Hello to all fellow applicants. Just wanted to drop this here to discuss with people who are in a similar situation. 
Why would anyone transfer to Duke as an undergraduate? The days of the bachelor degree as terminal degree are long gone, way long gone. Transfer to a flagship school, kick ass, don’t pay tuition, excel there and earn a BS, and then get a free ride to duke or other for your graduate degree. No need to pay any premium for an undergraduate degree today. No brainer. I look at judgment when I hire graduates. Regardless of a student’s ability to pay.
I don’t plan on studying anymore, I am not interested in jobs either. I am an international student who has absolutely no intention of staying back in the US after completing my degree. Although I see your point for people who are looking for jobs @ConcertoinD , side note its funny you mention flagship school, I’m at a state flagship (UW-Seattle).
UDub is truly one of the best of the best. Congratulations and best wishes for the prosperity of your family. Nothing related here to Duke then. CID out.
With all due respect, UW Seattle is not “one of the best of the best”.
^ Define the “best of the best”. I view HYPSM as being the “best of the best”. UW is not one of those schools.
“^ Define the “best of the best”. I view HYPSM as being the “best of the best”. UW is not one of those schools.”
UWfromCA is laughing at you because you spend so much of your energy speaking highly of Duke and denigrating other schools. Recently every time I see a positive comment about Duke, I notice you’re always the person behind the comment. In any case, I’m a Duke Alum and I’m smart enough to realize that the “best of the best” means something different for everybody. UW is a fine school that would be a great and better fit for many people than “HYPSM” or Duke.
A school that ranks 55th and has a 60% acceptance rate is not elite. Calling it elite robs that word of its meaning. Podunk Community College may be a better fit for a particular student than Princeton is. That doesn’t mean that they are at the same level objectively speaking.
Everyone isn’t a winner and life doesn’t hand out participation trophies. This is just a symptom of the coddling of the American mind.
Rankings aren’t really the best way to gauge universities for example US news ranks UW at 11 in their Top World University Rankings. While Duke comes in at 20 @NerdyChica If you don’t believe me here is a link
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings?page=2
@Bored1997 I can provide 10 times as many links showing Duke ranked above UW. Princeton is 13th on the list you provided. How many people would attend UW over Princeton? It’s not about one ranking or another. It’s about the totality of information available.
How many Rhodes scholars has UW produced? What is the average SAT score of an incoming class? How much money do UW grads earn in the early stages of their careers? What percentage of UW alums go on to graduate school at places like Harvard, Stanford and Yale? How many UW professors are members of the national academies?
^ I’m not saying that UW doesn’t do well on some or all of those metrics. I’m just saying that I’d like to see some hard data.
Jwest22, among other reasons, I laughed at post #4 because OP wrote, “Side note: it’s funny you mention flagship school; I’m at a state flagship (UW-Seattle),” and ConcertoinD replied, “UDub is truly one of the best of the best,” presumably referring to state flagships.
Duke (elite private) and Washington (public flagship) are apples and oranges, but here are a few items for NerdyChica’s “totality of information”:
Duke has 42 Rhodes Scholars; Washington has 37.
Washington has 48 members (and 3 emeritus members) of the National Academy of Sciences; Duke has 21 members (and 2 emeritus members).
Combined US News, THE, QS and ARWU ranking: Duke 13; Washington 20.
Combined US News department ranking for undergraduate business and engineering and graduate biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, economics, education, English, history, math, physics, political science, psychology and sociology: Duke 18; Washington 19.
Duke v. Washington basketball? As I said, apples and oranges.
^ That’s much better. I have a lot of respect for UW as an institution. Arguably the best public research university in the world after Berkeley.
^ That’s much better, and I hope you are feeling better, too.
^ A little snark at the end but I’ll take it haha