a href="http://map.duke.edu/building.php?bid=7776%5DLevine">http://map.duke.edu/building.php?bid=7776]Levine</a> Science Research Center](<a href="http://www.biology.duke.edu/undergrad/conc/biochem.html%5Dbiochemistry%5B/url">http://www.biology.duke.edu/undergrad/conc/biochem.html), and the brand new French</a> Science Center have all been recently built with new and improved facilities. Duke's current project is the renovation of Gross Chem, which will house the Nicholas School when the project is completed. Duke's Marine</a> Lab is AMAZING, and it offers courses like physics and (in the future) organic chemistry in addition to marine science/policy couses so that pre-meds can stay on track. </p>
<p>Research opportunities are plentiful. As one example, I know someone who worked in Duke's new Global</a> Health Research lab over the summer. For freshmen and sophomores, the Dannenberg</a> awards provide research funding. Freshmen can also take part in the Howard</a> Hughes program over the summer. For other students, Duke offers funding like the Dean's</a> summer research fellowships and the health</a> policy scholarship. Also of interest is Duke's exciting new [DukeEngage[/url</a>] program. </p>
<p>UNC is another great resource for Duke students. Duke students are allowed to register for one UNC course per semester, and it's just a short ride away on the [url=<a href="http://www.robertsonscholars.org/index.php?type=static&source=68%5DRobertson">http://www.robertsonscholars.org/index.php?type=static&source=68]Robertson</a> bus](<a href="http://dukeengage.duke.edu/%5DDukeEngage%5B/url">http://dukeengage.duke.edu/).</p>
<p>personal preference
1)duke
2)vanderbilt</p>
<p>so warbler, i don't know if you know what you're talking about...
i personally transferred to vanderbilt from georgia tech to do biomedical engineering. that's right, the #3 BME (my major) to #13 or so. it doesn't really matter and from my experience...i've had both and i'm confident that tech is better at engineering than duke, vanderbilt is very challenging.</p>
<p>no grade inflation like tech (once i got a 40 in a linear algebra class that ended up being an 85; no joke).</p>
<p>the rankings don't matter; i very seriously find vanderbilt to have a more challenging and undergraduate-intensive program than tech,which by a transitive nature, is better than most other engineering-specific schools with some exceptions.</p>
<p>also, at vanderbilt it is very easy to get a good job in research as an undergrad. i got a position in a genetics lab my first week at the school.</p>