US News-Induced Inferiority Complex!

im_blue
Wed, 07 May 2008 18:45:15 +0000

Please. No school is “better” than another academically. I’ve been to a school on par with HYP (one “better” than columbia), one that isn’t even in the top 100, and one that’s top 25…all for UG. There was not one single difference between the academic quality among the three.





I am amazed at how some people make statements like that. Neither school is “far better academically” than the other. Are you for real??



I’ve attended a school in HYPSM, a school in the top 25, and a school in the top 50, and I saw a tangible difference between the academic quality of the three.

Don’t believe me, ask the folks at the Duke Office of Undergraduate Admissions, who sure seem to think that some schools are better than others:

“According to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Chronicle research, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale effectively comprise the ‘best of the best’ in U.S. academics, and Duke lags behind in almost every category.”

[The Chronicle](http://www.dukechronicle.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=fa8397a3-3229-448a-871d-8f5dbcbf6037)

Let’s also ask professors from all over the country to rate undergrads by academic reputation. US News has already done that; it’s called the Peer Assessment score, and I assure you not all top schools have the same score.