<p>well Chicago is an awesome city… I really love its midwestern vibe so I can’t really discourage you from the place but lets talk about the areas around Duke.</p>
<p>First of all… to consider Duke vs NU you don’t have to just consider Durham… Chapel Hill which is the location of UNC and a great college town is easy to get to from Duke (there is even a Bus that shuttles between the two). Raleigh is also not that far away. You don’t get the big city aspect here, but Durham and Chapel Hill have a lot of different things to offer that could keep you interested. In Rolling Stone’s ranking of college towns for music Durham/Chapel Hill was number 2 on the list which illustrates the fact that there is an abundance of things to do. </p>
<p>I mean you really need to just check it out for yourself to totally understand… but there is enough to do and experience. You get the southern vibe in a relatively enlightened community (RTP- Research Triangle Park has the higest per capita PhD rate in the country!.. I think I just said this in another thread…)</p>