Full Tuition Merit Scholarship Duke vs. Columbia

[warmcoats]

Hi All,

I'm hoping for advice/WWYD! I've received a full tuition merit scholarship to Duke, which is incredible, but before I was offered it, I was strongly set on Columbia. Let me first of all say that I am very blessed to be in this situation. Secondly, the financial situation is a little unique.

My parents were planning on paying for medical school, so if I go to Columbia, I will still graduate debt-free. However, if I go to Duke, my parents are going to give me the money that they would have spent on medical school, which would be an incredible savings to start off my career. As of now, I plan to go to Duke, but I am curious about others' opinions.

Duke:
Pros: scholarship, one-year pre-clinical, cost of living, connections
Cons: Durham, have lived here for a while

Columbia:
Pros: new city, loved students there, overall vibe wonderful
Cons: money, cost of living

Thanks all!

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[7331poas]

What do you want to hear from us?

Is living in NYC worth 4 years of tuition and housing?

The answer is no.

 

[Benjoe11]

Duke. You'd basically be getting paid to go to an exceptional school.

 

[Mansamusa]

I try not to get jealous, I really do, but man you are challenging me, haha.

Congrats! Take the money. Go to Duke. Invest the money from your parents. Profit

 

[Seth Joo]

If you are going to Duke for free, go there, its an excellent school. However consider yourself lucky for having such an excellent problem of choosing between two great schools. I wish I had that kind of choice.

 

[ChrisMack390]

You be be literally insane to turn down a free education at Duke.

 

[kmp0410]

You be be literally insane to turn down a free education at Duke.

This

Its not like you are choosing a bottom feeder (don't even know what that would be). Duke is an awesome school.

Also I think I'd prefer to live in NC. Though you'd know better than me I guess since you live there.

 

[Psai]

Obviously Duke and invest that money

 

[warmcoats]

Thanks guys! It's good to have reassurance that I'm making the right decision (I'm terrible at big decisions haha)


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[Espressso]

These are the kind of posts that make me seriously envious.

I don't see one Con of going to Duke OR a pro of going to Columbia that is crucial enough to turn down free medical school at Duke.

You're insane.
But damnnit, congrats!

 

[Biochemistry2014]

Dude how could you not choose Duke?

 

[MaxPlancker]

So you're saying you'd rather go to Columbia instead of getting all the chicks at Duke with your 2017 Ferrari?

 

[WedgeDawg]

I'm at Columbia (full disclosure), but in this situation, it would honestly be irresponsible not to go to Duke. Both are absolutely amazing schools and you can do literally whatever you want at either. You have nothing that indicates you would not thrive at Duke or would for some reason thrive significantly more at Columbia than at Duke. In my (admittedly pretty elitist) opinion, a full ride at Duke is still worth more than an acceptance to Harvard.
Take the money and run.

Also moving to SSD

 

[GrapesofRath]

There many who would tell you if it were a full ride at a new lower tier school vs Columbia to take the full ride.

That should highlight how clearcut this decision is.

 

[flapjack3d]

o n e h u n d r e d t h o u s a n d p e r c e n t DUKE

 

[Lawpy]

Duke and Columbia are essentially equivalent and you can't go wrong with either school. So follow the money and stick with Duke.

 

[bearintraining]

Duke. You'd basically be getting paid to go to an exceptional school.

This.

It's an absolute no-brainer. I wish I was in your "unique" situation.

 

[zedsdead]

Come on now, do you really need a dozen anonymous strangers to help you figure out that free is better than not free?

 

[bearintraining]

Come on now, do you really need a dozen anonymous strangers to help you figure out that free is better than not free?

Not just free... PAID to go. geez. ..

 

[Autotoxicus]

Everyone is telling you to go to Duke. This seems to be the logical conclusion considering the financial opportunity. But I do think that there is value in picking the school you have your heart set at. Like many things in life we don't always pick what gets us the most money, sometimes we pick relationships, professions, and the freedom to do what we love over money. I don't think you should go to a school unless you know this is where you want to be because it will influence your attitude, work ethic, the people you meet, and the rest of your life.


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[Serena_van_der_Woodsen]

this post is why I need to stay off sdn to not feel bad about myself

 

[justadream]

The poll says enough.

 

[FireG999]

If you can't figure out the better (financial) decision here, you don't deserve that pile of cash your parents are giving you. Jesus Christ.

 

[DokterMom]

Duke, clearly. It's quite plainly, the only responsible thing to do.

While it's fabulous that your parents are able to help you to that extent, they have to be nearing retirement age and their financial situation could change. Lousy investment markets, company bankruptcies, business conditions or adverse health events can change just about anyone's financial position pretty significantly over a four-year span. You want them to be able to renege on that promise if their situation changes and they absolutely need to.

And Congratulations. What a lovely 'dilemma' to have... (And with the money you save, you'll be able to visit NYC often.)

 

[Nietzschelover]

The IDEA of living full-time in NYC over living in NC.....of course.

The REALITY? Maybe not so much.

OP, based on your info, you're looking at something like 800K. If I was your parent the decision would take 2 seconds, even presuming a family of significant wealth, and if you chose Columbia I'd seriously consider not giving you a dime.

As an aside, I keep reading about all of these free rides. What makes a Duke give someone a free ride among an ultra-talented applicant pool, especially in cases where need is not at issue at all?

 

[WedgeDawg]

As an aside, I keep reading about all of these free rides. What makes a Duke give someone a free ride among an ultra-talented applicant pool, especially in cases where need is not at issue at all?

