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[QUOTE=cdz512]
When was the first time you heard that Dartmouth was a college? As an Ivy?
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Also, when was the first time you learned that UPenn was a private school?</p>
<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>
<p>Vbball, your argument is very flawed. You relied on ranking and false stereotype. And those ranking and false stereotype totally weakens your argument. </p>
<p>I think they are equal in prestige at undergrad level. You can’t rank one above another (and this goes for all top schools). There is a reason why they are often considered a equivalent to HYPSM. Duke isn’t lower than WashU in grad school. Ranking is totally pointless when you get up to the top universities. It simply is really impossible to ranking one med school, one place higher when it comes to the top 10-20 med schools. You rely too much on stereotypes. And Duke doesn’t get it’s rap from Basketball alone, Duke’s academics is known all across the country and people know that. Sure Duke likes it’s athletics but their student’s have been great. If they were just about sports, they won’t be known for their BME, their Law, Business, Undergrad med school acceptance rate (the percent of students accepted to med school), etc. There is also the fact that Duke Hospital has been considered one of the top hospital in the US for a long time (Hence why Senator Ted Kennedy decided to go there). Top hospital = great education opportunity, great internship, great clinical experience, etc.</p>
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Wow stereotyping aren’t we. Honestly, you need to research more about Duke rather than relying on stereotypes. Duke has a huge amount of it’s population coming from middle class family. Just because it is located in the south where there were a lot of white people owning slaves doesn’t mean that Duke is preppy. And I guaranteed that if you go to Duke, you will see something totally different.</p>
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When was the last time WashU made it to NCAA? I mean even Cornell made it.</p>
<p>Honestly, relying on stereotypes that are false (Duke is preppy? Duke gets it’s rap because of b-ball?) and ranking makes your argument totally flawed.</p>
<p>^Not entirely flawed. </p>
<p>Duke definitely is “preppy” at least compared to WashU. Part of the reason I chose WashU was because I’d fit in better at WashU.
You can most certainly tell that there’s a different air between the two schools.
Doesn’t make one better or worse than the other, just different.</p>
<p>For the record, I almost went to Duke. It was a decision that came down to the last day pretty much.</p>
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Um… what?<br>
I don’t know jack about college sports, but how does one “make it to NCAA”? If you’re talking about an NCAA div 1 championship, you clearly don’t get the idea that they have- just in division 3.<br>
Being a d3 school, WashU isn’t really eligible to go to a d1 championship.</p>
<p>@cdz512:</p>
<p>i wasn’t making an argument. i introduced my post with “this varies from person to person.” my entire post was what I think about the difference between these 3 schools. i maintain that all 3 schools are great and there isn’t a large difference between them, by and large.</p>
<p>i never made any absolute statements. this is a site where people share opinions and commentary, which is what i did. i wasn’t debating, arguing, or purporting to put forward fact. </p>
<p>i have been to Duke, and I had a <em>general</em> perception that is was rather preppy. clearly, not every one is. schools have a very diverse population. but from my brief experience at Duke, and during my time at Wash U, i believe that Duke is comparatively a more preppy school. i never stated that Duke IS a preppy school. I was commenting on my observations that Duke seemed to be, generally, more preppy and conservative than Wash U. </p>
<p>Wash U won THREE NCAA division 3 championships last year. we won, again, for basketball this year. We aren’t a D1 school. We’re a D3 school, that is part of NCAA. NCAA has 3 divisions. We don’t compete against D1 schools.</p>
<p>furthermore, when I commented about Duke’s reputation because of sports, I said “there are some people who make the following argument… but I do not count myself among these people.” I don’t make that argument and I don’t agree with it. But there are people who do.</p>
<p>comparing schools kinda does come down to rankings and stereotypes, as far as an internet discussion is concerned. </p>
<p>as far as actually deciding where to go, listen to what people say, take it with a grain of salt, and visit the schools if at all possible to try to get a feel for it all on your own. Because it really is very much about perceptions and criteria that only apply on a person-by-person basis.</p>
<p>I don’t know a thing about Duke though, so i’ll just step aside now…</p>