<p>Yes, if you live near the Triangle (and it seems like you might), visit both schools several times, arrange to sit in on some classes, to spend a night or two in dorms, to “shadow” an undergraduate or two for a day, to grab a meal in the union with a random table of students, to go by the coffee shops in the library for a brief conversation, and to work out in one or more of the student gyms. These activities – and many others much like them in their “routine” nature – will permit you to gain a true appreciation for the "cultures " of these two excellent universities and how you would likely “fit.”. I know Duke will welcome this (I don’t know what UNC-CH’s policy is). You can arrange for such things through high school friends and classmates, now students at Duke, or more formally through Undergraduate Admissions (the student route is probably easier and better). </p>
<p>I believe this sort of pervasive, informal exploration is CRITICAL to making the best decision FOR YOU. After all, they are both fine schools (I’ll argue that Duke is decidedly superior in several key areas, but – to be completely fair – UNC is also excellent). What is vital is YOUR “cultural fit,” not rankings, or “prestige,” or cost (if both reach an acceptable level of affordability), or uber academics (at the Bachelor’s-level, few undergraduates will exhaust either schools’ resources), and so forth. How do you feel about being part of this campus community, what are its aggregate values, what is the academic, the intellectual and the social environment like, how open and welcoming are the students and the faculty, and numerous similar matters? These are VERY important decision metrics. </p>