<p>@ OP, I don't know if it matters to you or not, but Duke definitely has the most prestige out of the 3 with both the average person and academia (except for Georgetown's School of Foreign Service).</p>
<p>^ Lay "prestige" and academic prestige are two diff. things.</p>
<p>Arguably, UM has more academic prestige than Duke.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Duke however would look a lot better to me if it had a considerably better econ program than Michigan.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Duke's econ isn't even ranked in the top-20 while Michigan's is. Duke's program is on par at best, let alone "considerably better", unless there's a huge disconnect between the undergrad and grad programs. We won't know if this is the case unless some Michigan econ majors come here to tell us.</p>
<p>^ And yet somehow, people think Duke's econ is top-tier.</p>
<p>I will get flamed for this but this is my experience and what I have seen from peers, heard from college counselors and parents. Duke is definitely considered a notch above Michigan and Gtown in reputation. That is a fact that is hard to dispute and I would recommend that cc has a little bit of an anti duke bias (maybe a lot of North easterners?). Duke is commonly considered to be on par with the ivies, while in most cases (Alexandre a Michigan alumni being an exception) Michigan and gtown are not. Michigan is a great school, but on average the quality of the students will be lower (50% acceptance rate) even though the academics are top notch. Gtown is more in the middle with talented students and good academics, but maybe not to the same extent as either. Duke I think is indisputably the most prestigous.</p>
<p>In my oppinion
Duke>Gtown>Michigan</p>
<p>Gtown and Michigan may be more interchangeable, but duke is certainly the top.</p>
<p>Yes I am ready to be flamed..</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't know if he's actually one of the "Dukies". I just did a search and I think he goes to Berkeley. I know it's kinda funny!
[/quote]
first of all that's a little creepy that you'd stalk me like that and search all of my posts. second, yes i was going to go to berkeley, but after visiting i realized it was not at all what i expected. either way i think we should stick to the topic at hand and not hijack this thread with your witch hunts.</p>
<p>In terms of average freshmen stats: Duke>GTown>Michigan
In terms of quality of academics: Michigan>Duke>GTown</p>
<p>I wouldn't say Duke is a notch above Michigan, Bescraze, unless it excels in every important aspect. It does not. </p>
<p>As for reputation, Duke maybe more regionally well known among laypeople, but it's not "on par with the Ivies" in other places like the West, Northeast, Midwest, International...well, just about everywhere but the South.</p>
<p>Reputationally, all three universities are distinguished in both academic and professional circles. I am sure that among high school students and the average, not-so-knowledgeable parent who relies entirely on the USNWR undergraduate rankings, Duke will have a slight edge over Georgetown and Michigan. However, in the real world, they are all peers. Every reputation rating I have seen (be it Fiske, the USNWR Peer Assessment Score or major companies' traget campus lists) seems to rate those three schools very highly.</p>
<p>Academically, for Economics, Michigan and Duke are roughly equal and both are slightly better than GT. For Engineering, Michigan is better than Duke (except for BME in which case, Duke is actually slightly better than Michigan). Georgetown has no Engineering.</p>
<p>If the OP is interested in IBanking (what's left of that industry anyway), all three schools will open doors. I graduated from Michigan with a sub-3.5 GPA in Economics and I landed jobs with Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Lehman brothers before graduation. Almost every single QUALIFIED (3.5 or higher GPA) Econ major who wanted a job in IBanking was placed, mostly in top tier IBanks. I am pretty sure the same applies to Duke and Georgetown or any other elite university. Of course, given the recent events in the global financial industry, landing a job with an IBank both now and in the foreseeable future is probably going to be a lot tougher. My sources at Michigan tell me that IBanking recruitment activity on campus has declined (albeit marginally) this year.</p>
<p>
[quote]
