Helicio

InterestingGuy get a life. Duke is a top 10 school, is the number 6 feeder school in the nation--meaning we send more kids to top law and med schools than most other schools in that nation, has a very, very inflated presence on Wall Street and in the top echelons of business and politics, etc.

In other words, its one of the top schools in the United States, just like JHU, Cornell, Penn, Georgetown, WashU, or Dartmouth (all places I and many other Duke students turned down).

While many Duke students turn down the schools listed above for Duke, the opposite occurs sometimes too. Moreover, many Harvard students turn down not only Duke but also many other schools that aren't in the top 5.

So please, stop being such an antagonistic prick and get a life.

noobcake

I think the kids at Duke can be put into five groups [not in order of absolute number]

1) ED
2) BME kids [Engineering ACT for 2012 was 32-35]
3) "HYPSM" Reject, the next best option
4) RD kids whose reach was Duke, mostly local NC kids
5) RD kids who didn't apply to HYPSM, and chose Duke over some peer schools [ie Penn, NU. Tons of Duke students applied to Penn and NU.]

KPT

InterestingGuy, with all the sincerity I can offer, I've got to say you really sound like a ******bag. I'm not going to get into why I disagree with you're generic arguments or why your comments serve no useful (read: helpful to others, not your ego) purpose on this forum, but here's some advice: I've never, not once, been jealous of an *******, no matter how many amazing things have been handed to them. Your desperate attempts to hold on to some misconceived self-image of intellectual superiority by bashing complete strangers are a sign of enormous insecurity, and if you've ever studied Freud (which I'm sure you'll say you have), you'd understand that. If you were accepted to the most prestigious school, graduated at the top of your class, and went on to have the most successful career, I'd still pity the fact that you're so angry and self-absorbed. And even if you shrug off everything I have to say, in the end, it doesn't matter. If you keep acting like a wise-cracking prick, you're going to realize one day that all the things you've worked for still won't be enough to make you happy.

And if you were wondering, yes, I am a Duke student. Of course that means that I am "biased", but to be perfectly honest, I don't care about college rankings or what Duke-lovers and Duke-bashers are quibbling about at any given moment. I go to Duke because I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here, and if I hadn't, I would transfer. That being said, I tried to base my opinion of you not on what you said but rather how you said it, so please don't automatically assume that just because I'm a Dukie, you're still God's gift to us all.

SBR

Seriously why are we still having this argument? If "InterestingGuy" (read: troll) wants to come to the Duke boards (a school he's not even attending) and stir up some controversy (all the while double posting) why are we even responding and encouraging him? Let him and his terrible manners be, at least we know that at Duke we have more class. Let whatever "school to which Duke loses 90%+ cross-admits" take him, it's doing us all a favor. Just be thankful that the students at Duke don't have to put up with his pathetic self in real life everyday.

loveduke22

mods: Can we not get rid of this guy? He's obviously doing such great things with his life that he sits around the Duke boards trolling all day.

interestingguy

You could say that.


The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition

interestingguy

It must take one to know one.


GQ Ranks Duke America’s 2nd ‘Douchiest’ College

1sokkermom

I would love to hear something specifically wonderful about the college that the Duke critic attends. Why is it a secret? If he/she is happy with his/her choice, why not spread the word????

School pride is not a bad thing at all.

I don't get the obsession with the constant Duke bashing either. An explanation would be interesting...

siserune

You don't know any of that to be fact. Your source, the New York Times chart, is an extract from the Revealed Preferences study and is not cross-admit data (in particular, it is not a tabulation of the cross-admit data found in the RP study's sample).

The NY Times left Caltech off the chart, because it would have given away the unreliability of the predictions. Revealed Preferences study predicted that Caltech beats all schools but Harvard, while in reality MIT beats Caltech more than 3-to-1 and has done so for years. Revealed Preference claims to equalize for financial aid and other factors, but the students offered Caltech's top scholarships also are lost to MIT. Of course, Caltech beating any of the other top 5 schools is also suspect.

Revealed Preference also predicted that Yale beats MIT among science and engineering students. Good luck selling that.

knat

bluedog's statistics seem to be about correct. It is true that most people who turn down HYPMS for Duke are on full-rides. However, you'll still run across that rare anecdotal student who turned them down for other reasons. This doesn't mean that Duke is any better, or even at the same level as, HYPMS, but that's what's great--Duke's able to pull, even if only occasionally, students who could have gone anywhere in the world.

hookem168, I'm sorry...I've kept quiet about your condescension for all of last spring. When you talk about Duke, it is more convincing and informative when you talk about it with a balanced attitude. If someone criticizes a certain facet of Duke, then counter it with logic, not with personal insults. There's no need to put down other schools, even if others do. You're feeding the troll..and in doing so, you're reflecting poorly on Duke. There's no need to make Duke sound any better or any worse than it actually is. Trust me, there's plenty to be proud of here.

interestingguy

hookem168 wrote:

So the OP basically lied about turning down HYP:

I chose Duke over -----------

To the Yale Admissions Committee

catherine

Interesting guy (not) - why do you hate Duke so much? You don't even go here. Get a life.

Sure, most people accept HYP over Duke. And most people accept Duke over NW, UChicago, Georgetown etc.

So what? If you truly did get accepted by HYP, did you go around to all the other kids in your class saying "Ha, ha - I got accepted at X and you didn't?" Maybe you come to this board because people at your own school don't want to be around you?

Well, my father went to one of the HYP schools and the head of the corporation he works for went to Duke. With your total lack of social skills I am not predicting a great future for you regardless of where you go to college.

interestingguy

HYP and Duke are in different leagues, literally and metaphorically. But Duke, NW, UChicago, Georgetown, etc. are all peer institutions. I honestly don't understand why Dukies always try to elevate their school above their peers. That's why claims such as those made by the OP are calling out to be challenged and I am more than happy to do so. In this thread alone, we hear that "at Duke we have more class," Duke is (except for HYPSM) the "next best option" and the "number 6 feeder school in the nation," etc. Do you seriously think that Duke is better than any of the non-HYP ivies (let alone Caltech) when the ivies are more selective (lower acceptance rates and higher yield rates) and arguably more prestigious?

catherine

Interesting guy, how can you compare Duke to Caltech? One is an all round university and one is for techies. I doubt the same people would be interested in both.

We had 5 kids in my high school's graduating class accepted to Dartmouth last year. Only one of those 5 was accepted at Duke, and he's at Duke.

We had 4 accepted to Harvard - 3 of those 4 were athletic or legacy admits with respectable but lower stats than the Dartmouth/Duke admits. The 4th student was tops in every way.

Why won't you say where you are in school?

interestingguy

You're right. There probably aren't a lot of cross-admits between Duke and Caltech. But Caltech does win the cross-admit battle with Duke. Quite handily.


What are you trying to say? That Duke is more selective than Dartmouth. If so, I disagree. Regardless of your anecdotal evidence.


Again, what is your point? Most Duke athletic admits (especially in the revenue sports) could not get into my state school without regards to their athletic ability.


First, why is this relevant? Second, I don't want my views to represent my university.


No. But I admit I did laugh at the OP or at least his claims.


Is it safe to assume that you did not get into your father's alma mater as a legacy? Is this your way of rationalizing your choice of school?


You can bet my future won't involve working for a Dukie. That's unacceptable.