<p>Try to give as unbiased an opinion as possible</p>
<p>I want to be a political science major and I definitely give Duke extra kudos for being the most gorgeous campus I have ever seen. I'm from Maryland, raised by two Maryland alumni so my dad does not want me to go and he certainly won't let me be a Crazie. However, he thinks the academics are good (I guess)</p>
<p>How does Duke receive Maryland fans, anyway?</p>
<p>With the same level of indifference that they would treat any other Big Ten school. :D</p>
<p>the summer of 2012 after seeing the political science building at UNC… it was full of old books piled everywhere near elevator, offices were a complete mess, graffitti all over walls on bottom floor, complete disorganization… ugly rooms, old stained beat up couch in hallway near elevator… entire building a complete turnoff and shows no respect… it was awful… all the beauty of the rest of the school meant nothing… we immediately eliminated UNC for our child</p>
<p>This post is not a slam against UNC-CH, which I believe is among the best large, public universities in our nation. However, Duke is in a rather different category (reputation/domestic- and international-stature for undergraduate, graduate and professional school programs as well as admissions selectivity in all three areas). Recognizing that analyses like U. S. News’ are imperfect, just consider that Duke ranks #8 among National Universities, while UNC-CH is assessed as #30 (undergraduate program focused); that a very substantial difference. Moreover, Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy (which offers undergraduate and Masters/PhD degrees) has a stellar reputation and is expanding its scope quite rapidly. Sanford is not the Political Science Department, of course, but many individuals take courses from both entities.</p>
<p>Duke. No contest.</p>
<p>As a current Duke student who will be (potentially) majoring in political science, I can tell you that the programs at Duke are top notch. I took two political science courses my first semester and they were by far my favorite classes that I’ve taken during freshman year. I honestly don’t know much about UNC’s political science department, but I think overall TopTier hit it right on the head. Both schools are fantastic places to get an education, however, Duke is overall considered to be a more prestigious school. And your dad is right, by the way - Duke’s academics are pretty darn good.</p>
<p>Now, speaking as an avid Cameron Crazie, let me tell you that Maryland is not our rival. Sorry. You never have been and you never will be 
We consider y’all to be a nuisance we have to swat at now and again - nothing to lose sleep over. We’re not huge fans of the Terps down here, but we don’t give you too much thought, either. Truth be told, we’re happy y’all are leaving for the Big 10. Please tell your teams to never come back. But don’t worry, you would be fine going to school here. As long as you’re not a Carolina fan, we don’t have any issues.</p>
<p>yes Duke is definitely better but @TopTier u cannot use USNews to compare a public university to a private university.</p>
<p>Dream…, Had the same impression as you after visiting UNC with D last year. Trash, old carpets, paint chipping off walls, and a guy in a bow tie telling us how great they are. After 30 minutes she was ready to leave.</p>
<p>JRswish: Of course you can. I would agree that public and private institutions frequently have differing missions, approaches, methodologies, and so forth; however, to suggest they cannot be compared, even roughly, seems to be a little absurd.</p>
<p>yes ofc they can be compared. but not thru USNews rankings. u cant say Cal is not top 20 right.</p>
<p>JRswish: I am not at all certain Berkeley’s current #21 U S News ranking is incorrect. Candidly, I don’t know enough to be absolutely sure, and I suspect you may not either. And that’s the fundamental point. We all have opinions, however, there are some recognized experts whose data, methodology, analyses, and so forth has stood the test of time to become widely accepted. Like it or not – and I would agree their conclusions are FAR from perfect and their methodology may have some biases – U S News is probably the most frequently employed source of summary-level undergraduate rating information. Therefore, who should I trust, you or U S News?</p>
<p>Berkeley should be ranked far higher than 21 if graduate schools are taken into consideration. However, 21 seems perfectly fine if the ranking is focused exclusively on the quality of undergraduate education provided by an institution.</p>
<p>GF: I agree. US News has separate rankings for graduate and professional schools; The ones to which this thread refers are exclusively undergraduate degree/program-oriented.</p>
<p>Duke is a smaller school and the their percentage of ueber top students in their population is far higher than UNC. I would put the top UNC students up with the top Duke students without a hesitation, but because of its size and because it is a state school, you are going to get more top drawer academians in the undergraduate student body at Duke. That can affect the level at which material is covered and the standards for the work. Also, you will get a lot more diversity, including geographics within the US at Duke as UNC has more limiting quotas for selecting OOS than does Duke</p>
<p>I am disturbed about reading the unfavorable visit reports about UNC. When I visited the school some years ago, it was pristine, and beautiful Some years later, reports that the school was not showing well were drifting around and that was from returning alums. Please do report this to the Admissions Office. It’s a shame when some controllable things like upkeep is affecting the impressions of the school.</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse, I agree with you. I’m a current Duke student so I find my way over to Chapel Hill fairly often, and I happen to think that it’s a beautiful campus. I did not have a negative impression at all (well, other than my Duke bias, of course). I have never seen any buildings that were in a state of disrepair or anything like that. Granted, I’ve only been in a few, but they were all perfectly fine to me. The dorm rooms I’ve been in are pretty nice, too.</p>
<p>splash, take a look inside the political science building at UNC and see what a state of disrepair, disorganization, completely trashed…etc. it is in…maybe they have demolished it since the summer of 2012? I have not seen the political science building at Duke but compare the UNC one to the gorgeous fairly new political science building with beautiful modern large pristine classrooms and offices at the University of Virginia (UVA) (with a Starbucks in the basement) and what parent would ever consider UNC after that? The original poster was specifically asking for a political science major.</p>
<p>@dreamingofoxford, it’s certainly possible that the political science building is in a state of disrepair. I’ve never personally been in it, but in the extensive time I’ve spent on UNC’s campus I’ve never seen anything to suggest that a building would be so neglected. However, if that’s what you saw, then I’m sure that’s what it looks like. I’m just very surprised by your report; I’ll make sure to take a peek the next time I’m over there. Any time there’s a chance to prove Duke’s superiority to UNC, I’ll take it ;)</p>
<p>Is this even a question? LOL</p>
<p>^^ pretty much haha</p>