<p>duke has a weak nanotech research program (if what they got even qualify as a “program”). but if you think couple little projects mean “strong program”, i guess we just have very different standards. </p>
<p>this isn’t just about academic prestige; it’s also about the fact that duke doesn’t even offer what the OP is interested in (chemical engineering). by the way, any respectable engineering school would have chemical engineering as it is one of the most important engineering disciplines. </p>
<p>in the absence of any particular reputation, i don’t see how you can tell which has better social life without attending all of them. perhaps you must really like that mediocre/slightly poor town called durham instead of evanston/chicago. good for you though i’d never imagine myself to live there. not even if you pay me $$$$. different strokes for different folks.</p>
<p>outside HYPSM, there’s very little difference in prestige among the top-25 schools.</p>