<p>Wellesley vs Duke. Feel free to PM me if you want more details about my thoughts, but I have a feeling this could turn into a rather long post.</p>
<p>First, yes Wellesley and Duke are two very different schools with two very different cultures. That is something that took me until I was a college student to realize. Looking at both schools in high school for undergrad, they sounded more or less the same to me. The brochures both had pictures of beautiful campuses and happy students. Everyone I met at various admissions events was really nice and friendly. And both schools had classes/majors I wanted to study. So, how do I tell them apart? Which one is better for me?</p>
<p>Well, if you can visit Wellesley for Spring Open Campus and Duke for Blue Devil Days GO GO GO. I don’t know if they’re on the same weekend (Wellesley’s is next Monday and Tuesday as I’m sure you know), but visiting is a great great great way to see what the schools are like. You can sit in on classes, talk with students, and see what your life could be like for the next four years.</p>
<p>Now, on to my breakdowns about the schools. Please read this with a grain of salt as I only attended Wellesley and cannot speak 100% about experiences at Duke. However, I have many experiences at Duke (at both the undergrad and graduate levels), so I can at least provide a close outsider perspective. Again, message me if you want more details.</p>
<p>Undergraduate Academics:
Wellesley is really really tight knit when it comes to academics. Students CARE about their classwork and CARE about attending class and getting the most out of lectures, attending professors’ office hours, getting together in study groups, etc. Academics reigns at Wellesley and students take every advantage they can out of that. Professors at Wellesley go out of their ways to help you – now, that doesn’t mean classes will be easy. Classes and professors will challenge you to think and act outside of your comfort zones, force you to face perspectives you might never have considered before, and are ultimately holistic educational experiences made to push you to explore academic thought. Keep in mind, ALL Wellesley courses are taught by Professors. Students do help out with extra tutoring and help, but all of your classes will be taught by professors who care about you as students and as individuals. Your classes will be small (I’d say on average about 15-20, but don’t be surprised if you have classes at 10-12 or fewer either) and nurturing environments, highly discussion based depending on the department.</p>
<p>Duke is a university and as such, most of their resources are funneled into the graduate departments (and to athletics). At the undergraduate level, especially in your freshman year, your classes will be larger than Wellesley’s. Your introductory classes will be largely lecture based, and while your lectures may be taught by professors, ultimately your grades will be given out based on which graduate teaching assistant is teaching your section. Yes, that means when it comes down to your grades, a graduate student will be the one by and large determining what goes on your transcript. This may just be for the introductory courses, as I’m sure at upper level classes you’ll have more professor contact, but freshman/sophomore years if you need help with a homework assignment or class material, you will go to the graduate student assigned to your course. The professor is there for the lecture portion of the course of course, but their main focus is on creating their own research. Beyond that, keep in mind the focus of students in your classes – as a Division 1 school, some students might be focused solely on academics and other students may have different priorities when it comes to their college experiences. </p>
<p>Location:
The town of Wellesley is very very safe. I have walked around Wellesley town and campus at all hours of the day/night and I have never felt unsafe. There are many restaurants in the Ville now (many more have popped up over the past two-three years) and you have most everything you need. There’s a shuttle to the Natick Mall (the largest mall in New England) & other shopping areas, movie theater, etc. And of course, there’s Boston. Boston is one of the best cities to go to college in – beyond the academic connections Wellesley has with multiple colleges in the area, the social aspect of having hundreds of colleges around is amazing. There’s really no other city like it – you have so many activities all catered to students like you! And don’t forget, being close to Boston means you can join in on extracurricular or volunteer activities in the city and you can interview for summer internships and jobs at basically any time. You can go in-person to see companies, meet recruiters, etc which is all immensely helpful in the long-run in building your network.</p>
<p>Duke: Durham is a place you have to visit to see if it’s right for you. Keep in mind that once you get to campus, you won’t really leave (unless you’re going to party at the beaches after finals week) & there’s not much beyond the campus anyways. While the Duke campus is beautiful and safe in its own right (mainly East and West campuses; Central is a bit more gritty – don’t walk around at night by yourself. Take the shuttles that go between East and West campuses), Durham itself is frankly, a bit sketchy, especially at night. There’s more or less everything you need though – Ninth Street has a ton of restaurants and Shooter’s (for when you turn 21! – do ride the mechanical bull though), and the university itself has a bunch of restaurants on campus though some are closing this year so I’ll just list McDonalds, Au Bon Pain, and Panda Express here. One thing about Durham is that you need a car to get around – most of the campus shuts down on Saturdays, so you’ll have to get your own food, etc. There’s a Whole Foods next to East Campus where all the freshmen live, but after that, you’ll appreciate a car. However, getting a spot in a parking lot close to campus is difficult – there’s some sort of lottery system to divvy that up but you could end up a 15 minute walk from campus when parking your car. Being in Durham also means you’re a 2-3 hr flight to New York City or Boston. Depending on your career aspirations, the Research Park Triangle could be a great place to be (but again, you need a car to get there) – many students get summer internships and jobs there. You also have pretty easy access to Atlanta and Washington DC.</p>
<p>Social Life:
Wellesley, to me, is a place where you can choose how social you want to be. Yes, that’s arguably true of any school, but I found that there are students who are very social and go out a lot and there are others who stay on-campus and hang out with a few friends watching TV on Friday night (and everyone in between). Whichever way you prefer, there are people at Wellesley who are also that way. No one will pressure you to be one way or another; you just find which group or groups of people you mesh well with.</p>
<p>Duke is very social. As you said it’s a work hard, play hard environment – and let me emphasize the “play hard” aspect of that. Fraternities/sororities and athletics (mainly basketball) rule everything. Rush if you want, but make sure you pick the “right” sorority as that reputation will follow you throughout your time at Duke. If you don’t like basketball now, you’ll have to learn to like it enough to watch a few games. Cameron Stadium is an amazing place – and some people get more into the basketball scene than others (Cameron Crazies are ridiculous and are only found at Duke!) – and you’ll have memories there that can only be found at Duke (tenting, etc). But after awhile the charm of basketball can wear off and you’ll have to find other activities to occupy yourself (most Dukies end up at the gym all the time).</p>
<p>Career Choices:
Both schools are great and both schools will get you to where you want to go. I personally feel like this area is a draw between the schools. Wellesley may recruit more to Boston/NYC and Duke may recruit more to DC/Atlanta, but in general, both schools can get you anywhere. I wouldn’t base your decision off this particular point.</p>
<p>I hope that helps a bit. One thing for me having been back to Duke while I was still a Wellesley student and again after graduation, I can say that I wouldn’t change my Wellesley experience for anything. To be a part of the Wellesley NETWORK (which has helped me in so many ways both professionally and personally) is something I have yet to find at any other school. It really is true that Wellesley alums will do anything to help you, wherever you are, whether they’ve met you before or not. </p>
<p>One thing of note: Wellesley is a college while Duke is a university. Someone on these boards told me many years ago that I only have one chance to go to Wellesley; if I want to go to [University XYZ] later, I still can go there for graduate school. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Ultimately though you have to figure out where you’ll fit in better. Wellesley and Duke, as has already been mentioned in this thread, are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT cultures. Visit and I think you’ll see what we’re talking about. On paper I can resonate with you that everything starts to look the same, but visiting really makes a huge difference in making this decision.</p>
<p>Best of luck – feel free to reach out if you have any more questions or want to know about something I haven’t touched upon here. Hopefully my long rambling helps a little bit. And do let us know what you decide!</p>