<p>Lots of schools have great academics. Whether or not a person goes to Duke or Yale or University of Chicago or University of Wisconsin is not going to make that person successful or unsuccessful. If you look at the recent Forbes list of billionaires many didn’t even finish college, and certainly most didn’t go to Ivy League schools or Duke or Swarthmore, etc. </p>
<p>So pick your college based on where you can get the academics you want and where you want to spend 4 precious years of your life. Having lived in New Haven much of mine, I couldn’t wait to get out. I love the beauty of Duke’s campus and the wonderful weather and the college spirit and seeing people smiling. I like being around so many happy, positive people.</p>
<p>Yale is a fantastic school - no question it’s one of the best in the world- but New Haven is not for everybody. And Duke is not for everybody, and University of Chicago is not everybody, etc.</p>
<p>Once you spend time at these schools you get a better picture of the intangibles that go into making a great college experience. Facing facts, at the undergraduate level you can learn the same amount of econ or whatever at any good school. And there will be tons of smart people at all of them, and you’ll probably make friends at all of them.</p>