<p>Going to Duke over U of A will give you a leg up for medical school. Duke’s top 10 medical school takes many from undergrad each year (typically more than any school). Also, Duke has a terrific med school placement rate and advising (plus many research opportunities). While some on CC insist that where you go to undergrad plays little role in med school admissions, a frequent CC poster (forget his name) who serves on the Hopkins med school admissions committee, regularly debunks this and says where you went to undergrad plays a big role in admissions at Hopkins med.</p>
<p>Another way to think of it is one of your best options for med school is typically your in-state school, here U of A. I suspect almost every pre-med at U of A applies to U of A for med school and so you have to really stand out among your peers to make it. How many Duke undergrad applications do you think U of A gets. My guess not many and that just by going to Duke you will stand out to U of A assuming a decent undergrad record.</p>