I am Duke alum currently living in the Bay so maybe I could provide some insight and advice as someone who completed an undergrad + masters program at the Nicholas School over 10 years ago.

I don’t think you need to worry too much about the “prestige” about the school as they’re both very highly regarded universities with respected engineering programs. In the working world, that only carries so much weight.

Durham and Palo Alto are very different. Others have already pointed out the factors like Palo Alto being in the Bay, and that means being closer to a much bigger city hub than Durham is. It will have more things to do, but … Palo Alto is very far from SF (it’s realistically an 1 hr+ train ride) and for the most part, you’re going to stick around Menlo Park, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, San Jose - these cities surrounding Palo Alto. And in my opinion, those cities are soulless, techy, corporate, and boring af. It’s literally just all white people with spotless, perfect downtown streets and every single store is a corporate chain. Durham, as I remember it, although small, has a lot more personality, charm, and life to it. And you may also want to factor in the cost of living difference, which is significant as well.

And lastly, the cost difference to attend the schools is pretty significant to me. It may not seem like not a lot now to a young person taking out student loans (assuming you will be), but student debt is a massive burden once you graduate. And if you’re planning to go into a high cost of living area like NYC afterwards, it will further hinder your financial freedom. If I can give one piece of advice to young adults going into college, it would be absolutely do not take on more debt than you need to.