<p>"Both are great schools but,
Nashville > Durham.
Vandy Girls > Duke Girls
Vanderbilt Parties > Duke Parties</p>
<p>Basically:
Vandy = Zach Morris.
Duke = Screech."</p>
<p>Ouch. Clearly you attend Vandy so your answer might be slightly biased 
I’d have to say that Vandy has a lot more Southerners and feels like much more of a southern school than Duke, which you may like or dislike. For example, at Vandy, lots of guys wear shirts and ties to football games, while many girls wear flower dresses (at least, this is what occurred ~5 yrs ago, it might be shifting a bit). At Duke, you would never see that happen. To back this up, according to the admissions site, Vandy’s student body is 46% from the South, while Duke’s is 34%, but the schools might define “South” differently. Duke gives a state-by-state breakdown (e.g. Texas and Kentucky are are considered Southern, but I can’t find a similiar thing at Vandy).</p>
<p>RE: TheOC89’s assertions. I’d agree Nashville > Durham. Although Durham, Chapel Hill + Raleigh is better than you’d expect. Vandy Girls > Duke Girls is debatable. If you like the Southern belles with blonde hair and blue eyes, then yes, Vandy wins hands down. Duke is a much more diverse. Vandy is ~23% minorities,[Admissions:</a> Vanderbilt University](<a href=“http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Admissions/fastFacts.php#Profile]Admissions:”>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Admissions/fastFacts.php#Profile) while Duke is ~43%.[Duke</a> University Admissions: Class of 2011 Profile](<a href=“http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2011profile.asp]Duke”>http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2011profile.asp) Big difference. Duke also is very Jewish (although no official figures are given, people estimate ~10-15%), while Vanderbilt has been actively recruiting Jews for a while… Duke girls also are pretty attractive overall, and I honestly have seen only one obese female in my four years. Duke is a very athletic campus and people work out a lot…and care about their looks…some people think others care too much.</p>
<p>I’ve never been to Vandy parties, so I can’t really talk about that…The social scenes I’ve heard are fairly similar and mostly dominated by Greek life. But both schools belong to major sports conferences and have a good social/academic balance. Both schools are fairly preppy, although Vandy is even moreso than Duke. Both schools are strong academically, but Duke is a bit harder to get into. Vandy ACT range: ~29–32; Duke ~30-34. Vandy SAT: ~1300-1470; Duke ~1400-1550. Vandy acceptance rate = 34% and Duke = 21%.</p>
<p>I think you’d find more similarities between Vandy and Duke than you would find differences. Duke bball > Vandy bball…and, yes, I know Vandy football > Duke football, but that’s not saying much…</p>
<p>Edit: RE: Jewish population at Vandy. According to this 2004 article,[Vanderbilt’s</a> Jewish population flourishing - Tuesday, 04/06/04](<a href=“http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/04/49469056.shtml]Vanderbilt’s”>http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/04/49469056.shtml) the freshman class was 8% Jewish in 2004, while it was <1% in 1997…So I guess their recruiting is working…</p>