<p>I applied to several schools, and the two that I'm debating between are the University of Central Florida and Duke University. I was accepted to University of Central Florida four days after I applied, even though for the essay topic of "Why is UCF the school for you?" My response was "because its near disney." On top of that, they offered me a full ride scholarship this weekend, and since my parents have already paid for four years of florida college costs (tuition, dorm, everything) for me, I would come out of undergrad school with about $40,000 to my name which would be great. Also, UCF accepts AP credits, so I would finish undergrad in 2 years instead of 4.
However, my dream school is Duke. I applied Early Decision and hear back in 7 days. That is binding, so if I want to go to UCF I need to tell Duke to not consider me for early decision in the next seven days. Duke doesn't accept AP credits so it would be a 4 year program, plus I would get out of school with probably close to six figures of debt. I want to do engineering, and even though UCF has a great engineering program I feel Duke's location in the research triangle and their engineering school would make it more appealing. I just don't know if its worth spending so much money for undergrad. Can anyone give me some input on what direction I should go in? Been having sleepless nights over this. </p>
<p>I would go with your dream school and if you don’t like it you can always transfer :)</p>
<p>@brightenedfuture:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You haven’t provided any data to permit an assessment of your Duke ED admissions probability; however, it’s very clear that Duke – selectivity, academic rigor, reputation, cost, and MUCH more – resides in a far different part of the “academic spectrum” than does UCF.</p></li>
<li><p>One really should not apply for ED (and its concomitant, binding commitment) unless he is CERTAIN that the institution is his “bleed for” top choice, that it is affordable, that it offers the academic program he seeks, and that he’ll be ecstatic to be admitted, to be an undergraduate, and to be an alumnus.</p></li>
<li><p>Concerning which university to attend, there is no question that Duke will offer enduring distinction and academic quality that UCF simply cannot provide. But Duke is quite likely to be more expensive (again, we have no information to estimate – even roughly – the likelihood of need-based financial aid . . . and Duke is generally quite generous). This, however, does NOT suggest that UCF is a poor school or that it isn’t ideal for you and for achievement of your short- and long-term goals. Only you can accurately evaluate this in total. </p></li>
<li><p>Therefore, the germane question is can you answer affirmatively to each of the conditions in #2? If you cannot, I suggest you e-mail Duke immediately and ask for your application to be changed from ED to RD.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>According to the information on the Duke undergraduate applicant profile SISS, your decision cannot be changed from ED to RD after Nov. 20. Therefore, you would have to completely withdraw–and quickly–as decisions will be coming soon. </p>
<p>@runner444: Thank you; that’s excellent information. If it’s not too much trouble, could you please “cut and paste” the text of this policy and post it here. It’s in an applicants-only restricted area of Undergraduate Admissions’ website, and I’d like to read it in full. I appreciate your help. </p>
<p>@TopTier Sure! For those who have access, it is located under the tab labeled “Review/Update Application Details”</p>
<p>Please review the detail below and make changes as necessary by clicking the “change” button to the right of any incorrect information. </p>
<p>NOTE: Certain changes will not appear on this page for 3-5 days.</p>
<p>Deadlines for changing your program (Trinity College of Arts and Sciences or Pratt School of Engineering) and financial aid interest are as follows:
November 20 for Early Decision
February 1 for Regular Decision
April 1 for Transfer Applicants
You cannot change your decision plan (Early or Regular) after November 20.</p>
<p>FWIW, this is very funny “I was accepted to University of Central Florida four days after I applied, even though for the essay topic of “Why is UCF the school for you?” My response was “because its near disney.” On top of that, they offered me a full ride scholarship this weekend, and since my parents have already paid for four years of florida college costs (tuition, dorm, everything) for me, I would come out of undergrad school with about $40,000 to my name which would be great.”</p>
<p>What is intended major? Makes difference in answers. If it is premed track, I will say UCF</p>
