A few unis I want opinions about

USA college day was very informative today.

What do you guys think about...

-Colgate?
-University of North Carolina?
-Northeastern?
-Duke?

Any opinions or hearsay would be helpful

Reply 1

DeModa

Duke's by far at the top of your list, pretty good at everything. Known for a jock/sports culture, but is big enough I'm sure you can find people who like whatever it is you do.

UNC, if at Chapel Hill, is the second best on the list. A good school, though nowhere near the level of Duke, also good at sports, and I hear they have a good undergrad. business program (rare for US schools).

Colgate is an ok/good school. In the middle of nowhere.

Northeastern isn't so good... I wouldn't recommend it.

Reply 2

Agneisse

Duke is very highly ranked and excellent at athletics. UNC (main campus at Chapel Hill, the others are meh) is decent, really pretty and is Duke's sports rival (seeing as they are both in the same region). Apparently also strong in pre-medicine (Med school is a postgrad course here). Colgate has a nice campus from pictures, but is in the middle of nowhere, isn't really known outside the US (or inside it, really...) and IDK about you but going to the toothpaste university is a bit meh for me personally. For Colgate and Northeastern, I'd say save your money and stay in the UK.

Obviously all of these are hearsay :biggrin:

Reply 3

harryj0

how about if i was to put duke next to columbia?

Reply 4

devil09

A good school, though nowhere near the level of Duke

I disagree. In terms of pure academics (not graduate placement), UNC is as good as Duke in most fields and is better in a few.

harryj0

What do you guys think about...

Well, what do you want to know? I've been at Duke for three years and am completing a minor at UNC, so I know quite a bit about both schools. If you want my extremely biased response, I'd say that only Stanford can match Duke in terms of a mix of academics and fun, although UNC would be close behind.

Reply 5

Napalm

harryj0

how about if i was to put duke next to columbia?

Duke is a great university, but Columbia is better (despite of what USNews rankings suggest ;p).

In all seriousness, you couldn't go wrong with either of them. I think Columbia is far more selective than Duke, but that's about all I know about Duke and the quality of education there. However, seeing as I am a current Columbia student I can tell you that it is just as good as tis reputation suggests it is..

Feel free to pm me if you have any Columbia specific questions and good luck.

p.s: oh and btw, Columbia is more expensive than Duke (+ cost of living in NYC) and the financial aid is crap compared to other Ivies such as Harvard, Princeton et al.

Reply 6

Tam10

If u want info. on colleges in the US den watch videos on www.theu.com

Reply 7

devil09

harryj0

how about if i was to put duke next to columbia?

At the undergraduate level, all non-HYP Ivies (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn), Duke, and Chicago are all roughly equal academically.

Napalm

I think Columbia is far more selective than Duke

Er, what?

Columbia
SAT Critical Reading 660-760
SAT Math 670-780
SAT Writing 660-760
93% in top 10%
http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications/stats.php
http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3853&profileId=6

Duke
SAT Critical Reading 680-770 (A&S) 700-770 (Pratt)
SAT Math 690-790 (A&S) 750-800 (Pratt)
SAT Writing 680-780 (A&S) 680-760 (Pratt)
95.2% in top 10%
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2011profile.asp

Columbia's lower admit rate is easily explained.
Columbia applicants: 22582
Duke applicants: 19207
Columbia admitted: 2268
Duke admitted: 4053

In other words, Columbia's admit rate is lower because they have more applicants (NYC, anyone?) and admit fewer people for a smaller class...not because it's more selective.

Reply 8

ILIGAN

Duke is the best or the most prestigious amongst the OP's list. UNC isn't far behind. Colgate is also decent. Northeastern is a regional school.

And to the comment that Columbia is superior to Duke when it comes to student selectivity, that isn't true at all. Duke and Columbia are peer schools. They're some of the best schools for undergrad education that fall right behind HYPMS.

devil09, SATs alone would be a misnomer basis. You need to include the percentage of students that belong to the top 10 in high school. Studies have shown that high school achivements are more reliable measure than SAT scores are. Nevertheless, Duke and Columbia are peer schools for undergrad. Columbia is slightly better for professional education and postgrad education.

Reply 9

ILIGAN

^ Oh, sorry, haven't seen it the first time. My bad.

Reply 10

Napalm

devil09

At the undergraduate level, all non-HYP Ivies (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn), Duke, and Chicago are all roughly equal academically.

Er, what?

Columbia
SAT Critical Reading 660-760
SAT Math 670-780
SAT Writing 660-760
93% in top 10%
http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications/stats.php
http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3853&profileId=6

Duke
SAT Critical Reading 680-770 (A&S) 700-770 (Pratt)
SAT Math 690-790 (A&S) 750-800 (Pratt)
SAT Writing 680-780 (A&S) 680-760 (Pratt)
95.2% in top 10%
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2011profile.asp

Columbia's lower admit rate is easily explained.
Columbia applicants: 22582
Duke applicants: 19207
Columbia admitted: 2268
Duke admitted: 4053

In other words, Columbia's admit rate is lower because they have more applicants (NYC, anyone?) and admit fewer people for a smaller class...not because it's more selective.

Fair enough, I got my figures from the US News rankings here:

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search

My knowledge of Duke is very limited (and as such I refrained from commenting any further on it :smile:

). Though, as I said earlier, OP couldn't go wrong with either school.

Unless he is a big college sports fan in which case he should avoid Columbia like the plague : p.

Reply 11

alamode09

Duke and Columbia have very different atmospheres....considering one is in a relatively small town in North Carolina and has a more vivid sports/frat scene while the other is in NYC and doesnt have too much of the traditional colelge sports scene.
depends on what you want
Duke and UNC are similar, Duke may seem more selective but UNC out of state is pretty darn selective especially since you'd be international
Colgate is a very good school but is very different from the rest. Colgate is a very small liberal arts school in the middle of nowhere, with a traditional sports/frat scene.

Northeastern is in Boston which is a FANTASTIC college town. during the school year about 1/5 people you meet in the city will be a college student, great young vibrant atmosphre. Northeastern is not as high ranking as UNC, Duke, or Columbia, and has a very different atmosphere. Being in a city it has an urban campus (not an enclosed one, like even Columbia) and its definied by the co-op system. This means that for a large amount of your time at Northeastern you'd be actually working, getting real job experience in real companies, making money, and this counts towards your grades/graduation. It's a different type of education that is very practical and preprofessional

again, depends on what you want