<p>So I got rejected by Columbia and basicially every other Ivy (Rejected by Yale, Harvard, Penn-Wharton, Dartmouth after being deferred ED...WL Brown). I did, however, get into Duke. So I was wondering what people thought about Duke's reputation compared to that of Columbia or the rest of the Ivies. Do people really regard it highly or is it like a step down from the Ivy League?</p>
<p>It depends where you are, in the north-east it is seen as a step down, in the south it wouldn’t be. On usnews it clearly isn’t. It’s a great school, its qualifications of student body and resources are comparable to the ivies. Duke is markedly different from the Ivies, it’s more southern, sporty, fratty, better weather, more school spirit. It does well, it’s a good research institution and it has a strong undergrad population. I wouldn’t be so worried that the others turned you down. It could very well have been the other way round.</p>
<p>Speaking as a recent Duke graduate (who turned down Columbia…years ago), I think the two schools are very different. One is in a huge city, one is …not. To me, Columbia is more like “old money”…Carnegie and Rockefeller. Duke is more “nouveau riche”…Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. I enjoyed my time at Duke, fantastic professors in many disciplines (I was Bio/Chem/English), and it is pretty fratty/sorority-y(?). Great basketball games, lots of bonding with friends at those.</p>
<p>duke looks to highschool for me. not that the kids are highschool just the huge sport craze, huge frats ect.</p>
<p>just not me. that’s why i didn’t consider duke.</p>
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<p>I have no idea where you’re getting this from. You mean Yale or Princeton not Columbia, and you mean Upenn or Stanford more than Duke. Columbia isn’t particularly known for taking in rich legacy kids. And every top school produces great and rich alumni.</p>
<p>Oh, I meant in a very general sense. Like the feel of Duke is more new age than Columbia. Not referring to legacy kids.</p>
<p>Columbia is great at disciplines like English, History, Anthropology, etc. Duke is more science-y, though English and Econ are departments of quality as well. I didn’t like the frats either, but depends on OP’s preferences. I thought the OP was asking about general prestige and regard for the two school by the public. When I was on the interview trail for med school, I felt that Duke was highly regarded in those circles.</p>
<p>I knew several people in my high school who turned down Harvard and Yale for Duke, including the smartest girl I know. It’s a very respectable school and most of the companies who recruit at Columbia or peer schools will recruit at Duke.</p>