<p>My college decision has come down to the three schools mentioned in the title of this thread.</p>
<p>By far, Duke is my top choice and I really love the school. I do like Washington University in St. Louis a lot as well but not as much as Duke and the same with UNC CH. I know I will probably be attacked for my view, but I like Duke more than Washu because I feel that it has more brand recognition. I am very interested in going to graduate school overseas and I fear that Washu will not have as much pull as would Duke. In addition, I really like the sports culture found at Duke. In fifteen years, I would love to be able to still watch Duke games and have school spirit which would likely not be possible at Washu. In addition, I am sure that many will say that I could go to Duke for graduate school later. However, I do not want to pick an undergraduate school already assuming where I will go for graduate school because I want to enjoy my undergraduate experience.</p>
<p>I feel incredibly lucky to have received both the Washu scholarship and the UNC scholarship (considering I am out of state) and the total cost of attendance would be about $184,000 for Duke, $60,000 for Washu, and $0 for UNC. My parents would most likely be able to afford Duke but I think I would feel spoiled to have them pay so much more money just for me to feel "happier" while I think I could enjoy my time at Washu.</p>
<p>Finally, I am interested in engineering, specifically computer science. My scholarship at Washu would mean I would be a big fish in a small pond as I would be one of few merit scholars which would be a nice bonus. However, I think Duke has a stronger overall program. In addition, I fear at UNC, which has a very limited engineering offering, I could be limited.</p>
<p>Any response is welcome and please help me decide on where I should go in the fall!</p>
<p>UNC has an excellent computer science program, and its graduates do very well. If you know that you want computer science, it would be hard to beat that full scholarship! However, UNC doesn’t have an engineering school. If you were to decide that you wanted to switch to computer engineering or another engineering curriculum, you would have to go somewhere else. Duke has computer engineering and a few other engineering programs.</p>
<p>You need to really sit down with your parents and have a candid conversation about the finances. We do not know the financial circumstances of your situation; perhaps they are more than happy to foot the bill for the school of your choosing. Having the option of a full tuition scholarship at a great school like Wash U and a full ride to UNC-CH are definitely major things to consider though. It’s obviously a great deal, but only you and your family can determine what is best for you. If you really like Duke more than the others, and your parents have enough money and want you to go where you think is best, then choosing Duke is reasonable. If Duke didn’t offer you any financial aid, I would assume your family is reasonably well off. If, however, it puts a financial strain on the situation, then having Wash U/UNC as options are really great - they are really good schools as well. Good luck.</p>
<p>UNC-CH for free is a great deal for computer science software and theory (not hardware), but there is no engineering if you wish to switch to some other kind of engineering. Duke has engineering, but only biomedical, civil/environmental, electrical/computer, mechanical, materials (not ABET accredited), and management (not ABET accredited).</p>
<p>Both UNC-CH and Duke are in the Research Triangle area with plenty of employers. The third corner of the triangle, North Carolina State University, has a much larger selection of engineering majors, and is relatively inexpensive, even for out of state students.</p>
<p>WUStL has a small selection of engineering majors, but different ones from Duke: biomedical, chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, systems.</p>
<p>Of course, as a UNC-CH student, you should still be able to see Duke games as they come to visit, as the two are conference rivals.</p>
<p>You should have a serious talk with your parents. Sit down and tell them what you wrote here – that you like Duke the best but you also feel you could be very happy at WashU. Talk honestly about the money difference between the schools, what they could be comfortable paying without going into debt, and how where you go (how much money you get undergrad) may impact their ability to help you with any future grad school plans (ex. perhaps if you go to WashU they could help pay if you go on for a masters). Congrats on three great choices.</p>
<p>First of all, all three are excellent choices. You won’t go wrong educationally at any of them.</p>
<p>I remember when we toured Wash U a year ago, our engineering school tour guide was a computer sciences major who claimed to have turned down Princeton because he was offered a scholarship at Wash U. So, this kind of thing is obviously done all the time. It’s why schools offer the money.</p>
<p>Ultimately, you prefer Duke, but recognize that Wash U would be a much lower burden on your family and UNC lower still. I’m not sure what anyone can add to that. </p>
<p>Not knowing the financial situation of your family or how the depth of your feelings about your alternatives, none of us here can really provide you with any meaningful advice. </p>
<p>At least you know that whatever school you decide on will be great.</p>
<p>As others have said, now is the time to have a meaningful talk with your parents regarding finances, including how you will pay for grad school. Otherwise, the significant factor seems to be how certain you are re computer science vis a vis other types of engineering, as the offerings at each school differ.</p>
<p>BTW, you would certainly have the opportunity to be a lifelong sports fan as a Tarheel.</p>
<p>If you can afford Duke, I would go to Duke. After all, you are more likely to thrive in an environment that suits your needs. I wouldn’t consider you to be spoilt for choosing Duke over your other options. Investing in education is not the same as going out and splurging on a sports car. Your decision will have repercussions for your entire career. Go to Duke, and work really hard, so that you never have to regret your decision.</p>
