bluedog

haha. I think the posts of dcircle and bluecoralxp just prove that anybody can choose selective rankings/provide sources that make Brown or Duke look better. The truth of the matter is that both schools provide great preparation for med school, they are both prestigious, and overwhelmingly people enjoy attending both schools. It's all about fit. Neither school is clearly stronger than the other (as a whole), although one may be stronger in a particular field. It's funny that dcircle linked to a Princeton Review "Dream schools" list and only included the information that presented Brown as stronger. On the same page, it lists Duke as #7 and Brown as #10 among dream schools for parents. I'm not saying that is more important, just proving my point that using selective evidence to support your assertion is misleading. Also, that poll is incredibly stupid, in my opinion. NYU was #1 for 3 consecutive years?!? Where was the poll taken? NYC?

benjaminx

Brown is always weak in international rankings because they focus mainly on research and the quality of the grad schools. For undergrad, though, there's no question that Brown is better. The professors are all dedicated to undergraduate education, while other places advertise the number of Nobel Laureates they have on the faculty while neglecting to mention how focused on research they are and little contact you'll have with them in your four years there.

Rister_Chutophs

How appealing is the Open Curriculum to you?
Do you want a lot of school spirit and college sports?

You should ask yourself such questions - makes more sense than comparing rankings (I absolutely agree with bluedog).

incollege88

this sort of comparison is so silly. i have plenty of friends at brown, have visited it many times, and by and large don't feel like i'm at a very different place from duke at all. duke has more money, brown is older. that's the biggest difference i see, along with duke's more rigid (read: harder) academic structure and brown's lack there of. my friends at brown have great profs and bad profs, just like i have had great profs and bad profs. honestly, i think i have had a lot more interaction with professors here than they have there but we're talking about a sample size of like 10. the point is, don't listen to these crazy people droning on about minute differences and check out the schools yourself. stop focusing on comparing them on a general, unhelpful level (i.e. prestige) and think about where you'd rather be for the next four years and what specific opportunities there are at either place (for example, the duke lemur center, duke hospital, duke marine lab, etc. for duke). you cannot go wrong with this decision...

collegeboy13536

im choosing duke! sorta spur of the moment decision it just feels right

elpope

everybody saying duke is so much better than brown for premed is just being ridiculous; the two schools are exactly the ****ing same in terms of academic prestige, and having a large medical school isn't going to give you a leg up on admissions (how do you think LAC grads do so well?). also, as someone from nc and going to brown, I can say that the biggest difference in social scene is basketball--although as a UNC fan I wish we had a team, the parties here vs Duke are almost exactly the same in nature (that is to say, neither compare to a state school and actually largely attract similar personalities). you'll honestly have a similar social experience at either, although at Duke there's just a larger greek scene. brown has more performing arts types for sure, and is probably somewhat more liberal, but nobody takes the real nutjobs seriously and they're probably made fun of more than any other group

incollege88

nice job collegeboy--you won't regret it!

foreverec

I just visited both and i'm choosing duke!!! thanks for all of your input.

jct30

smart choice! I love both colleges - I really do - but I think Duke has a slight edge on Brown.

bluestar7

i chose duke over brown.
i'm about to graduate from duke, and cannot imagine life had i gone to brown.
as for whoever mentioned brown having more "prestige" because of its ivy league name and cited a sister who attended the lse abroad, and a chance that brown students could get into graduate programs easier because of an ivy name -- that's not true. i have plenty of duke friends who studied abroad at the lse (and oxford) and when i was making my decision, a lot of objective sources (guidance counselors, primarily -- not boards like this) were telling me the opposite about grad school placement. brown might be affiliated with the ivy league (which, let's face it, is a football conference and a not very exciting one at that -- that's not to say that duke's good at football, but at least acc/d-1 is fun), but because of their academic "structure" and concentrations and lack of requirements, very often it puts you in a worse position when applying to anything. (and by worse i mean "not as amazing")

you need to be a certain type of person to thrive at brown academically, and honestly, i think i'm really well fit for that environment (even though, i run counter to their theory -- that their students are smart and inquisitive enough to take courses across the disciplines, so they will, and i would've avoided anything sciencey or hard math) and could've been successful, i just wasn't feeling it. and i didn't think the student body was right for me. i had a lot of people telling me to look at brown, not too many telling me to look at duke, but when i got in, everyone looked at me like i was insane for even still considering brown given the two choices.

Mondo

^Haha, even though Brown is an Ivy, Duke has more laymen prestige, even in the Northeast.

I remembered being told how random college admissions must be since I got into Duke but not Brown.

thethoughtprocess

Duke > Brown socially, in terms of post-graduation placement, in terms of admissions to top professional schools, etc.

If you are interested in anything related to business, political science, and want to party in college than Duke is where its at. Brown is really artsy, not that pre-professional, a lot of the kids are weird and probably have trouble adapting to the real world. I chose Duke over Brown so obviously I'm biased.

ClaySoul

I'm commenting on this thread not for my own benefit, or to try to argue with the ill informed, but to perhaps give those actually making a decision perspective

I'm not going to comment on the academic quality of Duke, because I haven't been there. But what I can say is that Brown's is exceptional, and that those at Duke simply cannot claim the academics at Duke to be harder or better because they have not attended. Likewise, I cannot say that Duke's are worse.

The same applies to the social scene. The quality of a social scene is not measured by how many parties, but the kind of parties and if they fit you. I used to attend Tulane, which was dominated by bar drinking, clubs, and preppy frat parties, the latter of which is not my scene whatsoever. Thus, I think Brown's scene of funky bars, clubs, and house and co-ed frat parties far more enjoyable. I also find there to be a much better balance of academics and partying in people's priorities and interests.

The claim that Brown's open curriculum makes it easier, or that Duke's requirements make it harder is utterly baseless. Brown's open curriculum exists so that students can craft their own education and explore. I know neuroscience and art majors. I know english majors taking multivariable calculus. And the s/nc system is not a cop-out, it is to enable people to explore with a focus on learning and not on GPA. Same with the ability to drop. It's a nice thing to have everyone in your class want to be there.

Conclusion? Both schools are great, but different. Don't give me this crap about one being superior to the other because different does not mean lesser or bad, just, different. So pick the one that fits you.