Why did you decide to go to this school?
I applied to schools randomly. In total, it was sixteen. When I got my decisions back, I quickly narrowed it down to 3: Harvard University in Massachusetts, Rice University in Texas, and Duke University. After visiting all three, I narrowed it down to Harvard and Duke. After carefully examining the kind of person that I was and the kind of schools Harvard and Duke were, I chose Duke. At a lot of schools, I had noticed that they fostered academic growth. However, it was only at Duke that I found a culture of cultural and social growth. I believe that these kinds of growth are imperative to the college experience. I also found that Duke afforded me a lot of amazing opportunities that I didn't see at other schools. As a "new ivy" and an incredibly new school in and of itself, Duke is constantly looking for ways to improve and to attract the best and the brightest. Because of this, a Duke education is incredibly rewarding and challenging, and amazing possibilities for research, extracurriculars, and engagement programs are available to all of its students. It was a difficult decision, but I'm so glad I chose Duke.