<p>I can only speak for Duke and Yale here.</p>
<p>As you can tell by my location, I chose Yale over Duke. I did like Duke a whole lot, and I would have been perfectly happy there, but the scales were tipped in Yale’s favor for me. Here’s why:</p>
<p>Yale’s community seems to be a lot more tight-knit as a whole. I saw a whole lot more interaction between different races at Yale than at Duke. There was so much diversity within the cultural groups even though they were geared towards a specific ethnicity, the lunch tables were very rarely composed of one race, the parties at the cultural houses were extremely diverse instead of the monoracial parties I went to at Duke, etc. I think that’s a product of the common spirit at Yale. Yale also does have a great social scene. The residential colleges give a lot of space in the suites for parties/get togethers and also larger spaces for bigger events. There are also frat parties, Toad’s, the cultural houses, etc. And the New York social scene is only an hour and ~15 minutes away (only $28 roundtrip) if you get bored of Yale one weekend. You’ll probably find more super wild and crazy parties at Duke (there’s a stronger Greek presence, if you’re into that), but Yalies do party pretty hard too. Yale doesn’t have a super basketball team like Duke, but intramural sports are really big (I’m really into them), and the hockey team was on top for a while. Hockey isn’t as big as basketball in American popular culture, but if Yale’s hockey team continues its success, I can see a big sports-based spirit forming there too. But Yale has plenty of spirit already without huge DI sports.</p>
<p>Yale also seems to pamper its students more. The huge endowment definitely helps. The residential colleges definitely beat Duke housing, and there’s a ridiculous amount of funding easily available at Yale for activities, study abroad, etc. The amount of people who have gotten to go abroad totally on Yale’s dime is crazy. That was definitely a big draw for me. The numerous advisors available are also a part of the pampering. As for premed (I’m also looking into going into that field), Yale has like a 95% med school placement rate, and Yale’s science programs are really strong and only getting stronger. If you go by graduate school rankings (which is the best I can find), Yale is stronger in the sciences. Yale is also known for its undergraduate focus, so you won’t be stuck with TAs. Even in labs, the professor is there to supervise/help out. Research is also extremely easy to get into.</p>
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<p>I’d say Durham isn’t any better than New Haven. Neither are the prettiest or safest of cities, but at least New Haven has some legitimately amazing food, and New York and Boston are only two hours away (actually much less for New York). Durham just has Raleigh, which isn’t that amazing, and there’s no nearby city that can match New York/Boston. </p>
<p>So, that’s basically why I went for Yale. I tried to give you a legitimate answer instead of just going on prestige. Sorry for the tl;dr. You have some great choices, so I’m sure you’ll be happy wherever you choose.</p>