I was recently admitted to Duke among many other wonderful institutions. I absolutely love Duke’s tight knight, social, and collaborative community that many of its peer institutions seem to lack. And while I am entering as a premed (psychology and neuroscience major), I do (unfortunately) care about the prestige of the undergraduate school I attend. Because I’ve always lived in California, where schools like Duke tend to be overshadowed by Stanford, I don’t think I’ve got an accurate grasp of Duke’s name recognition and prestige. Can someone speak to this? Thanks!
Also, how does Duke compare to other schools in the South? I was also admitted to Vanderbilt and Rice.
To answer your question, in the South Duke is considered more prestigious than Vanderbilt & Rice. But that should not affect your decision as much as the quality of offerings in your majors–psychology & neuroscience as all three should be strong in those disciplines.
You should take the thread below with a grain of salt, but it is a good reflection of the relative prestige of schools based on the broad views of CC participants:
To summarize the 36-page thread, Duke is very marginally below HYPSM and equal to or above the rest. That said, as mentioned above, the key issue is fit.
Is it possible for a prospective student to have an admission tour of North Carolina @ chapel Hill and Duke university in one day? Or are these two universities are located too far apart to do so in a single day.
Trying to make a plan for summer visit to these universities.Thanks
@nynycasino1234 to answer your question, the Robertson bus (which connects Duke to UNC) literally only takes 15 minutes to get from one campus to the other.
If you want a good comparison of prestige, take a look at their acceptance rate and test scores and gpa, as well as the awards that duke students get, and compare it to Stanford and the Ivies, and you’ll see that it’s pretty close. I heard this year their RD went down to 6.7% and ED was 22%, which is super frightening anyone like me who plans to apply ED next year! Congrats on your acceptance! That’s an incredible achievement! You should be so proud of your hard work!
Any university in the world would be overshadowed by Stanford at the moment. Duke compares very favorably to schools like Rice, Vanderbilt, and the non-HYPC Ivies.
Stanford…the only school that makes even Duke look like a slacker! Haha. Seriously, there are so few schools that can say they are better than Duke. You can almost count them on one hand, (hint).
@nynycasino1234 , as noted above, it is certainly possible to tour both UNC and Duke in a day. Is it advisable? No, unless you are really rushed for time, or plan to return for another visit.
We made the mistake of visiting both in one day. First, with the information session, tour, visiting a class, talking to people, you just run out of time and energy. Second, everything about Duke is first rate & professional; the admissions office, guides, everyone–they know what they are doing. Carolina, not so much (highly variable experience depending on the admissions officer and guide). I think you need a separate day to give each school a fair shake.
The upshot of our rushed visit was our daughter loved Duke, and put UNC at the bottom of her list. (But it worked out: she still loves Duke as a student there.)
