<p>Ahh, Bacardi is the neo green highlighter that just brings the party to the point. (Note to Duke students...there is so much more to the world than drinking till you puke and declaring superiority over nerds....hint, you aren't much different that a UPS stockroom. To reach the top office you have to stop beating up on people that aren't like you and realize that alcohol isn't going to make you a VP. Sorry)</p>
<p>^^ You're going to be a great ambassador for Harvard. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>My deepest apologies. I was responding to Mondo and Thethoughtprocess only. I actually believe Duke is one of the finest intellectual institutions there is. I also find that a junior/senior arguing that a school is superior because it partys hearty and can whale on nerds to be very, very disconcerting.(Not a huge amount of sophisticated intellectual growth you must admit...this isn't freshman or sophmore year remember, but rather someone who wears the full face of a Duke grad)</p>
<p>I actually find Duke to be a truly intellectual environ, I know plenty of Duke students who are true intellectuals that just knock the socks off of anyone. I can't say it overpowers Chicago on any front, but I can say that the school is in no way overrated.</p>
<p>just wondering what departments are highly regarded at Duke other than bio-med engineering? (please excuse my ignorance...i'm an international student)</p>
<p>Hekau - you sound like the typical "I'm so superior because I don't drink/have fun and study all the time" kind of person. Luckily, I don't encounter people like you at Duke because I can't stand those people. Put it this way - on weekdays, I achieve a ton of things outside of the classroom, and at night I party, meet people, and have a good time. </p>
<p>Either way, I drink a lot but a lot of the people at Duke don't. Also, I did IB last summer and I'm doing consulting next year. Drinking doesn't make you a VP, working 80 hours a week for 6 years does...I'm not sure what your point is. Company leaderships depend on social, extroverted people, not introverted nerdy people.</p>
<p>I've had a ton of fun at Duke, done many intellectual things, and have had many great professional experiences via internships which Duke connected me with. I'll be working with mostly Harvard, Wharton, and Princeton kids in my office next year, and they are definitely less intellectual and more work-hard/play-hard like I am.</p>
<p>Anyways, Chicago kids DO party less than Duke students, if thats what your getting at, but they don't get better job opportunities, post-grad placement, or learn more, and Chicago certainly doesn't attract higher achieving students than Duke (Duke gets more National Merit, higher median SAT, and higher GPA students).</p>
<p>Tanveer - don't think of undergrad in terms of departments. Individual department strength doesn't matter at all beyond a certain point - unless you want to go to grad school in a specific area. Duke is among the top in the country in most areas, but overall its student body is the 6-7th strongest of any school in the country, probably top 12 in the world. Duke is among the best 6-7 schools if you want to work in finance, consulting, or want to go to professional school. Its faculty is extremely productive and thus its also great for grad schools...</p>
<p>Chronicle</a> Facts & Figures: Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index</p>
<p>^^ Please stop. If someone from US News sees your posts, Duke will move way down the list.</p>
<p>S is graduating from Duke in 3 weeks. He would agree that there are good things and bad things about Duke. However, most of his friends have been very successful in securing great opportunities for post Duke life.</p>
<p>It has been a good experience for him, and he will be leaving there much more mature than when he entered four years ago. (Even though he is my son, he is a true gentleman and scholar.) The Duke experience has certainly influenced his life. When all is said and done, I rather like the man he has become.</p>
<p>Overrated? I have no idea how one could judge...;)</p>
<p>From what I have seen of upperclassmen thus far, the Duke experience fully equips its graduated with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in the real world, both professionally and socially. The university is predominantly filled with the extroverted social types that have the knowledge, but more importantly the people skills, to push across real change and make a true difference in the world.</p>
<p>One quality I absolutely admire about the Duke student body and find it exclusive only to them is their ability to prioritize. Students study a lot but still find time to exercise at least a couple days of week. You can always find kids at the gym or participating in pick-up sports on the quad. This sort of health-consciousness was visibly absent among the Ivy League schools I visited, where most of the students I saw spent an excessive amount of time playing videogames, watching TV shows online and generally being inactive. A lot of these same kids came across as the type that would make fun of individuals who chose to party and be social on weekends for "destroying their livers and lungs". I found this hilarious because these Ivy kids don't work out at all, are completely inactive and thus face much greater health risks than a 4-year binge drinker and chain smoker.</p>
<p>Even though there exists a contingent of students at Duke that consume a large amount of alcohol weekly, these kids and the student body at Duke as a whole are MUCH, MUCH healthier than their Ivy League counterparts because of their regular exercise.</p>
<p>wow great argument bacardi_limon.</p>
<p>chicago kids don't contribute to the world, and duke kids are so involved in volunteering? thats funny. uchicago was the #1 school of its size to send students into the Peace Corps last year...</p>
<p>so, there goes that completely false information you spat out.</p>
<p>and if it helps your harvard ego, i know 2 people not admitted to chicago (one waitlist, one outright reject) that were admitted to harvard this year. so have fun with those idiots.</p>
<p>Everyone knows lots of people admitted to Harvard but rejected from X school.</p>
<p>
[quote]
One quality I absolutely admire about the Duke student body and find it exclusive only to them is their ability to prioritize. Students study a lot but still find time to exercise at least a couple days of week. You can always find kids at the gym or participating in pick-up sports on the quad. This sort of health-consciousness was visibly absent among the Ivy League schools I visited, where most of the students I saw spent an excessive amount of time playing videogames, watching TV shows online and generally being inactive.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You mean during your Ivy visits, you went around and asked people "do you workout?" :confused:</p>
<p>
[quote]
i know 2 people not admitted to chicago (one waitlist, one outright reject) that were admitted to harvard this year.
