Notre Dame or Duke... ONE WEEK to decide!

BillyMc
Fri, 06 May 2011 22:13:25 +0000

I don’t like annoying grade deflation.

The average science major GPA is lower than the average general GPA at Notre Dame, from what I’ve been told. That’s what one would expect, though. Don’t know about Duke.



I don’t like a cut-throat academic atmosphere.

A friend who’s finishing up at Notre Dame now told me that the academic atmosphere is really cooperative and helpful and that from what he’s seen, students usually don’t feel the need to compete in a unfriendly way.



I love going nuts for sports events.

If you like going nuts for football more, then Notre Dame will be better for this. If you like going nuts for basketball more, then Duke will be better for this. Notre Dame has a slew of other sports, too, as I’m sure Duke does.



I want to have free time away from academics, but I’m willing to study hard, too.

I hear Notre Dame described as “work hard, play hard” way too often for it to not be true.



I want to have access to impressive research/internships.

Not sure about Duke, but Notre Dame has great undergraduate research:[url=http://undergradresearch.nd.edu/6-profiles/index.html]UR@ND[/url]

The bar at the top allows you to read specific examples of undergraduate research, including scientific things like cellular regeneration, growing a water-stable and smooth ion-specific SAM (self-assembled monolayer) on a gallium nitride surface, synthesizing alkenes using silver carbonate via the Wittig Reaction in order to find a more effective intermediate for base-sensitive Wittig substrates, studying the giant monopole resonance of silicon in order to determine the equation of state of nuclear matter, and the effects of certain chemotherapy drugs. They’re really interesting to read (as are many non-science ones).



And most importantly, though extremely subjective, I want to feel at home at college.

Students love Notre Dame, as evidenced by the tight-knit community, unique campus culture, high yield, very high alumni-giving rate, strongest alumni network, and combination religious/sporting/academic community.