<p>this will vary from person-to-person.</p>
<p>for me, as a person, i think more people in the general public know of the Duke “name” than Wash U, because of basketball. Average Joe Schmo on the street likely has no idea that duke also is an academic powerhouse in addition to an athletic powerhouse. However, Wash U has won the D3 basketball championship for the past 2 years in a row… when was the last time Duke won? :p</p>
<p>All jokes aside, while Duke may be more of a household name (again, likely due to sports), I think Wash U may hold more regard in terms of undergrad prestige. Graduate schools may be about equal… Duke’s law school is better than Wash U’s, but Wash U has a bunch of Top 10 and several Top 5 grad schools that Duke doesn’t.</p>
<p>household name recognition may vary from region of the country. in the midwest, it seems that Wash U holds a lot more cachet than Duke, but I’m sure in the Southeast and the South in general, than Duke is probably more reputable.</p>
<p>There are some people out there (i don’t include myself in this), that deride D1 schools within the top-tier academic group, because it might be thought that as a D1 school, the quality of their athletes is significantly less than every one else they accept. the top athletes get a significant boost and academics aren’t as nearly as important as everyone else. Among D1 schools, Duke is by far and away the best option. But, because Duke is a very top-tier school in terms of academics, you gotta deal with the concern sometimes that there may be a big discrepancy between the qualifications and readiness of athletes versus the other 98% of the school. Some students don’t want to go to a school where some percentage of the school literally got in because of sports… and not only that, but they also got money because of sports. </p>
<p>You can’t go wrong with either school. they have similar student body sizes, very similar architecture, and it would be impossible to discern even a small difference in general educational quality. Duke’s culture is going to be more “yeah go D1 sports let’s paint our faces”, while Wash U is more laid back and into other activities. Duke is generally a lot more conservative and preppy, while Wash U has midwestern vibe and is rather liberal. Go wherever you think you’ll fit in more.</p>