<p>Are you pre-professional (premed, prelaw, preMBDA/MSF/etc)? Then either school is a fine choice, granted that you get good grades and excel in your respective standardized tests for graduate school. If you mess up there, then your school isn’t going to carry you into grad school. Both schools have strong alumni networks, and don’t let people convince you otherwise. Brown provides funding for students pursuing unpaid summer internships; I’m sure Duke has something comparable. Brown and Duke both receive on-campus recruiting for big finance firms, and students interested in pursuing positions at smaller boutique firms (which they really should, btw) can tap into the alumni networks to make that happen. Alumni aren’t going to sit around and sniff your ass to get you a job, so it’s your job to make sure that you as a person (not the diploma that you’ll ultimately receive) make that happen.</p>
<p>Interested in Academia/a PhD? Again, both schools have opportunities for student research and collaboration with professors, but those go to students that take the initiative to reach out to professors and stand out. I truly believe there is something for everyone if they’re willing to go out there and get it. Brown has awards and fellowships such as UTRAs, the Mellon Mays Fellowship, and the Royce fellowship, which ensure that students can get funding to do the research that moves them. I’m sure Duke has something comparable, but these are the things you should be looking at.</p>
<p>Not interested in any of the above? In that case, you should research what you’re most interested in and reach out to students that actually GO to these schools and hear about their experiences. Brown and Duke are both amazing schools that excel at attracting the smartest and the brightest. At this point, if most things are equal, I would consider visiting and seeing how much of a fit either school is for you. Ask students about their favorite professors/classes/extra-currics, and decide based on which one feels more like where you want to see yourself in 4 years. If you’re making the decision based on which one’s rank will push you further in terms of becoming a doctor/lawyer/celebrity/banker/whatever, then you’re going about deciding the wrong way and should reassess what you’re looking for in a university.</p>