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This is simply not true. Most Duke students weren’t admitted to HYP but nearly the entire student body was accepted at at least one of the other 5 Ivies and turned them down. The Ivies represent the pinnacle of American higher education but Duke along with Stanford, Caltech, MIT and the University of Chicago are the big 5 universities that manage to compete with these schools just fine.</p>
<p>The sciences and the premed curriculum is going to be competitive everywhere but Duke is one of the most collaborative learning environments you will find.</p>
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Neither is USC but you conveniently choose to ignore that. Durham has been rated as one of America’s fastest growing cities with a great restaurant scene though.</p>
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The faculty was stuck in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. I bet the administration at Penn State is feeling the heat now for not being proactive enough for instance. The lacrosse scandal is an isolated incident and the faculty in general has a very cordial relationship with the student body at Duke. It’s one of the reasons that Duke grads are among the most represented at the top business/law/medical/graduate programs. The professors go out of their way to give students interesting research opportunities, great mentor ships and glowing recommendations.</p>