<p>The article referenced in post #54 was interesting. Duke University ranks sixth for the number of National Merit Scholars enrolled compared to Northwestern’s third place ranking. Duke, like Stanford (according to the article) stands alone as the elite university in its region, while Northwestern & Chicago are neighbors. Duke offers some of the best merit scholarships available at an elite university, while Northwestern has paltry, token merit aid scholarships of $2,000 for NMS & $3,500 for another category of student. Northwestern’s current endowment should be above $7 billion (current–not “last reported”) placing it well into the top ten nationally–possibly now tied with Columbia and probably well ahead of Duke. If Northwestern wanted to play the “ratings game” by accepting a lower percentage of applicants and relying on an inflated waitlist to fill its class, and by offering substantial merit scholarships similiar to Duke, then Northwestern University’s ratings would rise and cross admit battles with schools such as Duke might be a very different story. Northwestern University along with its massive financial strength and stellar academics seems content to accept its identity and current position in the pecking order of elite universities. A new president will take office at Northwestern University in about 14 months and will decide , along with the board of trustees, where they want to position Northwestern University. Unlike Duke, Northwestern is currently content with its position in the pecking order of elite national universities; if Northwestern wants more prestige and better rankings, it has the resources to significantly affect these areas.</p>