Duke 2014 Hopeful

Colleges & Universities Duke University
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<p>“Multiple times? where?”</p>

<p>Right here, I stated: “I’m not saying prestige matters that much, but when it comes down to comparing schools to eachother, Stanford wins.” This does not translate into “Stanford is better than Duke because of prestige,” but “Stanford beats Duke in prestige.” </p>

<p>I stated: “It’s not what the school has that makes it what it is, it’s the people who go to the school, and because of Stanford is much more selective and prestigious than Duke, only the best people go there.” Again, I never said that Stanford is better than Duke because of prestige, but that a better student body ends up at Stanford because of its selectivity and prestige.</p>

<p>I stated: “I remember you admitting that Stanford also has a better name and more prestige, although I agree that this does not mean Stanford is better just because of prestige.”</p>

<p>Please find for me when I said, “Stanford is better than Duke only because of prestige.” Oh wait, you can’t because I never said that.</p>

<p>Oh, and for your information, I never said that Stanford’s student body was of “tremendously higher caliber” than that of Duke’s, so you were putting words into my mouth again. For your information, you were the first to use the words “tremendously higher caliber,” not me. </p>

<p>“lets do a pool and ask how many people think US News, Princeton Review rankings are reliable and that precise to be able to say exactly which one is better”
– and just what makes you think the majority of people don’t think US News and Princeton Review are reliable sources? Sorry but, you need to learn that talking big with nothing to back you up is not going to get you anywhere. You keep saying “I bet you half the people on CC would say this, and lets do a pool and ask this, and I bet you this and this,” dude. It doesn’t matter what you “bet” or what you think would happen. Unless you actually conduct a survey and show me some statistics (which you still have not), then we can have an actual argument. I love how you leave out The New York Times. </p>

<p>“You pretty much backed out on the part that demonstrated interest is “SO IMPORTANT” to Duke and not even talking about the “importance” of demonstrated interest for Duke.”
– why would I talk about it AGAIN if the first couple times I argued about it were enough to show my point and prove you wrong? I basically killed your argument that demonstrated interest was not important to schools like Duke and WashU by showing you how yield worked for schools that aren’t HYPSM. I’m not going to bring up something I thought I had settled. Learn to read better. </p>

<p>“If you know about academically reliable sources, which it seems like you never had, and something I hope you learn when you go to college, news and journals are unreliable.”
– you keep saying my sources aren’t reliable when your only sources are “my friend, my friend, my friend”. If The Princeton Review, The New York Times, and USNews are not reliable enough sources for you, then show me a reliable source or site. </p>

<p>“go ask your school’s teachers.”
– school teachers don’t know **** about college. It’s the STUDENTS and PROFESSORS that have been or are currently at these colleges that we should be asking these questions. Oh wait, The Princeton Review already did.</p>

<p>Cdz512: you said you were going to stop commenting but you keep coming back. SO JUST DROP IT. if you stop, I’ll stop, and the OP will be happy. If you continue, then that’s just going to solve nothing. Stop arguing now, there’s no point in arguing. If you keep arguing, then its just going to show how much you can’t read this: STOP COMMENTING AND LEAVE.</p>

62

<p>hey frenchhorn girl, stop. your naivety shines through your writing so clearly that i had to stop reading halfway through each of your posts.</p>

<p>go through this process first and then come back and say that stanford is CLEARLY better than duke. yes, i agree that stanford is SLIGHTLY, SLIGHTLYY more prestigious and selective (btw, acceptance rate does not mean selective. some schools are highly selective but have a high acceptance rate, like uchicago). but like others have said, prestige + selective does NOT mean better. and besides, the difference is so effing negligible. why are you so adamant about something so petty. like i said, stanford has its olympians, math geniuses, future leaders, etc. but guess what? so does duke. …get over yourself.</p>

<p>1) if you did your research correctly, the NYT article you keep referring to is outdated and simply incorrect. it was before harvard/princeton EA change and financial aid changes. also before some schools’ reputations have changed as well.
2) guess what? no one will care whether you went to duke or stanford or any other top 10 school once you are in college. why? 'cause there is no difference.</p>

