Stanford Vs. Duke

snack
Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:59:59 +0000

“Because Asian people have more roots in CA - even if they don’t actually live in CA - they tend to adopt that analysis.”

First of all, Asian people have roots in Asia, not CA. Secondly, it seems odd to claim that they should “adopt that analysis” (e.g. should African-Americans favor Duke because of Southern roots?).

“In my experience, when you talk to Northeasterners, they don’t take any non-Ivy school seriously. Stanford, Duke, even MIT.”

No offense, but it sounds like you don’t have nearly enough experience here.

“My point? If I have one, it’s this: HYP are probably stronger than the other three. Penn probably comes next, and then I’d argue there’s a tossup between Stanford and Duke. Stanford has a reputation for attracting smarter kids in the first place, but they seem similarly prestigious - depending on where you are in the country - coming out.”

Not true, assuming that the above is referring to “reputation.” Although Duke is a wonderful institution, it is simply not regarded as being in the same league as those others (excpet perhaps Penn) – and that is true anywhere in the country except the South.

Having said that, there are two points: (1) Duke’s reputation is improving. As recently as 10 years ago, its student body consisted largely of students who weren’t accepted into Ivy League schools. Because of aggressive marketing and attracting a small body of extremely talented students through merit scholarships (who go on to become Putnam winners, Rhodes Scholars, etc), they’ve done a brilliant job of projecting a strong image. (2) Perhaps more importantly, who cares about reputation … what’s ultimately most important is where any given student fits in best.