<p>Just wondering. Me and my friends were debating this. I personally think USNWR has too much sway, but nevertheless it is still a fact of life. Duke dropping from the top 10 next year, if that happens, could have bigger implications than people realize for us.</p>
<p>Also, do you think we will go up or down next year? And how are the rankings even decided?</p>
<p>Discuss. :)</p>
<p>Duke’s been on the ranking fairy’s naughty list because her sacred shrine, which used to exist in the far western corner of the Perkins basement microfilm room, has been replaced by the travesty know as the Sausage Link. As a consequence, the Ancient Order of the Bushy Tailed Main Quad Squirrels were deprived of their annual pilgrimage of the nut festival which culminated in the sacrifice of the acorn at the altar of the ranking fairy. When this blasphemous action on the part of Duke and the subsequent protests of her loyal and favored subjects reached the ears of the ranking fairy, she vowed holy vengeance in her towering rage until the day when a replacement shrine is built and her minions can once again pay homage to her majesty.</p>
<p>I think SBR is right.</p>
<p>Let’s see - USNWR makes up its own criteria for a number of categories - Best Leaders, Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, Best Places to Retire, Best Cars & Trucks, Best Hospitals and on and on.</p>
<p>Can anyone say marketing ploy - how many magazines do you think they sell for one of their “Best of …” issues?</p>
<p>They should have a Best of College Rankings, to definitively end the confusion on this murky topic once and for all.</p>
<p>How come? Because of BS.</p>
<p>^ Totally ruined the vibe…</p>
<p>BS stands for Bushy-tailed Squirrels… I’d say he was just reiterating your point, SBR.</p>
<p>Bah it could also stand for Boring Statistics which is where we don’t want to go at all. Besides I said Bushy Tailed Main Quad Squirrels. I better not hear about those E-quad squirrels slacking on their work to do nutty sacrificial rites…</p>
<p>Because the schools between 5-10 are so closely bunched that the slightest random wiggle in data can shuffle them. Maybe, for instance, the 6-year graduation rate dropped a couple of percentage points, pushing the school several spots lower on the retention & graduation ranking.</p>
<p>The lacrosse incident was the start of the decline in the school’s national reputation, especially with all of the media coverage about Duke’s culture. Whether or not the rape occurred, it still highlighted the negative aspects of Duke’s non-academic culture, such as what was depicted in the Rolling Stone article. </p>
<p>I personally was admitted at the time when Duke was in the #5 area, and after attending, I feel that it was overrated at that time. While the faculty was strong, I did not find the quality of the students particularly high. Many seemed to be admitted for family connections or whatever, rather than on merit.</p>
<p>I have to agree with law_applicant - media coverage about Duke has done it no favors. Also compare Duke’s website to those of other universities in the same category. And President Brodhead keeps a very low profile compared to similar universities. The last article I read about him included the fact that he drives from the President’s house on campus to his office on campus rather than walking.</p>
<p>The university was named a Great College to Work For by the Chronicle of Higher Education in 2008 and 2009. But Residential Housing just experienced another glitch in housing selection. In three years they have never had housing selection without some sort of problem. Now, if it affected employees you can bet it would be fixed right away, but anything that affects students receives short shrift. It’s disappointing to say the least.</p>
<p>It’s sad that any commenter would begin a sentence with “Whether or not the rape occurred…” more than three years after it was comprehensively demonstrated that the allegations were a preposterous hoax.</p>
<p>What killed Duke’s reputation was the response of a large portion of the faculty, the administration, and a non-trivial section of the student body, who went into a delighted frenzy of political correctness and jumped at the opportunity to condemn everything white, male and middle class, and the hell with the welfare of their own students and classmates.</p>