first of all that's a little creepy that you'd stalk me like that and search all of my posts. second, yes i was going to go to berkeley, but after visiting i realized it was not at all what i expected. either way i think we should stick to the topic at hand and not hijack this thread with your witch hunts.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You call this "creepy"? This is one of the functions of CC. No offense, but you've never given me a reason to believe you actually go to Duke; I simply don't expect so many idiotic comments from anyone that goes to Duke. Apparently, the designer of CC didn't think he/she was giving us a "creepy tool". LOL! </p>
<p>While I am at it, I found that around the decision time, you never asked about Duke vs XYZ. Furthermore, it doesn't appear you had given anything that only Duke students would know. </p>
<p>Yes I digressed but I have given facts and relevant info. On the other hand, you were repeatedly giving false info, as others and I pointed out.</p>
<p>^Also, just few weeks ago, you said you received HPME application. You do sound rather "interesting".</p>
<p>you have way too much time on your hands. find something more productive to do with your life than being a private investigator on CC. ever consider that i'm not the only person who uses this account? you can believe whatever you want though because at the end of the day i could not care less what some creeper on an internet forum thinks. seriously over 5,000 posts that's unbelievable.</p>
<p>hmm information that only duke students would know: tommy's is the best place to get a late night snack.</p>
<p>Interntionally giving false info to perspective students that are seeking advice is unethical. Seeing nothing wrong with that is creepier than anyone just trying to "out" the liars IMHO.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Interntionally
[/quote]
sorry i'm not familiar with that term....</p>
<p>when did i give false info? and don't give me the "duke bme is top in the nation" bs because that's making a mountain out of a molehill.</p>
<p>bottom line, that while michigan's engineering department is overall slightly better than duke's (except bme), it is a large public school and michigan degrees are a dime a dozen. elite private schools like duke offer a more prestigious degree that isn't "watered down"</p>
<p>DukeBlueDevils,</p>
<p>It's obvious you are talking out of your rear end. A MICHIGAN degree (especially at the graduate and professional level) is very prestigious. Duke is mostly well-known for its medical center. In fact, more people INTERNATIONALLY have heard of University of Michigan than Duke. Michigan boasts the largest alumni network in the WORLD. Not Duke. If you talk to anyone applying to competitive graduate schools, they will almost always include Michigan because its peer schools are Harvard, Berkeley, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Columbia, etc.. Michigan has more rated-top 10 departments in almost every field than Duke. </p>
<p>Using your definition, I guess UC Berkeley is a dime-a-dozen, "watered down" degree because it's a large public school even though most people would disagree with you.</p>
<p>you really cant go wrong with either 3. when interviewing for a job- its not gonna matter which of the three u went to- its more gonna matter how you prepared in college/how you interview</p>
<p>Agree with everything Techie said. Again this is another example of people assuming that the most selective university for undergrad is the best university. Michigan is a world-renowned research university, Duke and even much more so Georgetown, aren't.</p>
<p>
[quote]
A MICHIGAN degree (especially at the graduate and professional level) is very prestigious.
[/quote]
obviously you're a little biased to be making that statement, but then again i guess i'm biased too.
[quote]
In fact, more people INTERNATIONALLY have heard of University of Michigan than Duke.
[/quote]
first of all a lot of that probably has to do with michigan football and duke basketball and not academics. second, michigan is a much bigger school, what do you expect?
[quote]
Michigan boasts the largest alumni network in the WORLD
[/quote]
first, i'm guessing Notre Dame has the largest, most relevant alumni network in the world. and again, michigan is probably 3 times the size of duke which means it has 3x the grads hence the larger alumni network.
[quote]
If you talk to anyone applying to competitive graduate schools, they will almost always include Michigan because its peer schools are Harvard, Berkeley, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Columbia, etc.. Michigan has more rated-top 10 departments in almost every field than Duke.
[/quote]
umm we're not talking about graduate programs here so that's irrelevant.
[quote]
Using your definition, I guess UC Berkeley is a dime-a-dozen, "watered down" degree because it's a large public school even though most people would disagree with you.
