<p>I was accepted at WashU and got off the waitlist for Duke today!
Since it's impossible for me to visit either campus, it makes the choice even harder. As of now I'm still leaning more towards WashU (I've also deposited like $700 and requested my I-20), but I'd still like to hear some comments and suggestions.
Btw, I'm planning on a major in bio, but mot premed though.</p>
<p>I think Duke hands down. Better overall school. I don't see what WashU offers over Duke, but I can think of many things Duke offers that WashU doesn;t.</p>
<p>all I can tell u is that Duke's "spirit" is awesome!. I'm an international student as well, and I feel I couldn't have made a better decision!.</p>
<p>Personally, i like Wash-U better, a lot more fun...</p>
<p>All preferences being equal, go to Duke. Stronger school overall. Plus you get to choose your school yearly in the NCAA pool.;)</p>
<p>Go to Duke. you wont regret it.</p>
<p>I agree w/ Simple Truth. Overall, Duke would be the better choice, though they are quite different with regards to social life, which would impact my choice greatly.</p>
<p>WashU is a good school though a bit overrated. I agree that Duke would offer an all around better experience, but if you're already leaning towards WashU, you'll get a great education there.</p>
<p>I just don't see how WashU is better at anything. Duke has a better reputation, does far better with elite recruiters, places its grads much better, and has a better social life. No contest.</p>
<p>
[quote]
and has a better social life
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is, of course, opinion. Some people aren't all about sports and frats.</p>
<p>Personally, I'm not a huge sports fan, so basketball isn't much of a factor :D
Can anyone comment on the ease of undergrad research at both unis?
I've also heard that there is more interaction between profs and students at WashU, what do you guys think?</p>
<p>Duke is just much better. Its peer schools are Columbia, Penn, Dartmouth and Brown. WashU's are usually considered the next group of top schools. I'll show you some quick facts to ensure that Duke is a much better school (though its marketing department isn't as hardworking as WashU's...I received quite a bit of literature from WashU). </p>
<p>Duke is usually considered one of the top American schools (undergad and grad) for recruitment from companies - top 10 in America based on the Times Global Corporate Survey. WashU is not mentioned in the top 25. </p>
<p>Duke sends many more students to top professional schools, showing that is really is a better feeder school.
Duke sends about 9% of its students to top 15 professional schools - 8th in the nation.
WashU send a little less then 2% of its student body to the same schools - 45th in the nation.</p>
<p>Duke has many more national merit scholars. Duke has 120 National Merit Scholars in its Class of 2010. WashU has has less than 70, which is school a great number, so not that significant a difference (it has 200 more scholarships sponsored by the University)</p>
<p>In terms of international prestige, Duke is ranked top 15 by the Times Higher Education Supplement, WashU is is not in the top 30.</p>
<p>Faculty/Student interaction depends more on the Student then the institution - at Duke there are a number of programs and courses based on research, and every major has research courses - in which you simply enroll in, and you can do research with professors after getting a form signed from the major department. In fact, if you want to graduate with honors (which a large portion of the student body does), you HAVE to do some sort of research project that is publishable. </p>
<p>I'm sure WashU has great interaction between profs and students, Duke does too.</p>
<p>
Definitely Duke. 75% of WUStL biology majors are pre-med, according to their website. As a non-premed biology major, this would drive me insane. </p>
<p>If you're interested in plants/fungi like your screen name suggests, there's an incredible number of opportunities at Duke for that. I work in the Herbarium with several of the botanists, and the program is amazing. Duke used to have separate programs in Botany and Zoology, and the combined Biology program has considerable strength in both areas. </p>
<ul>
<li>Duke greenhouses and phytrotron</li>
<li>Duke marine lab (one word: AMAZING)</li>
<li>Duke forest</li>
<li>Sarah Duke gardens</li>
<li>French Science Center (brand new!)</li>
<li>Lemur Center</li>
<li>Nicholas School of the Environment</li>
<li>and a lot more...</li>
</ul>
<p>
Not true at all. I've been in extremely small classes (4-10 students) with professors, eaten lunch/supper with professors, gone on field trips to the coast and West Virginia with professors, done my own research under professors' supervision, etc.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Duke sends many more students to top professional schools, showing that is really is a better feeder school.
Duke sends about 9% of its students to top 15 professional schools - 8th in the nation.
WashU send a little less then 2% of its student body to the same schools - 45th in the nation.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>While that feeder school ranking is helpful in some ways, it has many flaws and should not be taken for gospel or anything close.</p>
<p>Of course its flawed...for example, none of Duke's professional schools are used in the survey - it would be much better if it used the top 10 professional schools in each field instead of just the top 5.</p>
<p>Other than small sample size, I don't see what other possible flaws are? Its purely empirical and based on a survey, which makes it one of the few reliable indicators when so many people rely on hearsay. Of course, OP is not premed, so I guess this tidbit doesn't matter too much.</p>
<p>this thread covers some of the main points:</p>
<p>This poster states
[quote]
so dubbed at WSJ
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The exclusion of Stanford in all 3 cases and their selection of top 5 med/bus/law schools is very flawed. </p>
<p>EDIT: Note that I'm not dismissing the validity of these rankings to say anything against Duke. The WSJ's list of the top 10 feeder schools</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Williams</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Swarthmore</li>
</ol>
<p>is probably very accurate. However, I think it has flaws overall and to try and downplay another school's placement using this data (in this case WashU) is wrong. It would be better to get actual placement records for whatever you're interested in (med/law/bus) from the specified undergrad school.</p>
<p>I've seen WashU's recruiter lists for business: Not that impressive for a top school</p>
<p>Then if you look at ANY top grad school that publishes data, Wash U significantly lags its "peers." Recruiting and grad placement are the among the metrics that matter the most from an undergrad education, and WashU is very weak in these areas. Its a great school, but it has a long way to go before having the same level of success as a place like Duke.</p>
<p>I am not debating that either. Given WashU's new-comer status, such findings would be expected. However, being placed 48th or w/e on the WSJ feeder rankings makes it look bad, when in actuality placement varies. In the case of law, 10 students from WashU enrolled at HLS last year, which is comparable to the placement of the University of Chicago, Tufts, Northwestern, JHU, Emory, and Cornell, once class size has been taken into account.</p>
<p>Again with regards to the WSJ ranking, they exclude WashU's med school, which is most certainly top 5, in favor of a school like Yale. Northeastern bias, anyone? I'm not sure how incestuous WashU is with regards to undergrad and med school, but I can only guess it would have helped their ranking.</p>
<p>woah, brand - i agree, I can't believe none of Stanford's professional schools are used in the polling. </p>
<p>I guess both Stanford and Duke get hurt by the NE bias a bit, as well as WashU. Dang Ivy bias...I bet all the WSJ reporters who made this are Yalies.</p>
<p>Yep! No WashU med school and no Northwestern's b-school. Does it have Stanford law school? I don't remember. It hurts Stanford/WashU/Northwestern more than Duke esp when location is taken into account.</p>