<p>Question: Duke is, without question, the South's premier university. But how is it viewed elsewhere in the country?</p>
<p>In the South, after Duke you can drive down to Atlanta or up to Richmond and land a good job.</p>
<p>Up North, would a lower-ranked but older college, say Brown, Dartmouth, or Cornell - be more respected/better job prospects?</p>
<p>Why go somewhere else? The Research Triangle Park is an excellent place for jobs as well. :D</p>
<p>Northern colleges would be respected more up north, simply for the sake of a higher reputation AND familiarity.</p>
<p>Research Triangle vs. NYC/Boston/even philly or DC....I don't think you can compare (not just in terms of overall job prospects/salaries, but also a much more cosmopolitan and exciting location for a just-out-of-college 20something).</p>
<p>Well, compared to those places, yes, but going to Richmond? Nahhh. At least not for me.</p>
<p>i love that i'm going to be a theater major and this all doesn't really apply to me</p>
<p>yeah Raleigh-Durham is def not as cosmopolitan as major cities such as Boston, Philly, NYC, WashDC, Miami, etc..... but a Duke degree, IMO, is nationally recognized - it goes beyond mere regional recognition,</p>
<p>This thread is actually somewhat ironic for me...I'm from NY, and my roommate here is from NC. We've actually talked MANY times about how funny we think it is that apparently at her school, it wasn't considered very "special" to get into Duke, but on Long Island, I told people I was going to Duke and they'd actually stare at me in awe. Before I even started here, I was shopping for dorm stuff at Bed Bath & Beyond and the second I mentioned that I needed it sent to Duke, everyone around me just went silent and I heard someone say "Wow." That was pretty....unexpected. And kinda cool, I gotta say. But anyway, coming from that dynamic, it's pretty funny to see people feeling the reverse way about the situation. Trust me, the Duke name has PLENTY of recognition everywhere in this country. </p>
<p>Anyway, in the end, the Duke name will get you far no matter where you are. It's an amazing school, and anyone fortunate enough to be here can tell you that in an instant.</p>
<p>As far as job prospects go, don't worry about it. There's a sign in the West Union that shows where Duke grads go after graduating. As I recall, about 25% stay in North Carolina, 25% go to either DC or NYC (can't remember which), and the rest go to other places, so it definitely has job placement across the US (what BCG said about the Duke name).</p>
<p>Yeah I'm from the northeast as well and whenever I tell people I go to Duke they always have some comment like "fancy" or "smartypants" or "that's hot" or whatever. But remember that the name of the school you went to can only get you so far... and it's not even really that far.</p>
<p>Duke is not well respected in the true south. It may be the best university physically located in the south, but most southerners would choose uva, dubyanell or vandy over it. If you are looking for a job as a lawyer, etc. in the south that requires connections Duke won't help much. Duke is full of people from New Jersey that think they are southern-- not saying this is bad, certainly it is respected in the north as people previously stated.</p>
<p>I've lived in North Carolina all of my life, and do you have any IDEA how many people I've run into who graduated from Duke? I've come a lot more UNC-CH grads, but that's to be expected. Equal amounts of Duke students (25% each) are from the Northeast and Southeast. Duke is well repected in the South, unless perhaps North Carolina isn't in the true South? Although many in-staters prefer UNC, UVa, W&M, etc., Duke is still very popular in the South. </p>
<p>Cities like Charlotte, Richmond, and the other Southern banking cities are absolutely full of northern transplants (or displaced yankees, as some call them), and Duke grads fit right in.</p>
<p>No offense, but the "true South" is, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent. You're not going to make a future on the back of a Confederate flag pickup truck. The South's (our, I'm in Florida) future, for better or for worse, will be determined by "northern" industries like law and finance.
If you haven't noticed, much of the South, especially of the successful group of people, hails from the north. The South is rapidly becoming perhaps America's top economic region (give us a couple more decades). Duke, I realize, is extremely well situated for that to happen.</p>
<p>Duke may be well positioned for northerners, but as people in Buckhead, Memphis, Mongomery etc. continue to control politics and power Duke won't mean anything more than new money or "displaced northerner"</p>
<p>Here's my "western" perspective from California: my niece from CA graduated from Duke, worked in DC, and is now a successful lawyer in LA. A Duke degree is a plus throughout the US.</p>
<p>Well, from the Midwest (ie, Missouri), what answer is there except duh? Duke is easily on par - if not higher - than the Ivys. It has the name recognition, but is large enough and diverse enough to provide many majors and is well known for research. Honestly, is there any part of the country where Duke ISN'T considered a premier institution?</p>
<p>1) As recently as 10 years ago, Duke was widely considered (both in the South and particularly throughout the country) a safety school for folks who didn't get into any of the real top schools -- often for wealthy, second-tier students from NY/NJ. Much of its national reputation stemmed only from its basketball team.</p>
<p>2) That has changed somewhat in recent years, largely due to (a) Unusually high rankings from questionable sources such as US News, (b) Enhancement of the student body through full-tuition scholarships (in essence "buying" students who eventually win Rhodes/Marshall/Goldwater/Putnam/Truman/etc scholarships thereby appearing to boost the school's reputation -- a brilliant marketing tool), and (c) Geographic advantages from being considered the "top" school in the South, which is growing rapidly ... whereas the Northeast could be regarded as decaying slowly. Unlike Northeastern (or West coast) schools, there aren't as many natural "competitors" for top students/faculty in the South.</p>
<p>3) The current reality is that Duke is a wonderful school, but is much closer to Cornell (or even Vanderbilt) in terms of national reputation than to Princeton. Having said that, Duke has definitely increased its stature in recent years ... whereas those others have been much more stagnant.</p>
<p>I think we should all just relax. Bottom line: Duke is a fantastic school, and any differences between it and any other fantastic school is so small that it is not worthwhile scrutinizing.</p>
<p>I believe NYCFan may have a new/other moniker. Welcome to our board.</p>
<p>Duke has improved its rep in a similar way to Penn, as the pool of qualified applicant expands, they all can't fit into the schools traditionally seen at the top. What people don't understand on this board is that the US is not a meritocracy. Who you meet will determine jobs much more than what some ranking some BS newspaper gives it. The people giving grads jobs today will not respect Duke etc. the same way all the high schoolers drooling over USNWR will, especially in the South.</p>
<p>People giving grads jobs already do respect Duke, that's one of the reasons its reputation is expanding. Hundreds of companies recruit on campus.
As for the expanding applicant pool, you're right. But who cares how it happens, the point is, that the student bodies at Penn, Duke, and just about every single other top school is improving. What's your point?</p>