[/quote]
as do i :)</p>
<p>Here's my take from the few pages of this I have read:</p>
<p>Beefs doesn't know anything; he hasn't been to college
ThoughtProcess is upset that his very good school is being lambasted. Yes, it probably is inferior to other schools in some ways, but superior to some schools in other ways. But this is true of any school. As such, any discussion like this is ridiculous. No one can truly judge a quality of a school unless they've attended, and even then they can only give anecdotal evidence to support claims of excellence because statistics about the number of nobel laureates or published authors does not reflect actual class and teaching quality, etc.
Hekau is exactly why I did not want to attend Harvard. He/she is coming off as a flat out intellectual snob. Try being brilliant but now showing off, you will represent your school and yourself much better.</p>
<p>my comment in post #122 was directed at bacardi, not hekau.</p>
<p>This thread hasn't been Duke's finest hour on CC which is probably a delightful occurrence for the OP (Berries N Cream). Frankly, I think that many of the posts in this thread make a good case for changing the thread's title from "Duke is overrated" to "Investment Banking is overrated." </p>
<p>In any event, I continue to think that Duke is a terrific college with a breadth and depth of undergraduate experience, in and out of the classroom, that can only be matched by a handful of top colleges.</p>
<p>Hekau is a parent(not an intellectual snob), a parent who doesn't have any problems with college style drinking or having fun. I took issue with an attitude coming from a 'soon to be in the adult world' student who couldn't defend his school without sounding like a twelve year old.(Please reread the thread and take note of how belligerent TTP actually is)</p>
<p>Why is it that a few Duke students on this thread seem to feel the need to pound their chests and declare every other school is vastly inferior? Only Duke students work out? Only Duke students party? Only Duke students drink the right alcohol as apparently, white wine is a fey drink that only 'intellectual' Chicago students drink. Only Duke students win important jobs, and only Duke students are healthy, wealthy and wise.</p>
<p>When I first saw this thread I rolled my eyes, it just seemed like a very immature thing to say...Duke is overrated. I still believe, it's an immature thing to say about such a fantastic school. But, there is no way any school would want it's student image defined by TTP. And Clay Soul, do read what TTP has to say about Brown on the Duke forum.</p>
<p>UCBChemEgrad, I should have apologized irregardless. I had recieved a PM from a current Duke student who was hurt by my statements and wanted me to know that TTP did not represent the average Duke student. I knew this already but wanted to apologize to this student and others.</p>
<p>Evil Asian- Again, that is a silly generalization that "Ivy kids don't work out" (as much). For one thing, a large number of them are varsity athletes! The athletic facilities at Penn, for one, get heavy use and are state of the art. The weather doesn't always lend itself to outdoor activities the way it does in Durham, but I'm sure someone as smart as yourself must have factored that in before making such an absurd comment. I guess Duke must screen applicants to make sure they don't get a high percentage of slugs. </p>
<p>Agree with Hawkette- if ttp is typical of what Duke is turning out (which I doubt) and IBanking is taking on, God help us.</p>
<p>what is typical Duke grad?</p>
<p>My S has decided to serve his country and will be commissioned as an officer in the army on July 4. He is a brilliant student (and athlete) with lots of opportunities. He made a tough decision (I wasn't thrilled at first) and has decided to wait for his chance to make lots of money!! Sorry, he has no interest in I-banking. He will continue his education, but he will also serve his country for a few years, either in the National Guard or active duty. His girlfriend will be pursuing her PHD, and doing research in pediatric neuroscience , a five year program without a lot of monetary reward. She could have done anything she wanted to do as well, as she wil be graduating near the very top of her class. She is also an amazing musician and athlete.</p>
<p>Yup, just a couple of typical Duke grads....:rolleyes:</p>
<p>Hekau, last time I checked, parents can be intellectual snobs too. I know some 10 year old who would also qualify. It's an attitude, not an age. </p>
<p>I will read his comments of curiosity, but it probably won't bother me because I realize that only people who actually attend a school can know what it's actually like.</p>