UCLA or a private school?

Colleges & Universities University of California - Los Angeles
1

<p>Hi all, I’m debating between Duke and UCLA at the moment. My main concern is which school offers a more welcoming and kind atmosphere–coming from SoCal, I’m tempted to go to UCLA because I’ve heard great things about the student body and feel that I’d be in my comfort zone if I attended UCLA.
However, Duke is also known to be very school-spirited and the people there have the sense of “Southern hospitality,” but I’ve also heard Duke might be elitist, fratty, and a preppy school. </p>

<p>Can anyone give me insight on a typical UCLA student, the party scene at UCLA (is it overly dominated by greek life?), and perhaps give me some guidance if I’m interested in a pre-med track? I’m leaning towards Duke because of its academics and small class size, but have a very good impression of UCLA’s student body as well.</p>

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<p>Duke would be the best option for premed track. Don’t trust rumors about Duke nor UCLA, but if still conflicted, try to visit both schools to see which you prefer overall. UCLA is not overly dominated by Greek life, it’s a diverse community and thus you have many other social scenes. The only reason not to go to Duke would be cost. Unless Duke is going to leave a giant hole in your wallet, its best not to go as that’s what med school is suppose to do, not undergrad. (It’s known to be harder to take out loans for med school if you have a substantial amount of preexisting loans.)</p>