<p>who said posting threads online is a waste of time?
yes it is a waste of time but i need to waste time while in a lab having nothing to do plus i learned something new from these threads and also people’s point of view. So if u don’t like it don’t post.</p>
<p>Does anyone here has the statistics for undergrad biology for both berkeley and duke?</p>
<p>I heard Berkeley’s undergrad bio is really very competitive and the average SAT score for freshmen students is very high or equal to that of Stanford’s. this is unconfirmed though, so, to shed light to this matter, let’s compare berkeley’s bio stats and Duke’s Bio stats instead of rating the whole university because thet’s a very long debate.</p>
<p>chaoses, that ranking is for graduate school. And nobody here is debating that Cal has a great graduate school.</p>
<p>Additionally, that ranking is not how others “view” US schools. The criteria is: </p>
<p>Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals: 10%
Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals: 20%
Highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories: 20%
Articles published in Nature and Science*: 20%
Articles in Science Citation Index-expanded, Social Science Citation Index: 20%
Academic performance with respect to the size of an institution: 10%</p>
<p>So it’s basically a measure of research output, not at all like say, the Peer Assessment ranking in U.S News.</p>
<p>hahaah, just because cal ranks 27 spots higher than Duke doesn’t mean you should disregard it. At least it’s the view of some other people not USnews.</p>
<p>Dude, read my previous post. This is not at all the “view” of different people other than usnews. It’s a formula measuring research output. And it’s for GRAD SCHOOL.</p>
<p>“But the point is, both schools have strengths and weaknesses and everybody needs to assess which school is right for them. This is not a case of, say, Berkeley vs. San Francisco State, where the odds clearly favor Berkeley. Or Duke vs. East Carolina University. Berkeley and Duke is not a lopsided match in either direction.”</p>
<p>I’m sorry…for even arguing in favor that any school is overall better…now after seeing a person rejecting mit to go to carnegie, it is pretty obvious that one should just choose the college which will offer the best opportunities to them in case of their specific character and specific ambitions and goals…therefore, every individual is special in their own selection of college choice for attendance. Do not just only look at department rankings/overall rankings but look into what the school can actually offer you while you are attending there
so yes it is justified to choose ucb over duke and vice versa…it is even justified to choose a state school over some prestigious private if you know that in that specific school you will be offered the opportunities for you to flourish
gl to everyone!
edit: lol…even harvard, yale, or princeton don;t even have 100% yield rate</p>
<p>my friend who goes to berkeley and major physics was saying that the average sat score of their class is the same with stanford but he thinks some courses in berkeley that not “quota” or sought-after have suffered with low sats. but the average gpa of the whole students are very high.</p>
<p>why can’t people here provide stats for berkeley and duke’s premed and biology? </p>
<p>see, this is what my point was. already a lot of people are suffering from USNews’ way of ranking undergrad schools – too general. Most of the people here who are anti CAL/michigan/UVa are obviously saying things based on speculations or things they have no exact knowledge about. They just generalized. They just rank schools according to what USNews is saying. In short – they have stopped thinking and entrusted USNews to think for them instead. Isn’t that spooky?</p>
<p>And how sure are we that USNews are not protecting the private schools? How sure are we that some private schools are NOT paying USNews for a good position in the ranking table?</p>
No such stats are available at Duke. Students are admitted to Trinity College, not the biology major. Most students don’t even declare their major until the end of their sophomore year. In any case, selectivity and the quality of education are not at all the same thing. One of the very best colleges for marine science is a third tier LAC (<em>gasp</em>). </p>
<p>
I’ve never really understood how Berkeley supporters brandish US News graduate rankings yet dismiss the undergraduate rankings.</p>
<p>Because it’s all a conspiracy on the part of the private schools. Berkeley doing well in the grad school ranking in spite of that is just them sticking it to the man!!</p>
<p>“I’ve never really understood how Berkeley supporters brandish US News graduate rankings yet dismiss the undergraduate rankings.”</p>
<p>Was it the same person doing both of these?</p>
<p>Anyway, it’s much easier to rank the strength of a specific grad program than it is to rank overall undergrad. Even in grad rankings, though, the top schools are insignificantly different (I don’t care about Duke’s 4.87 in Spanish vs. Cal’s 3.7 , or Cal’s 4.77 in English vs. Duke’s 4.55 – insignificant).</p>
<p>“And how sure are we that USNews are not protecting the private schools? How sure are we that some private schools are NOT paying USNews for a good position in the ranking table?”</p>
<p>Interesting idea. It doesn’t seem too unlikely that any university would do such a thing. 'Course, the idea that US News is biased in its rankings (i.e. simply reaffirming preconceptions about Harvard, etc.) seems likely, too.</p>
<p>1- Berkeley used to be ranked in the top 5 in the early USNWR rankings, because those rankings, far higher than Duke (which wasn’t even in the top 19)</p>
<p>2- Since 1983, the quality of the undergraduate education and experience at Berkeley has actually risen. </p>
<p>3- Berkeley’s USNWR ranking has tanked in the past two decades, while that of private schools has risen considerably, to the point that Berkeley is behind some schools that are clearly inferior on academic grounds. The reason for this decline is the change in the metrics, with the dilution of pure academic ratings down to one quarter of the total score.</p>
<p>4-Berkeley is far better known globally than Duke. As a matter of fact, I had never even heard of Duke when I applied to college from Europe.</p>
plus i learned something new from these threads and also people’s point of view. So if u don’t like it don’t post.</p>