I am interested to know, having committed to Duke happily, what would you think some of Duke’s weaknesses are, especially when compared to the Ivy Leagues, University of Chicago, Stanford, Northwestern, MIT?
Obviously, I am a Blue Devil for life now, and have heard only great things about Duke. But, on the other side of the coin, what is a weakness? It can be academic, in terms of job placement, or social, or prestige, or anything, really?
For example, to Duke alumni, have you ever had the “pleasure” of working with an elitist individual from Harvard or Princeton that looked DOWN on Duke, as ridiculous as that may be? Have you ever been in a work scenario surrounded by individuals from other elite institutions, and felt as if being from Duke was not a “strength”?
Wow, I am surprised and a little disappointed. NO opinions, after 75 views?
@lb43823
You should be happy that nobody responded as obviously there are no weaknesses with Duke.
@StevenToCollege This is exactly the kind of partisan response I did not want. It is actually quite disturbing that people cannot be objective. If there were no weaknesses to Duke, everyone in the world would want Duke and regard it as the best university in the world.
^I guess “too much school spirit” could be a weakness then.
For us, their weakness was their financial aid. S doesn’t like the climate in Durham. He did a couple of DukeTIP sessions at the school. We’re told drinking is excessive. The quality of their education was never in question.
I’m not a student, just a proud parent, but I can give you my humble opinion regarding a few of the minor weaknesses: the freshman food plan is very bad, the food in general is not the best (but that’s probably because of the construction on the new student union), cell phone reception is very spotty, wifi reception is often bad, student health is almost useless (but CAPS is great), and the bus system, which you are almost forced to use because of the split campuses, is overcrowded and slow.
On the other hand, these are minor, and the same or similar situations exist at almost any top school. If the op had asked about positives, I’d start with the very small classes and very accessible professors and go from there.
We had one kid at Duke and another at Princeton and Princeton’s financial aid was better.
I see. Does anyone have any complaints about the following?
- Underlying racial tension (not too severe, but noticeable)
- Job prospects less than those of peer schools? Would I be able to land a job from Duke just as easily as at one of the other schools, with similar income and prestige of company?
- Food plans (Why do you think Duke hasn’t fixed this)? I have noticed, their food plan is really bad. 12 meals a week? That’s awful.
- Lack in recognition in certain departments.
@spuding102 Thanks! Wait, even for students in Pratt, classes span over different departments? I know Trinity has some distribution requirements, so thats why the classes span different departments.
Also, what are the most recognized departments at Duke in your opinion? I know BME is definitely top two or three in the nation.
@Ib43823: Statistics. Duke has the best Bayesian Statistics center in the nation. Our Public Policy major is also renowned.
@MBVLoveless Statistics, really? I heard their economics department was also top-notch as well (among their better ones), right?
From a Harvard professor/renowned figure in the field of Statistics: http://www.quora.com/Which-college-has-the-strongest-undergraduate-statistics-program/answer/Joe-Blitzstein
I think we were ranked #1 this year according to usatoday for economics, and while not everyone agrees with their rankings, it should be safe to assume that our econ department is at least pretty good.
@lb43823
Yes even for students in Pratt. While they need to fulfill less distribution requirements, they still take classes from multiple different departments-think math,bio, chem, physics, engineering ext…
In terms of the best department, Im not really sure. Some notable ones are econ, pub pol, stats, bio…
there are surely many more that are notable that I am not sure of but I’m sure a quick google search could provide the answer on any one department.
I believe I can give an appropriate reply. I am totally pro-Duke and believe that for most major students, Duke offers the best experience in the country. Best as in, as good as any other school with only a few schools in that category. I am not going to name them, to provoke a blizzard of opinion. But Duke’s weaknesses are pretty obvious, in comparison to those other schools. First, while a very wealthy school, it is less wealthy than Princeton, Harvard, Stanford and thus its financial aid is weaker. Second, Duke is not an arts school. Its music and arts programs are vibrant and have made great progress over time. I would strongly recommend them to anyone. However, you can’t say that Duke’s theatre program is the equal of Northwestern for example. Also, you couldn’t compare the Duke art museum with say Princeton’s. However, Duke is making a 100 million dollar additional investment in an art center, so we are only talking a comparative weakness. I also think that the housing may be a weakness for some. It is a blend of different concepts, trying to be all things to all people. It largely works, but doesn’t have the uniform approach of Yale or Rice. That being said, in all other areas Duke is exceptional, science, economics, engineering match up or exceed every other school.
@manyloyalties thanks for the response!
The Duke meal plan is not “12 meals a week.” Whoever told you that didn’t understand.
You get 12 swipes a week at the East Campus cafeteria AND 500+ food points to spend at other eateries on and around campus.
@StanManYeah Yes, I realize that. But even 500 food points may not always be enough to have the 9 remaining meals a week. It’s food plan is not terrible, but is definitely not stellar or phenomenal. I have a friend who goes to Stevens Institute of Technology, not the same NRU caliber as Duke, and also much smaller, but he has unlimited meals whenever he wants. Now that is stellar! 