<p>lmao @ John117’s post… I think you are going to Duke and not Caltech… but if you are, congrats… Caltech>> Duke.</p>
<p>So wait, your defense of why Duke is THE university in the South is that people in California haven’t heard of Emory and Vanderbilt? lame. Let’s not forget that Duke’s athletics give them a lot of exposure and that’s something Emory, Rice and Vanderbilt cannot compete with. Like I said, Duke is probably the best university in the South but it doesn’t surpass its nearest competitors by a significant margin… certainly not enough to be solely considered “south’s powerhouse”.</p>
<p>It’s every parent’s dream to send their kids to Duke? Ummm… no. That can only be said about HYPSM and that would still be an immense exaggeration.</p>
<p>No, it’s not. Not every parent dreams of sending his / her kid to the most elite schools around. Really. Many parents just want to send their kids to a decently good college and aren’t interested in the very best.</p>
<p>First off, I AM going to Caltech. I just have immense respect towards Duke. I loved the place when I visited. I love their research and I love everything about it.</p>
<p>It was a really difficult decision for me when I had between Caltech and Duke. And I STRONGLY disagree with
</p>
<p>To me, they’re both equal with Caltech obviously superior in some fields of academics while Duke superior in others. Honestly the difference is negligible. Caltech is more “powerful” i suppose in engineering/sciences. Duke more in medical tech and biological sciences.</p>
<p>As for Duke’s prestige, I’m not going to argue about it. Everyone knows its excellent. I really can’t convince you otherwise if you believe whatever you believe.
Part of Duke’s prestige may come of athletic exposure, but that’s part of what makes Duke strong. Not only is it athletically strong, but its academically strong as well–an excellent place for premeds/medical students. That’s like saying part of Stanford’s prestige is because of its football team, Tiger Woods, and its location in the Sillicon Valley. But that’s part of Stanford, and that contributes to why Stanford is an excellent school.</p>
<p>
Yes, you do have a point, PizzaGirl. I admit my mistake :)</p>
<p>Having never heard of Emory is understandable, but having never heard of Vandy is sorta ridiculous because Vandy is in the SEC and anyone who even casually follows college football has to have heard of Vandy. It might be in the context of a 49 - 7 abomination to Florida, but nevertheless, they’ve heard of the school.</p>
<p>Can’t you just be happy with your Caltech acceptance without making “DUKE IS AMAZING!!!” arguments? We have enough actual Duke students doing that in this forum. I already told you that Duke is good… but your posts are full of exaggerations. Okay let me, for the sake of argument, play by your rules. You said that in YOUR area, Duke is perceived as being prestigious while Emory and Vandy are off the radar. In MY area, people know Duke… ONLY because of its basketball program. None of my friends knows that it is academically a strong university. Now, you may say “Well, people around you are ignorant” and I would gladly agree with you. Don’t judge a university based on what people around you think. In MY area, Emory and Rice are respected while Duke and Vandy are off the radar. Does that mean Emory and Rice are better and/or more prestigious than Duke and Vandy? No, ofcourse it doesn’t. Similarly, maybe the parents around you want all of their kids to go to Duke… but that is certainly not the case across the US and certainly not around the world. Anyways, enjoy Caltech.</p>
<p>I take this to mean what the man on the street thinks—if he hasn’t heard of it, or doesn’t know anyone who went there, it’s not on the radar. Yes, a lot of schools are conspicuous by their absence because they just don’t count for anything with the man on the street.</p>
<p>@JA: You sure? But haha yeah, I know what you mean about Penn ;]. A lot of people forget DArtmouth and Brown as well (They think Brown University is for Indians lol). But you sure about Duke? Even the counselors at our school mentioned MIT and Duke as part of the Ivy League in a school rally lol (One of the dudes stood up and shouted NO!) </p>
<p>@alam: I am very happy with Caltech, but I’m only telling you the facts. Emory is a good school, but its not as renown as Duke nationally.</p>
<p>“Is not U Texas a pretty decent research state u ?”</p>
<p>“yep, Texas has departments that are much better than many of the schools listed for the South, including Duke and Rice”</p>
<p>The great current day physicist and Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg chose to set up roots at the University of Texas at Austin. Just this one isolated bit of information speaks volumes regarding the research prowess of the school.</p>
<p>^ I agree with PABank… John, I know Emory isn’t as renownED as Duke… but your argument is based upon misconceptions… your arguments speak to peoples’ ignorance… not Duke’s superiority.</p>
<p>1) Harvard
2) Yale
3) Princeton
4) Columbia, Stanford
6) Brown
7) Upenn
8) Dartmouth
9) West Point
10) Cornell
11) Amherst
12) Georgetown, Johns Hopkins
14) Williams
15) University of Chicago
16) Duke, Northwestern
18) NYU
19) UC Berkeley
20) University of Virginia</p>
<p>MIT & Caltech are generally considered too specialized/geeky, but still get “wow” reactions</p>
<p>@alam1: I’m from Atlanta and Emory is not considered anywhere near Duke in terms of academics (I’m not just saying this because I’m going to Duke). It is of course highly regarded, but not that much more than Georgia Tech and UGA (which I do admit is overhyped around here). Still, though, I never hear about the smart kids around here going to Emory, and several people I know turn down full scholarships there for schools like MIT, Duke, and Dartmouth.</p>