<p>Regarding Duke being the most overrated, I think you guys are missing the MOST part. Is Duke overrated? Sure... but only by a couple spots. You could make the argument that Stanford and MIT are better in many areas, but the argument about Duke vs. Columbia/Dartmouth/Brown/Caltech is muddled and not easily resolved. So it may be overrated a bit, but compared to some other schools, it's not. Look at WUStl, where it could be argued that it should be below Georgetown and Berkeley and Vanderbilt down in the mid 20s, but it's 11. I personally think that Caltech is too specialized to merit such a high ranking, but I know many people here wouldn't agree. The point is, in my opinion, Duke's general position is not as disputable as WUStl, Notre Dame, even Emory (better than Berkeley, UCLA, Georgetown, UVA, Tufts? hmm), so it's not the MOST overrated.</p>
<p>As for basketball, it's really almost a curse in that it overshadows Duke's academic excellence, and people assume that Duke's ranking is because of it, but that just doesn't make sense. Duke is an all-around very solid institution, the undergrad is good, but the medical school is also among the very best, and the law, business, divinity, and many grad programs are all highly regarded. Basketball didn't do all that, and if you believe that, you really are misinformed.</p>
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Duke's general position is not as disputable as WUStl, Notre Dame, even Emory (better than Berkeley, UCLA, Georgetown, UVA, Tufts? hmm), so it's not the MOST overrated.
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<p>Agree. Duke isn't the country's MOST overrated school - that honor goes to WashU in a landslide (no. 11 in the country - lol).</p>
<p>But purely speaking in "USNWR terms" Duke ain't that far behind given its No. 5 ranking... (UPenn could get the same argument as well in this sense)</p>
<p>Overrated by USNEWS: Duke, Penn, Wash U.
Underrated by USNEWS: Brown</p>
<p>Duke is better school than Berkeley though, who cares about "program rank." If you care about the ability to get into Harvard Law, Wharton, etc Duke wins hands down.</p>
<p>If I were in state and got lower tuition at Cal vs. 40K at Duke, however, there's a chance I would take Cal's offer if I could put up with that many students and less attention.</p>
<p>So Slipper, what you are saying is that a 3.8/173 student from Duke has a better chance of getting into Harvard Law than a 3.8/173 student from Cal?</p>
<p>YALE! Yale may be the hardest ivy to get into, but I have heard nothing but bad things once you get there. I heard some bad things from people who attend. Then I saw this:</p>
<p>All "big name" schools recieve a lot of hype, but, in the end, they are really, really good schools that mostly deserve their big name reputation.</p>
<p>I agree with you, there is little to no difference. Clearly Duke students are better than Cal students on average, so they will have a tendency to be far more represented at the top grad schools. </p>
<p>But in terms of quality of network and access the Duke student is better off.</p>
<p>hereiam,
the worst mudd dorms are not as bad as caltech's average dorm. the smallest (double) rooms are 200 sq ft and have their own sink and stuff. the actual structure is steel and cinderblock. they have pretty good thermal insulation, therefore, and excellent sound isolation. there are white boards on every door in the school (for people to collaborate on hw with) and massive white boards (20 ft x 8 ft) on various walls of the dorm for group work. </p>
<p>all the dorms have benches and trees in the quad area (many dorms are shaped like a U). some are nicer than others.</p>
<p>a few years back, some of the classes met in the lounge of one of the dorms on a regular basis... not because they had no where to go...just because it was comfortable with the couches and the artwork. </p>
<p>this year, we have succeeded in being allowed to paint much of the concrete at our dorm... if it is an "art" project. this is pretty cool. we should get on that.</p>
<p>else, the architecture is "neo-mayan" which basically means block structure ugly...just very simple and modest. an interesting point is that most of our academics are underground.</p>
<p>oh yeah, its also not unusual to have lunch with your profs (there actually is a fund called the "Lenard Fund" which will pay for your food and the profs if you go off campus to eat).</p>
<p>the other day, i saw 2 of my profs walking around the student center, stipping a beer. of course, i stopped and talked to them (after i gave them these neodymium magnets i happen to have). they also sometimes invite us over to their houses for parties. i think it is rare for them to come to our parties though...</p>
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MIT-it looks hideous, and pretty depressing, especially with Harvard next door. I don't know why anyone would choose to go to MIT. Of all the ivies and other top schools to choose from, WHY MIT? I'd choose Wharton over MIT any day but whatever.
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<p>I can agree that MIT and Caltech can be somewhat overrated, but not for reasons of aesthetics. Honestly, who really cares about aesthetics? You don't choose a school based on how the campus looks.</p>
<p>After all, case in point, Harvard doesn't exactly look all that beautiful either. The Harvard campus consists of a lot of extremely old, badly worn, and dark buildings with little architectural cohesion. I would say that Virginia or Duke have far more attractive campuses. But that doesn't mean that I would choose Virginia or Duke over Harvard.</p>
<p>How is WashU overrated? I'm not doubting it; I'm just curious because I had no idea...</p>
<p>And I disagree, the feel of a campus is important, not the most important thing, but I wouldn't want to go to a school with a dark, small, ugly campus...</p>
<p>WashU has little success in grad placement compared to its peers, its not incredibly undergrad focused yet outside of the top med school its grad schools are not top notch, its alumni network isn't close to as strong as its peers, and its not generally as prestigious.</p>
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I can agree that MIT and Caltech can be somewhat overrated, but not for reasons of aesthetics.
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<p>You missed my point. All I'm saying is, given a choice between CalTech/MIT and a school of similar caliber (Columbia/Wharton/Stanford/Brown/Dartmouth), I would choose the other school of similar caliber in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>I think NYU is really overrated. they have horrible financial aid, and a lot of people don't realize that if you aren't into Drama, Art, or Business... there's no reason to go. I don't think there is, at least :)</p>
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You missed my point. All I'm saying is, given a choice between CalTech/MIT and a school of similar caliber (Columbia/Wharton/Stanford/Brown/Dartmouth), I would choose the other school of similar caliber in a heartbeat.
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<p>Good for you. All that shows us is that you don't want to study engineering or the hard sciences.</p>