<p>Right now I’m kind of in a difficult situation. I have to decide tomorrow between Swarthmore and Duke. I thought it’d be an easy choice since WSJ ranked Duke no.6 as a top feeder school, while Swarthmore was no.10. Also, I’ve visited both schools and though I liked both of them a lot, I definitely loved Duke more and feel it’ll be a better fit. I think I’d be relatively content at either institution though. Anyways, my concern right now is endowment per student and I found this interesting article from the Duke Alumni Magazine. Here is a major quote which I particularly found surprising:</p>
<p>“Income from the private diagnostic clinic helps support the research and educational mission of the [Duke] School of Medicine but does not directly benefit other segments of the university. Nevertheless, when compared to universities with academic medical centers, Dukes endowment per student lags other institutions: Stanford ($460,000), Yale ($660,000), and Washington University ($365,000). It is worth pointing out that the endowment owned by Dukes Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at June 30, 2000, $565 million, is substantially less than the endowments at a number of liberal-arts colleges with much smaller enrollments, including Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona, and Grinnell.”</p>
<p>I don’t know, please re-assure me that Duke is better academically for undergraduate students. I was really confused upon reading that article. I’m hoping that since it was dated in 2001, maybe the student endowment has increased by a lot, and if anyone has additional information regarding the present student endowment, that would be useful. Though I really love the school spirit and sports activities at Duke over Swarthmore, academics is definitely my first priority and I think the student endowment is a factor in financing a top-notch education.</p>
<p>Here’s the link to the site btw: <a href=“Duke Mag”>Duke Mag;
<p>Swarthmore did some seriously inspired investing at the right moment thirty years or so ago, and has a magnificent endowment. Being focused on endowment per student is a delay distraction when you are talking about Duke (3rd ranked in Resources) and Swarthmore. Being this detail oriented makes you a good student I am sure but it is getting in your way today. I think you are “off” if you are worried about their rankings re feeder schools (6 vs. 10). You have won the admissions game from some inspired work of your own, and now you need to lighten up and enjoy an outcome. But I sympathize about what if feels like to give up either school on the last day! It is so hard. My S is also sad about leaving other great choices behind. My S just enrolled in Duke, but I have a close friend who teaches at Swat, and believes in small LAC beginnings. Love their new Science building! Relax! You have two outstanding world-class admissions with two different societies to offer for four years-- but both of them will get you into an excellent graduate school. If you like working very intimately with your professors, go to Swarthmore. If you want more of a family atmosphere between faculty and students, go to Swarthmore and leave the larger school for the next phase in life. They have incredible numbers of PhD outcomes, and although the campus is less sports oriented, Philadelphia presents quite a lot of cultural and sports options and Durham is kind of draggy. However, your name Sportsmaniac would imply Duke would be an atmosphere that would be more fun for you. Fun does matter when you are working very hard! You have to place some serious consideration on maintaining your mental health and social growth…so I advise you to consider your social fit more than a number regarding endowments.<br>
What Duke has to offer in terms of more courses/paths, more variety in peers and friends, more sports, more campus-based events and a great teaching hospital nearby is also wonderful. So hard to choose when all options are golden, but my S just decided that he was not going to be any more reluctant to give up any of his top schools tomorrow or the next day so he made a decision. We had a mantra/goal this week (although we were pretty shaky on actually following through). Make a Decision Not a Scene on the last day. But for those of you that drive to the post office with two stamped envelopes and don’t know which one you will drop in the box…totally sympathize, could see this happening at our house, too…it is very hard to say goodbye to another wonderful school.<br>
Best wishes for your freshman year.</p>
<p>The difference between #6 and #10 in the feeder school ranking is negligeable. Similarly, the difference in endowment between Swat and Duke is probably not something worth basing your decision on.</p>
<p>What you should be thinking about is what type of education you want. Swarthmore will be extremely rigorous, and you will have tons of faculty-student interaction and support from the college. Duke will have more departments to choose among, and probably more stuff going on around campus that’s not academic. Swat is in PA, Duke is in the south.</p>
<p>Duke wrapped up a $2.4 billion fund-raising campaign last year so all the schools at Duke have significantly larger endowments than they did five years ago. </p>
<p>But I agree with the other posters that this issue shouldn’t be the basis of your decision.</p>
<p>LOL-Duke not having enough money…The way Duke has been spending money recently makes me think Duke has a little too much money. Believe me, you are going to have PLENTY of resources. You sound like you want to go to Duke and that it’ll be a better fit–this is a really ridiculous thing to base your decision on. You won’t sacrifice anything by coming to Duke–don’t worry about it!</p>
<p>ah, the relief…I just mailed in my deposit and yes, I am going to Duke. Class of '09 bebe! lol. Yea, I think I was being a bit over zealous trying to base my decision on student endowment. It was just a bit hard making this decision I guess cause my parents were kind of pressuring me to pick Swat since it was closer to home. But whatever, they’ve settled down now and agree that Duke has many more advantages over Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Congratulations, Sportsmaniac! Oh, and thanks to Duke student incollege88 for his help and insights on life at Duke while my S was deliberating. People who “host” students and answer questions fully about their schools can change outcomes, and are appreciated.</p>