<p>is it Duke really really prestigious in the United States? 'cause I'm not sure, but I don't think Duke is that prestigious internationally!..</p>
<p>I dunno but Duke, like Brown, Penn, Georgetown, NYU, and now WashU, is a school that has improved greatly over the decades. It may be why it does not have the prestige of comparable schools (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Caltech) internationally, if that is the case.</p>
<p>yeah that ^ must be why!..<br>
my brother, who lives in the US is like "woa Duke is a great school! really prestigious here! it's amazing it has accepted u.. blah bla bla.." and all my family here is like "yeah it must be a great school.." ...anyways I love DUKE!! :D</p>
<p>Duke's applications were down 4.6% this year <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/530776.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/530776.html</a> when most top schools were up 5-10%. This affects acceptance rate which affects rankings which further reduces # of applications (as much as I hate rankings, they have been correlated with # of applications).</p>
<p>Still, it's a great school. Couldn't convince my D to apply there - too close to home.</p>
<p>The article reports the application number was 18,495. In fact, it was over 19,100. The dip this year was around 1%. Interestingly, Yale apps fell a whopping 9%. </p>
<p>Duke's ranking has been pretty secure over the years because its US NEWS overall score's been a big three, four points higher than the Columbia, Dartmouth, Chicago cluster. Something like 94 to 91. I don't know what the scores were last year, but that's the thing to look for.</p>
<p>The minimal dip this year probably just had to do with the lacrosse scandal, so I doubt it would affect Duke in any ranking. And, yeah, if anyone should be worrying about applicants going down (and probably yield as well), it's probably Yale.</p>
<p>Plus, Duke's announced DukeEngage recently, too, which'll definitely (in my opinion, at least) be looked upon quite favorably by whomever decides the fate of that particular list.</p>
<p>First of all, college application numbers tend to be cyclic -- that is, schools tend to have a good year followed by a bad year. People are less likely to apply after a year with a lot of applicants and more likely to apply after a year with few applicants. Last year was a record-setting year for Duke (as for Yale, which was down 9% this year), so it's almost surprising that Duke's drop-off was only 1%.</p>
<p>Also, about U.S. News rankings: I suspect we were down this year because they wanted a story after the lacrosse scandal, not because of any objective decline in the quality of the school.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I heard from a student that Duke's USNews ranking is dropping because of the excessive partying by students. Is this true?
[/quote]
Yes, I'm afraid it's true. Ever since Duke usurped the "#1 party school" title (far surpassing schools like CSU Chico), academics have gone down the tube. Duke students can't learn because they're drunk or have hangovers, the faculty party at Shooters, and I've heard rumors about out of control naked parties in the library!!!!!!</p>
<p>:rolleyes:</p>
<p>^^Not true. There's no more partying at Duke than there is at any other top school. </p>
<p>The rankings fell because of the lacrosse scandal. Academics are still top notch, but it's very much a "work hard, play hard" mentality for a lot of students. It's an art form, really.</p>
<p>"I've heard rumors about out of control naked parties in the library!!!!!!"
Maybe at Brown, but not at Duke. Sorry to burst your bubble.</p>
<p>I think Warbler was being sarcastic sweetsasami...:D</p>
<p>On second thought...why not have another beer? You sound way too sober :D</p>
<p>it cant really get much higher</p>
<p>And you say that based on...? <em>looks around for obvious signs of decay and ruin</em></p>
<p>Wow. That went right over sweetsasami's head.</p>
<p>It will always be hard to compete against Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, and CIT.</p>
<p>Hard, but that's only 5 schools. I'm sure with a little effort, we can catch Penn.</p>
<p>Why is Caltech even considered that good of a school folks? It's amazing at getting its students prestigious engineering careers but its surely lacking in the areas of law/business when compared to some of its peer schools. Most schools have a department/professional path that's not so great(Harvard engineering, Yale physics/math, etc.) but Duke is so well-rounded in almost every area.</p>
<p>Duke should be in the top 5 again in the coming years since I heard that the universiity is hiring brand-new/top-notch professors for its Economics/Political Science departments in addition to the new DukeEngage program that its introducing.</p>
<p>Within the next 2 years, it will be top 5. Princeton will fall a lot since it's getting rid of ED. Harvard will go down a spot or two, but it'll still be up there. In 2010, it'll be Yale, Harvard, Duke, Stanford, and somewhere else.</p>
<p>Caltech doesn't have any law degrees. No prelaw major, no law grad school. Trying to say that Caltech is not a good school because it doesn't have a good law program or business program is like saying Tiger Woods is a bad golfer because he's not good at basketball. I'd agree with you that Duke is a well-rounded school (although personally I don't think its engineering is that great). That being said, for many students who are sure that they want to major in math, science, or engineering it certainly makes sense to attend one of the world leaders in those fields ;-)</p>
<p>Duke's a solid top 10 school. I don't think it will break the top 5 however anytime soon on a consistent basis. It seems a lot of eyebrows are raised when it does get a really high ranking. As for Caltech, I think us Californians like to include it since MIT is in the discussion--even though MIT offers more departments, majors etc.</p>
<p>
[quote]
In 2010, it'll be Yale, Harvard, Duke, Stanford, and somewhere else.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Heh. Alright, just don't hold your breath.</p>