I am a rising Senior getting ready to apply to college. I previously made a ChanceMe post about my prospective colleges and got very good advice.
I like to call this the “Greatest Decision in my Life.” I’ve been deliberating with myself and others about which University I should apply to in terms of ED or EA. Both have advantages and disadvantages, yet both programs are binding.
Georgetown: Pros:
I’ve met with their History Professor and I love their History Program, the Walsh SFS has the exact Major I’d like to do, and they have a relatively strong History department
Beautiful campus, good size, good student population
Way higher RA acceptance rate than Duke,
More of a focused Social Science/Humanities school
Location, DC is an amazing city, and it’s next to the French Embassy (huge plus for me) Cons:
EA acceptance rate is lower than their Regular, and lower than Duke’s ED acceptance rate
Not as highly ranked, campus issues, food issues
Very strange application portal
Not a single person from my HS has gotten in to/went to Georgetown in the past 4 years save for one student athlete
Duke: Pros:
Well known, highly ranked, rigorous program
Relatively strong staff in the History department
Absolutely stunning campus, huge campus, close by (in-state for me)
Wonderful student life, I have HS alum who go there, so I’d know some people
I would get a very strong degree upon graduation (in terms of applying to Graduate school) Cons:
I’m a UNC Fan (trivial, but it matters)
Duke neglects its history department (located on the relatively irrelevant campus)
Bad location, while Durham is nice, there are few opportunities for what I want to do
Both schools have their advantages. Personally, I lean more towards Georgetown, but I haven’t had the opportunity to reach out to Duke to hear their side, so I’m a bit bias. I’d love to hear your input based on what you believe would be best for me, and I can link a previous post about my accolades/application if needed.
It seems like your Georgetown cons are mostly trivial things (ie the application portal), while the history program at Duke seems like a huge con if that’s what you want to study. Also, Georgetown’s EA shouldn’t be binding, so you could always do that and then apply RD to Duke if you really wanted to!
Georgetown doesn’t deny EA students so if that’s your top choice apply EA (I agree with other posters that it sounds like you prefer Georgetown.) Worst case is a deferral, and your app will get another look in RD. Is Georgetown affordable?
Not denying any early applicants means that the school gives applicants less information than it could – those who are (in the school’s point of view) clear rejects do not get to know that so that they can move on.
You included your test scores, but not your GPA. What is your UW GPA?
Edit: I found it in your previous thread. However, in that thread (which you started 30 days ago), you said your SAT was 1520 and ACT was 33. Is your GPA still 3.97?
ED/REA acceptance rates are often inflated. I agree that they can’t be gamed. I would ED/EA to your favorite school, assuming it is affordable. Sounds like Georgetown is your favorite.
My super scored SAT is a 1530 and my super scored ACT is a 34. but, that doesn’t matter to Georgetown since they look at all of your scores. My UW GPA is still a 3.97, and my weighted GPA is a 4.68
Duke has some amazing professors in their History department. But alas, its a huge red flag that they include the department on their East Campus - the relatively obscure and irrelevant campus. Georgetown’s History Department is in the SFS building – the center of the campus. Its trivial but it matters.
Perhaps, but maybe Duke’s ED AR is slightly higher? I am a very strong applicant when it comes to applying as a History major, but my application in general is not as strong as other applicants in regards to test scores, gpa, background, etc.
Just a general comment, I don’t want to mention anyone since this is not a direct reply, but for those of you who said that Georgetown is my favorite, I have the opportunity to send an email or two to the director of Duke (I called their history department a few nights ago and one of the secretaries gave me their email so I can message the director.) Do any of you have any ideas of some questions I should ask the History Department at Duke to maybe even out the field a little bit? Or some questions that you believe I should ask that would be important to me that I might overshoot?
Most of my questions will be general about admissions, academics, and what the program offers for European Studies (what I plan to go into)
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