Precisely to do what they're doing here - steal them from another ultra-competitive school. Penn, Chicago, and WashU do the exact same thing.

 

[Nietzschelover]

Precisely to do what they're doing here - steal them from another ultra-competitive school. Penn, Chicago, and WashU do the exact same thing.

Right, but what makes someone a full ride at Duke and no money at a Columbia? And when a school makes awards like this, what is the expectation? I would think the school would have to think the candidate is on course to cure pancreatic cancer. It's not like these schools are hurting for very strong candidates to fill their classes.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Right, but what makes someone a full ride at Duke and no money at a Columbia? And when a school makes awards like this, what is the expectation? I would think the school would have to think the candidate is on course to cure pancreatic cancer. It's not like these schools are hurting for very strong candidates to fill their classes.

1. Probably not the proper thread to discuss this since we don't want to derail from OP's question

2. I honestly couldn't tell you. Maybe there was something that suggested a great fit for the school. Maybe they just had an extraordinary application. I'm sure there is some criteria the schools use but what it is precisely I don't think many people on the outside know.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Right, but what makes someone a full ride at Duke and no money at a Columbia? And when a school makes awards like this, what is the expectation? I would think the school would have to think the candidate is on course to cure pancreatic cancer. It's not like these schools are hurting for very strong candidates to fill their classes.

How two different schools view candidates can vary widely. There are plenty of people who get into 10+ top 20 schools but for 5 of those top 20 schools or so dont even get an interview. Kind of like college admission: what's good enough to generate a likely letter from Yale might not even generate an acceptance from Brown.

Alot of it is the interview at that stage also. You look at schools like Pearlman Harvard Columbia only taking 20-25% of people they interview and you can start to see how what might wow somebody at Harvard is looked at lukewarmly at Columbia.

As for scholarships
a) Part of it is these top schools just tend to have way more money than we might expect. The size of Harvard's endowment even compared to other top 20 schools is a significant difference. Schools like Penn and Pritzker are known for giving out full scholarship money to many accepted students and frankly a big part of it is just they can so why not. Would they lose much if they didnt? Probably not. But if it helps them attract better students and can give them a bit of an edge, they are in such a position they have the luxury where they can throw that money around.
b) Other thing is yield at many of these top schools is actually worse than you might expect which drives more of a need to entice applicants than you might expect. My guess is probably more than half of people who get into a top 20 school get into more than one. Lots of people with top stats and many options and they can only pick one. I think LizzyM has said for her top school they on average have to make 2.5-3X as many offers as spots they have. This is less than a school like Wake Forest and why those MSAR median stats for accepted students can be misleading sometimes. U of Michigan's MSAR Median MCAT is a 37 but the average for their class is closer to a 34 as an example.

 

[Duke1K]

Right, but what makes someone a full ride at Duke and no money at a Columbia? And when a school makes awards like this, what is the expectation? I would think the school would have to think the candidate is on course to cure pancreatic cancer. It's not like these schools are hurting for very strong candidates to fill their classes.

Honestly, it's mostly based on stats. You'd think money of that much import would require a more holistic consideration, but most of the time, that's not the case.

 

[MaxPlancker]

Honestly, it's mostly based on stats. You'd think money of that much import would require a more holistic consideration, but most of the time, that's not the case.

Actually, it isn't likely to be mostly based on stats. Obviously, it's beneficial to have higher stats just like applying to get into a school but mostly? It could certainly appear that way since some of the best applicants holistically also have high stats. I've heard (not sure how true) that some schools try to steal away applicants that have been accepted to places like HMS by offering scholarships so I'm sure there's a plethora of criteria involved. Certain scholarships that are funded by various sources also have their own requirements such as groepgrahy, etc.

 

[Duke1K]

Actually, it isn't likely to be mostly based on stats. Obviously, it's beneficial to have higher stats just like applying to get into a school but mostly? It could certainly appear that way since some of the best applicants holistically also have high stats. I've heard (not sure how true) that some schools try to steal away applicants that have been accepted to places like HMS by offering scholarships so I'm sure there's a plethora of criteria involved. Certain scholarships that are funded by various sources also have their own requirements such as groepgrahy, etc.

No, it is, at least at Duke (for scholarships available to all applicants). I have more information than mere speculation. It's not a complicated process.

 

[MaxPlancker]

What info do you have? I know several at Duke on scholarship (only 1 URM) and they aren't your 40/4.0s.

 

[mdconcern]

Hi All,

I'm hoping for advice/WWYD! I've received a full tuition merit scholarship to Duke, which is incredible, but before I was offered it, I was strongly set on Columbia. Let me first of all say that I am very blessed to be in this situation. Secondly, the financial situation is a little unique.

My parents were planning on paying for medical school, so if I go to Columbia, I will still graduate debt-free. However, if I go to Duke, my parents are going to give me the money that they would have spent on medical school, which would be an incredible savings to start off my career. As of now, I plan to go to Duke, but I am curious about others' opinions.

Duke:
Pros: scholarship, one-year pre-clinical, cost of living, connections
Cons: Durham, have lived here for a while

Columbia:
Pros: new city, loved students there, overall vibe wonderful
Cons: money, cost of living

Thanks all!

.

 

[DoctorDrewOutsidetheLines]

Duke. Do you have any clue how blessed you are?!

 

[Duke1K]

What info do you have?.

Not really worth getting into.

 

[warmcoats]

Honestly, it's mostly based on stats. You'd think money of that much import would require a more holistic consideration, but most of the time, that's not the case.

I can confirm this; they basically told me as much


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