foreverec

Trying to make a decision between them. how are they for pre-med in terms of both academics and social atmostphere?

CNI

ummmm....
pre-med
Duke > Brown

Academics-
Duke = Brown

Social atmosphere

Duke >> Brown

Mondo

Duke, much more social than Brown!
I guess it depends on whether you are artsy, preppy, or nerdy.
Brown is better for artsy people BUT Duke is better for preppy and nerdy people.

Madboy121

Ok. I feel that I am a very credible source for Brown University info, considering I've been going to a Nursery-12th grade RI private school that's literally a block away from Brown's campus since 1996. It's scituated right on the east side of Providence, and a lot of my friends are currently Brown students.

My college counseler and parents both wondered why I didn't want to go to Brown, and why I applied ED to Duke instead. There were several factors involved:

1) Brown is so liberal I find it sickening. They're so worried about being politically correct and needing to be so open-minded that their brains are literally pouring out.

2) Duke's campus is by far, BY beter. Brown's urban setting on the east side of Providence may seem nice, but it gets old fast. Plus the campus is really scattered.

3) Academics are highly overrated. Duke's pre-med is much better.

4) Would you rather be cheering at a Duke basketball game or a Brown basketball game? Nuff said.

Anyway, as someone who grew up right next to Brown, I say GO TO DUKE!

leejwwc

I had the same choice 3 years ago and chose Duke. Look at santabarbara's recent thread "please help, need advice...need to be convinced to come to Duke somehow!!" where I posted some of my insights on the Duke premed experience.

Brown and Duke are good schools for different reasons. For research opportunities, Duke wins hands-down (that is how I made my choice). I hesitate to comment on other areas (course difficulty, preparation, clinical, and volunteering opportunities, etc.) because I do not know enough.

collegeboy13536

im in the SAME position. brown or duke..duke or brown. i don't know..my sister went to brown SHE LOVED IT. she even got to study abroad to one of the top econ schools in the world (LSE)...brown has the ivy league name - that might help for good grad schools. but duke is so good too!!!!

bacardi_limon

Duke is better than Brown hands down.

More prestige, stronger academics, cooler people, hotter girls, more school spirit, better athletics, prettier campus, etc. etc.

collegeboy13536

^^^ brown is part of the ivy league - it has a lot of prestige. it is the 7th oldest college in the US. saying duke has MORE prestige is a stretch - saying they are about the same for prestige is a little better.

incollege88

Don't worry, you can study at LSE here if you want (or Oxford, or really wherever...and Duke has many great programs of its own too) so I wouldn't really place too much stress on that factor. Brown is a great school but Duke is more challenging (either a good or bad trait, depending on your personality) and has much greater resources, especially if you are interested in econ/sciences/engineering/medicine. Visit both schools but you can't really go wrong. My vote is for Duke but I am obviously biased--I would definitely choose Duke over Brown if I were going through the process again with the info I have now.

bluedog

Duke's workload is much harder than Brown - but also more fun socially. Brown is the only school in the country I have ever heard of where there is virtually no curriculum requirements. It is absolutely ridiculous. Furthermore, I've heard that if you're about to fail a course before you take the final, you can just drop it and it will be like it never happened....wahhh? Brown is super super liberal, too, so don't know if you want that or not. I'd agree that if you're more of an artsy, hippie-type person, Brown would be a better fit. If you're more of a jock/sports fanatic, Duke is a much better fit. And other stereotypes can choose either....haha. I'd choose Duke, but I'm biased. And, yes, I know people who studied abroad at LSE from Duke.

Mondo

Brown.. easier workload and worse social life??

Damn, that's something Brown may want to work on.

dcircle

i'm not sure how others are measuring pre-med quality but brown places more students into their top choice medical schools than duke by a signigicant margin
(see "life after brown" Brown Admission: Facts & Figures --while brown ranks in the top five in the country, duke does not)

given the choice between duke and brown, the overwhelming majority of people chose brown
SSRN-A Revealed Preference Ranking of U.S. Colleges and Universities by Christopher Avery, Mark Glickman, Caroline Hoxby, Andrew Metrick

claims about social life are baseless. brown ranks significantly higher than duke for "happiest students" according to the princeton review
Top 10 Schools with the Happiest Students - MSN Encarta

brown was recently named among the top "dream colleges" for 2008, while duke did not make the cut for students
Princeton Review's College Hopes & Worries 2008 Survey Reports Top 10 Dream Colleges of Student Applicants and of Parents

tetrisfan

The social scenes are different. If tons of crazy frat parties, tailgating and alcohol are your thing, then Duke wins hands down. If you're more a quirky, artsy person, Brown has more people like you. Academics and prestige are equal, those don't need to be debated about.

Madboy121

Actually, tetrisfan, that's a misconception. I know a lot of Brown students, so I know for a fact that there's a drinking scene at Brown. Providence gets boring.

bluecoralxp

you've got to be kidding me dcircle. No where on that link does it say Brown is better than Duke in pre-med, and they are not. Duke sends nearly 90% of their students to medical school, an extremely high number rivaled by few colleges. Also, Brown does not have a world-class medical center on campus with unbelievable research and volunteer opportunities for students. And just because Brown is an ivy league school means absolutely nothing, Brown is ranked 14th on the US News rankings as compared to 8th for Duke. The reason why more people may choose Brown over Duke is because they believe that because its an ivy league school its somehow better, when being ivy does not mean its better (look at Duke and WashU for example, both rated higher). The rigor, the opportunities, the social life, and of course the pre-med is much better at Duke. I'm not saying Brown is a lesser school, but to say its better than Duke is ridiculous. Furthermore, look at international rankings for colleges and you'll see Duke is ranked 13th and compared to...32 for Brown University. QS Top Universities: Top 400 universities in the THES - QS World University Rankings 2007