<p>^Sure that may be true. But for the lucky applicants who are in the position to choose, many will try to make informed decisions. If Duke improves in “prestige” then the chances of someone attending will increase. Besides HYPSM is not best at everything. If you are interested in bioengineering and are choosing between Duke and Princeton then it’s a no brainer you’d choose Duke for that. Hell Duke BME probably rivals anything HYPSM can throw at it. I would hope that students smart enough to get into HYPSM and Duke would know to get beyond that “aura” and actually think for themselves about which school is best for them.</p>