[/quote]
i was accepted to berkeley out of state and this is exactly part of the reason i turned it down so yes i do agree that public school degrees are a dime-a-dozen. it's simple supply and demand.</p>
<p>If you're so insecure that you have to attend the most selective schools in order to feel special, then apply only to those schools. Public schools are what they are: they have to accept mostly in-state students. That doesn't mean their quality is inferior (in some cases, superior), and all knowledgeable employers and graduate admission officers know that. If a company thinks otherwise, you wouldn't want to work for them anyway, would you?</p>
<p>The fact that the OP is asking his/her questions shows a degree of maturity and substance. We (meaning a certain individual or two here) should try to give factual information whenever possible and not to project our insecurities onto him/her.</p>
<p>While some will hope to advance their school's position by downplaying the USNWR data, I nonetheless think that looking at some data points can go a long way to understanding what one will experience at a college, eg, size, likelihood of graduation, class sizes, academic quality of peers, cost, reputation. Going by virtually every statistical measure found in the USNWR databank, Duke is the clear winner in this group of colleges. </p>
<p>My point is not that students can't have an outstanding experience at any of these three. They certainly can. But there are sharp differences in how they compare across a wide variety of measurements. Such data points will have value for some students looking at these school and less value for others. </p>
<p>Here are some comparisons that might be helpful:</p>
<p>Size & Source of Students:</p>
<p>Undergrad , Grad , Total , School</p>
<p>6394 , 7204 , 13598 , Duke
7038 , 7788 , 14826 , Georgetown
26083 , 14959 , 41042 , U Michigan</p>
<p>% of students from out-of-state , School</p>
<p>85% , Duke
98% , Georgetown
32% , U Michigan </p>
<p>Graduation Rates:</p>
<p>4-Yr Grad Rate , 6-Yr Grad Rate , School</p>
<p>86% , 94% , Duke
90% , 93% , Georgetown
70% , 88% , U Michigan</p>
<p>Class Sizes & Student/Faculty Ratio</p>
<p>% of classes with <20 students , 20-50 students , >50 students , Student//Faculty Ratio , School</p>
<p>70% , 25% , 5% , 8/1 , Duke
58% , 34% , 7% , 11/1 , Georgetown
44% , 38% , 18% , 15/1 , U Michigan</p>
<p>Standardized Test</p>
<p>Verbal 25 - Verbal 75 , % over 700 , School</p>
<p>660 - 750 , 60% , Duke
650 - 750 , 57% , Georgetown
590 - 690 , 23% , U Michigan</p>
<p>Math 25 - Math 75 , % over 700 , School</p>
<p>680 - 790 , 68% , Duke
650 - 740 , 50% , Georgetown
630 - 730 , 43% , U Michigan</p>
<p>ACT 25 - ACT 75 , % over 30 , School</p>
<p>29 - 34 , 72% , Duke
29 - 32 , na , Georgetown
27 - 31 , 45% , U Michigan</p>
<p>Cost </p>
<p>Tuition & Fees , School</p>
<p>$ 37,525 , Duke
$ 38,122 , Georgetown
$ 32,401 , U Michigan (OOS)</p>
<p>Reputation Among Academics</p>
<p>Noted for Teaching Excellence , USNWR Peer Assessment Among Academics , School</p>
<p>Yes , 4.4 , Duke
Yes , 4 , Georgetown
No , 4.4 , U Michigan</p>
<p>As it relates to this individual inquiry, I refer back to the comments of an earlier poster. All three colleges will provide a very good to excellent undergraduate academic experience. However, I cannot stress strongly enough that your post-graduate work experience and performance in the real world will have FAR more impact on your MBA application than where you went to undergraduate college, what you majored in, etc. Students from all three of these colleges can be found at even the most competitive employers although the frequency and school/graduate attractiveness to employers will vary, particularly geographically.</p>
<p>I think hawkette ended this debate, but I do find it really shocking that Michigan's acceptance rate is so high (50%) and its other stats like SATs are so low. It obviously has top academics, but judging by average student quality it really is a dime in a dozen.</p>