This Spring Break, I had one of those very rare chances to take a peek at how my life might have turned out if I had made a different choice. The choice, which many of you were forced to make as well, would have affected my education, my friendships, my future career and myself as a whole:
Go off to the esteemed Duke University way out in Durham, N.C., or stay home and go to state school with the other 90 percent of your high school classmates?
Granted, for many of you it may have been an easy decision between, say, Duke University or the University of Middle-of-Nowhere at Podunk. But for those of you from states like Michigan, Virginia or Illinois with very respected public universities, the choice was probably much more difficult.
And so, in order to find out how life might have gone differently, I went down to the University of Illinois this Spring Break. For the noble sake of journalism, I decided to go party Big Ten style.
To better sum up my observations in the field, I have divided my findings into various categories for Duke and U of I to go head-to-head:
Residential Life: The winner: Duke.
The sophomore friends I stayed with live in an apartment. A real apartment, with a (mostly) functioning kitchen, separate bedrooms and an actual landlord. Given that my only experience with a landlord was cheering for Shelden Williams last year, I can't even imagine paying utility bills and cooking for myself as a sophomore.
Although it would be nice to have the kind of independence and autonomy that an apartment brings, I personally like living in a pretty Gothic castle as a sophomore, in the middle of campus and all that is going on. I mean, now that The Loop delivers, who needs to cook anyway?
Plus, sorry to say, their campus is just plain fugly.
Social Life: The winner: University of Illinois.
My God, the options! The sheer options! 63 fraternities, 38 sororities, hundreds of private apartments and dozens of bars boggled my mind. Plus. I suppose they could also party in the library if they want to be cool like us..
Anyway, when I asked my friends what bar they were going to take me to, they responded, "What are you in the mood for? A Sit-Around-and-Play-Cards-Bar? A Stand-Around-and-Mingle-Bar? A Grimy-Dance-Club-Bar? A Grimy-Dance-Club-Bar-Where-You-Can-Sit-Down-and-Play-Cards-if-the-Guys-Start-Getting-Creepy-Bar?"
Considering the only choice of venues available at Duke is sketchy or more sketchy, I was in ecstasy.
Furthermore, despite the recent concerns of the Campus Culture Initiative, the students at the University of Illinois happen to enjoy their sprawling, mansion-like greek houses. In Champaign, Ill., the greeks and the independents peacefully coexist on a campus at which vodka and beer flow like milk and honey.
Academics: The winner: Debatable. Honestly.
According to sheer rankings and name-brand value, Duke appears to be the clear winner. That piece of paper with four letters we receive upon graduating is our golden ticket to the top of any resume pile. Furthermore, some of my personal observations happened to back this up.
I went with one of my friends to sit in on her physiology class (yes, on my Spring Break). As I entered the giant, aquarium-sized lecture hall, I thought it might be fun to see what a U of I academic experience was actually like. However, I was shocked and amused to find that the primary textbook used to teach the class anatomy was a coloring book.
That's right. A coloring book. And they got extra credit if they colored it all in by the end of the semester.
While I have heard that this can be a very effective way to memorize the different body parts, I couldn't help but to let out a chuckle at this.
Coloring books aside, there are some very real arguments for why a school like the University of Illinois might offer a better academic experience. First of all, with 150 undergraduate programs offered as opposed to our puny 40, size really does matter. I realized this after trying to explain in several job interviews that an English major and Markets and Management Certificate are practically the same thing as an advertising major..
Also, with 31,000 students, a large public school like U of I has no problem drawing very famous guest speakers like Dan Rather and Spike Lee and very popular concerts like the Dave Matthews Band. I mean, I love Common and. who is it? TI?... like everyone else, but come on.
All things considered, I think it is difficult to determine if a Duke education really is worth the extra $20 grand a year in the end. But regardless of the fun times I had at the University of Illinois with some of my closest childhood friends, I made my choice to come to Duke, and you can never really know how things might have turned out differently.
I like my Gothic Wonderland just fine, sketchy bars and all.
Stacy Chudwin is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Friday.
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