<p>grow up.</p>

63

<p>@frenchhorngirl: </p>

<p>Although you use reliable sources to attempt to prove an argument, you still cannot prove one school is better than an another. As I stated before, university education is a qualitative experience; you cannot prove one qualitative experience at Stanford is better than another qualitative experience at Duke with quantitative data; rankings are quantitative data. </p>

<p>Every student has different experiences at Stanford and Duke; for some students, the overall experience will be better at Stanford. For other students, the overall experience will be better at Duke. For you, it appears your experience will be better at Stanford since you are defending your “Stanford is better than Duke” claim fervently. Although more students choose Stanford over Duke, they don’t know whether their overall educational and social experience will be better at Stanford over Duke… so that data does not prove that one is better than the other.</p>

<p>You can only say one elite university is better than another elite university in terms of academics if you qualify it with a certain program/major. If you major in mechanical engineering, then maybe Stanford is better academically. If you major in Biomedical Engineering, then Duke maybe better academically for you. </p>

<p>In terms of quality of life, this will vary for person to person. Maybe Senior A likes going to frat parties; maybe Duke will offer more of what he is looking for than Stanford, even though Stanford has a higher quality of life ranking. Maybe Senior B likes going to the city; Stanford offers nearby San Francisco, so she will have a better time in Stanford. The Princeton Review quality of life and academic rankings are very general; they don’t go into these nuances that I brought up. </p>

<p>No matter how sophisticated Princeton Review, US News, and NY Times get with their statistical techniques, they will never be able to prove that one elite university, like Stanford, is better than another elite university, like Duke.
Why? Because you cannot prove that one general QUALITATIVE experience is better than another with QUANTITATIVE data.</p>

<p>Sure, I didn’t use reputable sources (btw, haven’t you heard about the controversies about some of the reporting at the New York Times?) to prove my claim, but I used logic/reasoning to prove my claim, which is just as valid.</p>

<p>Anyway, I’m going to stop commenting as well, and this time I mean it. This has gone WAY TOO FAR and gotten ridiculous. If you want to continue these arguments, start a new thread or PM me.</p>

<p>I also apologize to the OP for playing a role in taking this conservation off-topic. If this matter comes up again, I will start a new topic and not take over your board.</p>

64

<p>eatsalot, slik nik (read this):</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/691695-really-duke-3.html#post1062691412[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/691695-really-duke-3.html#post1062691412&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I’m a prospective Duke student</p>

65

<p>first of all, cdz512, stop stalking me. </p>

<p>second of all, you, cdz512, need to learn the wonders of the internet. people don’t always post their true opinions. the fact that I choose to argue different sides is a GOOD thing. so what if my posts on other forums show a different viewpoint? I am a person who likes to argue MANY different sides, so just because one post says I like Duke and another post says I hate Duke doesn’t mean anything. you need to learn that people don’t always argue for what they truly believe – that’s a skill, and it’s what I do. </p>

<p>@slik nik: stop arguing already. there’s no point. you’re not going to solve anything. </p>

<p>@eatsalot: don’t try to put all the blame on me and throw me under the bus here. slik nik and cdz512 have contributed to this argument just as much as I have. and don’t tell me to grow up when you need to grow a pair.</p>

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<p>oh, and cdz512, its called the internet. its a place where people are free to express any ideas and thoughts they want, a place where they don’t have to be themselves. </p>

<p>everybody just needs to stop now or else this will never end.</p>

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<p>cdz, i am not surprised. duke and stanford share so much in common in that people are a prospective student to both schools.</p>

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<p>cdz512: going along with what eatsalot said, even if I do think Stanford is better than Duke, it won’t stop me from applying to both schools.</p>

69

<p>Duke, Trinity '12 here.</p>

<p>Why do we care so much about rankings? Yea, maybe stanford might have a higher caliber student on average, but the difference between these two schools is pretty small considering the tens of thousands of colleges in america. There are more important things in life than these rankings, once you go to college you’ll realize that no one gives a hoot about rankings. You can go anywhere you want from Duke (and stanford)</p>

70

<p>you can’t make such a blunt statement whenever every school depends on the major. EX: Duke’s BME program kills every other school’s program besides JH…In my personal opinion I have more respect for Duke than Stanford but that doesnt matter. Every school has its strengths for Duke can be better in some departments as Stanford is better than Duke in others. </p>

<p>Duke is definently not a tier 2…it also has better research opportunities than Stanford</p>