<p>To be honest, the academic reputation is about 50% voodoo magic anyway. Different schools have different strengths, areas that they are good at, philosophies etc. Just because Duke is top 10 doesn’t mean every department or major will be top notch. And just because other schools are top 50, doesn’t mean they don’t have world renown faculty in particular areas. I’m not discounting the impact of academic reputation or saying top 50 schools are on par with Duke or vice versa. But academic reputation should be taken with large spoonfuls of salt.</p>