<p>Thank you for the responses. Basically, I talked with my parents and I would have to take about $20,000 in loans myself to go to Duke but I do not think my father would support my choice although my mom just wants me to be happy. Is 20,000 a ridiculous amount of loans for a student?</p>
<p>As for the other schools, I have the following options:</p>
<p>University of Alabama wit two specialized programs which were very impressive and I would actually make $8000 a year
Northeastern at full tuition
University of Rochester at half tuition
UVA rodman scholars program
Rice University
Vanderbilt
USC at half tuition
Rutgers for free
Waitlist at Yale</p>
<p>“In fifteen years, I would love to be able to still watch Duke games and have school spirit which would likely not be possible at Washu.”</p>
<p>You don’t have to go to Duke to be a huge Duke sports fan for the rest of your life. You can have all the school spirit in the world for any school. Look at all the Bama football fans who never even went to college.</p>
<p>$20,000 is a manageable amount of loans. But if you’re asking me, I don’t think Duke is worth $125,000 more than Wash U. Not unless your family is so rich that you drop that much on vacations every year.</p>
<p>“University of Alabama wit two specialized programs which were very impressive and I would actually make $8000 a year.”</p>
<p>I guess Alabama pays their superstar students to attend as well as their superstar athletes. I kid, I kid. I’m sure their athletes are better compensated.<br>
;-)</p>
<p>$20,000 total, or $20,000 per year? $20,000 total is likely manageable; $20,000 per year means $80,000 after four years, which is a lot.</p>
<p>Rutgers is also very good for computer science, but also offers engineering options. If it is free, why isn’t it also on your finalist list? (or are you another NJ resident who does not want to go “where half your high school is going”?)</p>
<p>If those two specialized programs at Alabama are very impressive to you, what is keeping Alabama at $-8,000 per year off your finalist list?</p>
<p>Rutgers and Alabama are simply not in the same league academically as Duke and WashU. The OP is more likely to find students who share his aptitude, interests, and passions at the latter two rather than the former two in addition to getting an far better undergraduate education.</p>
<p>When you are young money doesn’t seem like an issue because your parent’s pay your bills and high school seems like it is for free. Well it isn’t. Property tax pays for that. My property tax is $10,000 a year. You also think college will guarantee an affluent future. Well it won’t. All such promises are greatly exaggerated. I went to all sorts of “elite” schools and have all sorts of college friends who struggled to make a living. Thus my suggestion is to take the money and make school as cheap as possible. All of those schools are well regarded. UNC has school spirit if that’s so important to you. Is Duke’s school spirit worth the price of a house? No way, unless you are a millionaire right now. If you want engineering, you should go to a school with an engineering program. However, you can get a BS in computer science without getting a BSE in computer engineering. You want to be a programmer or you want to design hardware? Wash U has engineering. Wash U. is an elite school if that’s important to you - and the elite nature of a school is way overrated on this website. If it helps you, I have a friend who passed up Harvard to go to Wash U on scholarship. She’s an MD/PhD now. Her MD/PhD was also full ride. Not paying for college. Shows you how really smart she is.</p>
<p>The more I read these boards the clearer it becomes to me how pointless these threads are since this can only be decided by a family as its sits down to prioritize the value of giving the student a full choice. Some posters will always recommend the free option and say the student or family is foolish to make any sacrifice financially to pay for college. As a parent, you “can’t take it with you” and if you anticipate a secure retirement, it is a very personal decision whether you want to give up the money now for college or save it for some other assistance in your lifetime or just leave it over. Since kids can’t borrow this kind of money, it is almost rediculous to ask if college “X” is worth my taking out $100K in loans over college "Y’.</p>
<p>I can only hope that future parents read just a couple of threads like this before their kid applies and decide in advance if they are going to want their kid to be bought by a college if the money appears. We all know that these awards are given to top tier kids who are willing to drop down a level to a school that everything else being equal, they would not attend. Parents have posted that they are fully able to pay for a more selective school but now have second thoughts given this found money. For many students the option of a merit scholarship should come as no surprise. How can an anonymous poster on a board like this give useful guidance when two families with equal assets and income would be reasonable to disagree on how to spend their money?</p>
<p>In many cases, it can be through pointing out things that the OP (whether student or parent) may not be aware of but should be relevant in the decision making process.</p>
<p>For example, whether a given school’s degree program in the desired major has good breadth and depth or not is something that many students and parents seem to be poorly informed about for less common majors. Pointing the OP to more information can help the OP make a more informed decision, even if the responding poster otherwise gives no opinion on “where should I go?”.</p>
<p>Similarly, it appears that some students and parents are rather uninformed about the limiting effects of large amounts of student loan debt, or the job and career prospects at graduation in various majors.</p>
<p>But it is a good idea for the parents and student to discuss and set financial parameters and conditions before the application list is made, as the financial parameters and conditions need to be taken into account when making the application list.</p>