Consolation

Get out of Michigan. A broadening experience will be good for you and boost your confidence in the long term: it sounds as if you are reacting somewhat out of insecurity. When you get to college and start to know people, you will find that there are people of all backgrounds everywhere, but most especially at large, prestigious universities with good financial aid. Prestige IS important, it is NOT shallow, and it WILL continue to work for you after your first job. (Of course one can succeed without it, but it doesn't hurt and can only help.) Selecting a college based on the strength of specific sports teams makes no sense unless you play that sport and are recruited. All three of the schools in question have sufficient fan opportunities to satisfy most people who enjoy sports fandom.

My advice: go to Stanford.

lockn

Percent of student body that is Black, Hispanic, and Asian (Fall 2007):
Stanford: 9%, 11%, 24%
Duke: 10%, 9%, 19%
Michigan: 6%, 5%, 12%

Percent of students receiving Pell grant (according to USNews 2008):
Stanford: 13%
Michigan: 12%
Duke: 10%

Cuse0507

Duke and UNC don't really have a football rivalry; I think UNC has beat Duke 29 of the last 30 meetings or something like that.

Now, the Duke-UNC basketball rivalry is something else entirely and is generally considered to be one of the best rivalries, if not THE best rivalry, in college sports.

rjkofnovi

^^^^Nonsense. Nothing compares to college football rivalries in this country. The pageantry and dynamic cannot be beat. It isn't even close! Heck you can only get 15 to 20 K tops in an arena. Beside, there are so few college football games played a year, every one is important.

Cuse0507

But you can easily get 40 k people to storm Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill. :P

You ever watch any of the ESPN full circle events? Basically bigtime sports events where every single ESPN station is devoted to covering a different angle of the game...What was the first game they decided to cover? None other than the UNC-Duke basketball game...

Don't just take my word for it, though-

It is considered one of the most intense rivalries in all of sports: a poll conducted by ESPN in 2000 ranked the basketball rivalry as the third greatest North American sports rivalry of all-time, and Sports Illustrated on Campus named it the #1 "Hottest Rivalry" in college basketball and the #2 rivalry overall in its November 18, 2003 issue. The intensity of the rivalry is augmented by the proximity of the two universities, located only eight miles apart roughly along U.S. Highway 15-501, and the dissimilar funding structures of the schools, as North Carolina is a public university and Duke is a private university.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolin...93Duke_rivalry

rjkofnovi

That's because it was the only game of note in the middle of winter. This is not even debatable, nothing in this country compares with college football. Unfortunately the state of NC is pretty much lacking in big time college football schools.

Tyler09

A word of caution, the majority of black students at Stanford are not african americans, but first and second generation immigrants from Africa and the West Indies. They, as you may have experienced, are MUCH different culturally from African Americans. Additionally, many of the hispanic students are white hispanic students. This may not matter to you at all, it was just something I found as I explored the "diversity" of many elite schools.

As far as class goes, I think what the OP noticed was more culture than economic representation. On the west coast and to a greater extent at Duke, it's a cultural thing to dress up and be trendy and kind of flaunt your wealth. But in the midwest in general that's incredibly taboo.

The difference in prestige you'll find between the three will likely never affect your life in any way.

As someone who doesn't seem to LIKE stanford for a good amount of legitimate reasons, I wouldn't recommend it. And as a low income black student, I wouldn't recommend Duke, from my experiences with Duke. Though a black student from Duke or the NC area may be better equipped to comment.

Cuse0507

Apparently it is debatable-

[UNC-Duke] is considered one of the most intense rivalries in all of sports: a poll conducted by ESPN in 2000 ranked the basketball rivalry as the third greatest North American sports rivalry of all-time, and Sports Illustrated on Campus named it the #1 "Hottest Rivalry" in college basketball and the #2 rivalry overall in its November 18, 2003 issue.

rjkofnovi

^^^^^Yawn.

Cuse0507

Did I bore you by bringing facts into this? I can send over some UNC-Duke game tapes to wake you up if you'd like...

juillet

Lacrosse is AWESOME. If I could change my past I would go to a preppy large university somewhere I could play intramural lacrosse.

Really, you can't go wrong! Congratulations! You don't sound very into Stanford; it seems like the only reason you are holding onto it is because it's very prestigious and you think you'd feel dumb for turning it down. Go ahead and turn them down. You obviously don't want to go, and although I don't think you'd be miserable there, you shouldn't shoehorn yourself into a place just because it has a good reputation.

That leaves you with Michigan and Duke. (Ignore the "Stanford gets you farther" -- it doesn't necessarily.)

Michigan may have a smaller percentage of black students at the school, but that still means over 1500 black students as opposed to 650 at Duke and Stanford. And Tyler09 is right about the black students at top schools -- they are more often first and second-generation immigrants. (There have been several articles examining this.)

I think the rivalry issue depends on what sport you like better. That said, I gotta agree that football rivalry is MUCH MORE FUN than basketball rivalry, although Duke-UNC basketball can get pretty fierce.

rjkofnovi

LOL. Few outside of NC could care less about these games. I understand how important the series is with the two schools so close together, but it's not a football setting. You just can't understand it if you've never been around it. Go to Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina or Georgia, states that adjoin NC. Ask anyone what's the biggest collegiate sporting event in their state. I can assure you that it won't be a basketball game mentioned. Those are just states nearby mind you.

tenisghs

Tyler09 and juilliet have made some excellent points about race and culture. One of the reasons why I did not apply to Northeast schools was because there are fewer (native) African-American students. The OP should seriously look into the cultural aspects on the college campuses. I think the OP should pick Michigan or Duke.

Cuse0507

Believe me, I've been to plenty of college football games and I love the atmosphere. I have no shame in admitting that I like football more than basketball. However, there is no denying that the Carolina-Duke basketball rivalry is one of the best rivalries in all of sports. You say no one cares about it outside of the state of North Carolina, which isn't true at all. Anyone who cares about college basketball (ie a heck of a lot of people) cares about the UNC-Duke rivalry, which is why it was voted the third best rivalry by ESPN viewers and the second best rivalry in all of college sports by SI.

I've experienced plenty of college football games; now you need to come to North Carolina in February and experience a UNC-Duke game (if you are fortunate enough to get seats).

MITpwnsnoobs69

first off, the Duke-UNC rivalry is the greatest in all of collegiate sports if not sports in general. it is only rivaled by the Michigan-OSU football rivalry.

as for your conundrum, i'd say Stanford is the clear choice. IMO Stanford is the best school in the country in terms of offering the quintessential collegiate experience along with top shelf academics. as for the environment, stanford is unparalleled. palo alto is a very affluent area so be sure to bring $$$$. it's beautiful california sunshine every day.

Duke would be the next best choice. it also offers the perfect mix of academic prowess and social interaction. plus, duke basketball>>>>>Michigan football. sure, durham pales in comparison to ann arbor but there's plenty to do on campus and in chapel hill.

michigan is extremely overrated for undergraduate experience. imo stay away from public schools for undergraduate education (and maybe even graduate for that matter) because they're just too big. you're seriously just a number to them once you get there. the only interest they will take in you is making sure you pay tuition. plus michigan degrees are a dime a dozen and thus watered-down. wow you graduated from michigan....hey look so did 100000000 other people....

btw, how does one go about getting tickets to the Duke-UNC game? don't they sell out like instantaneously? you just have to know someone i guess, huh?