<p>I'm a Canadian student considering Duke. After browsing around in the Duke forum, I noticed that a lot of people are going in a math/science direction, and I have also heard that Duke is very good for math/science. I'm just wondering how Duke's Trinity College compares to the Pratt school of engineering. The prestige is obviously a factor, but I'm more interested in the quality/level of difficulty of the two schools. Also, just out of curiosity, what is the attitude of the people in the Pratt school towards the people in the Trinity College and vice versa. Much thanks to your help.</p>
<p>"I'm just wondering how Duke's Trinity College compares to the Pratt school of engineering."</p>
<p>Well, Pratt is for engineers, and Trinity is for...non-engineers. Overall, I'd say both are equally strong, but within Trinity some majors are going to be stronger than others, naturally. It is true that Duke is especially strong in math and science (and engineering), but other areas are exceptionally strong as well. Great econ, for example.</p>
<p>"The prestige is obviously a factor, but I'm more interested in the quality/level of difficulty of the two schools."</p>
<p>Again, quality of both is about the same. Level of difficulty, you ask? Well, objectively speaking you will definitely spend more time in class if you are in Pratt (more labs, classes meet more often, etc.). Beyond that, it really depends on your individual gifts and talents. If you love engineering subjects and are somewhat naturally good at them, Pratt isn't really all that bad, especially since you don't have to spend hours and hours in the library gathering research for 15 page history/lit essays (unless you're into that sort of thing). On the other hand, Pratt can be very challenging if you don't have a strong science/math background coming in and/or you just aren't so naturally talented in math/science to begin with.
With that being said, even if you think you're a stud in math because you blew everyone away in high school doesn't mean you can't hit a roadblock at Duke. I thought I was all right at math, but math 103X has tried its darndest to show me otherwise. Point being, you're pretty sick if you can't find a class that will challenge you.</p>
<p>"Also, just out of curiosity, what is the attitude of the people in the Pratt school towards the people in the Trinity College and vice versa."</p>
<p>1) Attitude of people in Pratt towards people in Trinity: "Why in the world are you out partying on a Tuesday night, don't you have some sort of arts and crafts project to be working on?"
2) Attitude of people in Trinity towards people in Pratt: "I know I'm not supposed to worship idols, but I just can't resist prostrating myself before the Gods that are Pratt engineers. Yet, I better just find the nearest corner to stand in and get out of the way while I watch them solve the great problems of the universe."</p>
<p>^lol on #2...maybe in your dreams :)</p>
<p>Haha good answers on the last part biomed.</p>
<p>I don't have any experience with Pratt, but I can tell you the quality of Trinity is very high. I haven't had a bad professor yet and most of them are very helpful and interesting. </p>
<p>You will have to work very hard for A's, not so much if you just want B's (most classes are curved to a B).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, just out of curiosity, what is the attitude of the people in the Pratt school towards the people in the Trinity College and vice versa.
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Attitude of people in Pratt towards people in Trinity: We get picnics and you don't. So THERE. </p>
<p>Attitude of people in Trinity towards people in Pratt: Who are those pale, sickly-looking geeks? Ah, they must be engineering students. Why aren't they in Teer doing MATLAB?</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>warblers, agree to disagree</p>
<p>P.S. My skin is actually lookin pretty tan these days...</p>
<p>thanks to all, some very crafty answers. <em>shifty eye</em> Also, how many freshmen does Duke typically accept each year? I know the stats are probably are all on Duke's website, but I'm just too lazy. :)</p>
<p>awesome thanks</p>