<p>I love Davidson, but I got in off of the waitlist at Duke which I like just as much and I don’t know what to do!! Help!!!</p>
<p>I take it you’ve visited both schools. What do you plan on majoring in? Is the financial aid situation different at either school? What kind of social scene do you like? Does Duke’s location in Durham bother you? Do you mind taking buses across campus to get around rather than walking for 10-15 minutes?</p>
<p>I would choose Davidson because I believe the student body is more down-to-earth and that the campus is vastly superior.</p>
<p>I don’t usually condone picking schools on a prestige basis but…if you love two schools equally, and the financial situation is similar, just use prestige as the tie-breaker. That would be Duke.</p>
<p>If you have to be on the waitlist for duke, and you’ve already been directly admitted to davidson, and you love me both equally, i’d say davidson. that relieves and waitlist stresses you could have.</p>
<p>Definitely Davidson</p>
<p>Why? I think Duke is a lot better.</p>
<p>he’s off the waitlist. There’s no more stress in choosing Duke than in choosing Davidson. Academically, Duke is a bit stronger. Prestige wise, Duke is stronger. If you love both schools equally, as you said, I don’t see what reason you would have to pick Davidson over Duke.</p>
<p>Academics are better chosen based on the anticipated programs. Duke is not necessarily an academically superior school to Davidson (as a person who knows professors from both, students from both, and has attended classes at both).</p>
<p>I agree with vertigofrog about using prestige as a tie breaker, because NO ONE in az (including my guidance counselor) has heard of Davidson, which, if I don’t end up going to graduate school is a big downside. But, on the other hand, Duke’s location does bother me a bit and I did like the down-to-earthness of Davidson students. On the other hand, I feel like if I hadn’t been waitlisted at Duke, I would have chosen Duke hands down. Basically, I’m completely stuck.</p>
<p>I agree with the posters who said that if elements are equal in your decision-making process, then the prestige or name recognition of the college or university should be the decider. With this in mind, Duke should be chosen over Davidson.</p>
<p>I know a family who sent two kids to Duke and one to Davidson. The Mom says that the Davidson grad had an education and an experience that the siblings at Duke couldn’t touch.</p>
<p>i still say davidson. who wants to mess with the waitlisting stress when you’ve already been accepted to a great school? Besides that, worse comes to worst you could try to transfer if you absolutely hate it.</p>
<p>Duke has about a 3% transfer rate…and why is there stress involved? the OP got in off the waitlist, no stress at all, just accept the place in Duke’s class and thats all the OP has to do.</p>
<p>I would say Duke in this situation, but the difference is not as great as some make it out to be.</p>
<p>Well Davidson and Duke are different in a lot of key ways. Because Davidson is a small LAC, there’s a lot more focus on undergraduate research (no grad students to give the research jobs to), personal interaction between professor and student, and campus wide community. Duke is going to have a different feel in those respects. I’m sure you could get an amazing education at both institutions, assuming you do well in a big environment. I personally have chosen to attend Davidson (not over Duke, but over larger schools) because I feel like I will be able to challenge myself most in a close environment where my teachers will know me well, be personally invested in my education and be pushing me to succeed. That said - that’s not for everyone.</p>
<p>I don’t think prestige is an issue you. When it comes to grad school, I’d say they’re looked at equally. Many more people will have heard of Duke, but that case applies for many LAC’s and bigger universities. For example, tons of people haven’t heard of Williams, but they know all about the large state schools and sports power houses. So yeah - I wouldn’t worry about Davidson not being pretigious enough. Assuming you’re planning on grad school, you’ll get somewhere great from both of those schools.</p>
<p>I’m a Duke student, live ~15 minutes from Davidson, and am doing a Davidson study abroad program this summer, so here’s my $0.02. I strongly disagree that the OP should choose Duke simply because it’s more prestigious. Although they’re more similar than different, there are several things that set them apart.</p>
<p>1) Location- Duke is in Durham. While not as sketchy as some posters would have you believe, Durham is not the best place to be for friendly student-town relations. Chapel Hill is a short ride away via the Robertson bus or car, and Raleigh isn’t too far. Nonetheless, the surrounding area doesn’t have much to offer. Davidson is in a small, quiet town that’s very college student friendly. In fact, one of my friends told me people baked cookies for the Davidson students during exam week! Charlotte is ~15-20 minutes away, and the area around Davidson is exploding with development. </p>
<p>2) Honor Code- Duke students are generally trustworthy people. I’ve seen laptops and textbooks left unattended in the library and not touched. However, the Honor Code at Davidson is taken very seriously. Bicycles are left around campus for students to use, and exams can be taken on your own time.</p>
<p>3) Size- The size of the student bodies is misleading when comparing class sizes. Although much larger, Duke’s classes match Davidson’s in size. My largest classes have 30 or so students, and my smallest had 4. I know all of my professors well, have had lunch or dinner with several of them, and have done independent research with a renowned professor. Duke can offer resources that Davidson can’t. Renowned medical, environment, divinity, business, and public policy graduate programs are great resources for undergrads, many of whom actively pursue research with professors in these fields. The brand new French Science Center, Nasher Museum, and CIEMAS are awesome for Duke students. To increase opportunities even more, Duke has an inter-institutional agreement with UNC Chapel Hill that allows students to take one course per semester there. Davidson definitely has great facilities for a LAC, but many Davidson students have to mooch off other colleges for specialized subjects (like studying at the Duke marine lab).</p>
<p>4) Housing- Duke freshmen are housed on East campus, which fosters an excellent sense of community. Freshmen have their own library, dining hall, gym, etc. Davidson students, on the other hand, are mixed on campus. A nice thing about Davidson is the free laundry, if you’re lazy.</p>
<p>5) Financial Aid- Duke has made tremendous strides to improve financial aid, but Davidson has gone loan free.</p>
<p>easier to transfer to Davidson than to Duke</p>
<p>What in the world is Davidson? Is that like a college or something? Duke is the #8 school in the country buddy, so if you have any hopes of making money when you grow up, then I suggest you go to Duke.</p>
<p>I wasn’t advocating Duke like a prestige-whore. I was just commenting that since the OP claimed to love both schools equally (I assumed that included location, style, atmosphere etc…) that it was a stalemate. If you ever need to decide between two schools and it is truly a stalemate, I think it’s safe to say: go with prestige.</p>
<p>Duke is a better “University” than Davidson is a “LAC” - and is consistent with USNWR rankings (Duke #8 University vs. Davidson #10 LAC). </p>
<p>Class size is actually very similar (71% of classes with less than 20 students at Duke vs. 64% at Davidson; 5% of classes with over 50 student at Duke vs. 0% at Davidson). </p>
<p>Graduation rate is 93% at Duke vs. 87% at Davidson. </p>
<p>SATs are higher at Duke (1360-1540) vs. Davidson (1280-1440). </p>
<p>Other than the obvious University vs. LAC difference, Duke seems to win here…</p>
<p>I think it’s also important to note that both schools have nearly identical retention rates for their freshmen classes, at around 95%. The graduation rates for 4 and 6 years depend on the source, also. Some reputable sources have different figures than those SarahsDad cited. For instance, Princeton Review has these numbers. Davidson: 89%/91% (4/6) and Duke: 86%/92%.</p>
<p>Just goes to show that the schools are more statistically similar than they are different.</p>