Harvard vs Duke AB

Fifty
Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:07:37 +0000

Harvard’s lead in Rhodes scholars was established over a 110 year period while Duke and other similar institutions have been strongly pushing academics for a much shorter time period.

True. Harvard got a head start on everybody else. It is no coincidence that the oldest university in the United States is also the one with the largest endowment and several other advantages.

The first Harvard student to win a Rhodes did so in 1904. The first from Duke was in 1917. If we include only the twenty-first century, Duke has 13 Rhodes and Harvard has 54.
http://www.rhodesscholar.org/winners/winning-institutions/

The Nobel Prize numbers I quoted include only those who attended Duke or Harvard as students. You are correct in saying that most of them will not be on staff as faculty at either Duke or Harvard. I quoted the numbers only to demonstrate that past members of the student bodies have gone on to great things.

Duke has risen remarkably over the past fifty years from a regional institution to an important national institution. Nowadays it is an excellent university that attracts an excellent student body.

Now that we know that the OP’s friend comes from an affluent family, chances are that an AB Duke Scholarship would make Duke significantly less expensive than Harvard. I wish him the best of luck with the interview weekend.