<p>Duke’s medical school admissions success rate is 85 percent, more than twice the national average. What is UCF’s, @artlovesrplus, and IN GENERAL where do they attend? </p>
<p>toptier,</p>
<p>You should read the premed forum to understand those tricks on self claimed success rate. I can list a few but not all.</p>
<ol>
<li>School uses committee letter, if some one is not med school worthy they do not issue letters. They report success rate only on committee letter recipients.<br></li>
<li>Weed out most of the premed trackers</li>
<li>Quality control of entering freshman who can get into the program</li>
</ol>
<p>All in all, if you are good student, no matter which school you go to you will be at the med school at the end.</p>
<p>Who has heard of this school @ usao.edu?. They have sub $25,000 COA and are not selective. The best students from this school still get in med school. med school is mostly about gpa and MCAT. If you have a 4.0 gpa from UCF and MCAT of 36 it is lot better than Duke’s 3.4 GPA and 31 MCAT.</p>
<p>Med school has nothing to do with this thread. The student wants engineering. If he or she wants an advanced degree, grad schools are not going to care if the OP went to Duke or UCF. We have a very bright student who is going to get an engineering job no matter what school OP goes to, and where OP goes to school is not going to mean more money in a particular job.</p>
<p>Student also says that he or she would come out of Duke with 100K in debt and out of UCF with 40K in pocket.</p>
<p>My two cents: any time someone says you can have 100K of debt at interest OR 40K in your pocket, you demonstrate maturity and good fiscal sense and you put the 40K in your pocket and go to Duke for grad school.</p>
<p>First off, no one will even allow you to borrow $100K (your parents would have to cosign, but even they may not be allowed to borrow $100K).</p>
<p>So you almost certainly would have to turn down Duke due to insufficient fin aid any way (unless you didn’t apply for fin aid there, which would be . . . not smart).</p>
<p>And while I won’t say that the opportunities/experience at Duke and UCF are the same, if you want to put a name school on your resume (and get many of the opportunities), you can go there for grad school if you work hard during undergrad. Plus, a Master’s is cheaper than 4 years of undergrad.</p>
<p>Won’t you get significant financial aid at Duke?</p>
<p>I suggest UCF. If their program is great, go for it. And coming out of undergrad with no debt is amazing. Sometimes you have to weigh cost against prestige. Some people go to great schools just for the reputation, but come out with hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay. Also, prestigious schools like Duke do not offer as great financial aid programs. Duke might be your dream school, but it might just be better to go to UCF. Have you visited both places? Consider that too. And if you end up not getting into Duke, you have a great school to fall back on.</p>
<p>@whuffy, the most prestigious schools actually tend to offer the best financial aid. It’s merit money that is harder to get at those schools.</p>
<p>sorry, that’s what I meant. many prestigious non-Ivies don’t offer much merit-based scholarship from what I have seen. @PurpleTitan </p>
<p>Six figures of debt? That’s easy. I’d pick any other school other than Duke. But wait until you get the ED decision and if it’s a yes, the financial aid package. Right now, you just don’t know.</p>
<p>Good luck. What are the other schools?</p>
<p>Duke 's need-based financial aid is both automatic – based on family income data – and quite generous (obviously, admissions for US citizens/residents is entirely “need blind”). This page – <a href=“http://admissions.duke.edu/application/aid”>http://admissions.duke.edu/application/aid</a> – contains important, top-level FA information; it is also the portal to the entire Undergraduate FA website. If the OP is admitted, it’s likely that FA will be provided (more than half Duke’s undergraduates receive some). </p>
<p>For engineering it doesn’t matter that much where you go to school, as long as the engineering program is accredited. Given he money involved, I’d go to UCF.</p>
<p>(Especially since it’s near Disney. And Gator World.)</p>
<p>Two friends of mine, both Duke grads, told my daughter basically “whatever you do, don’t apply to Duke.” They both hated it because it is in the middle of nowhere without much to do in walking distance from campus, or even in driving distance. They were very stifled there. You can do so much while at UCF, then get off to an incredible start with the savings your parents would give you. Go to Duke grad school if you have to get it out of your system, but take the UCF offer undergrad.</p>