<p>he said pre-med</p>
<p>The Malcolm X House at Wesleyan is about the same size as a fraternity; it neither houses all the black people at Wesleyan, nor restricts its residents exclusively to black students.</p>
<p>ok well when I visited last April all the residents were protesting how the administration no longer was allowing freshmen to live there and they all looked black to me...</p>
<p>"pre-med" is NOT a major. You can major in just about anything while being premed. Let's look at ranking of the quality of faculty departments done by the Faculty Research Council for graduate departments. Although a better faculty for graduate depts does not necessarily translate into a better undergradaute education, that's really what we are actually using when we talk about the strength of schools.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://books.nap.edu/html/researchdoc/appendix_h.html%5B/url%5D">http://books.nap.edu/html/researchdoc/appendix_h.html</a>,</p>
<p>Duke > Northwestern in
biological science
arts and humanities</p>
<p>Northwestern > Duke in
engineering
physical science and math</p>
<p>Duke = Northwestern in
social and behavioral science.</p>
<p>Not included in the analysis, Northwestern's communication studies (film/communication science/theater), education, music, and journalism have great reputation. </p>
<p>Therefore those "Duke is better period. Absolutely no doubt about it" comments are complete BS.</p>
<p>What about business? I know Duke has no undergrad business but is flexible with Economics, and while NU's business graduate school is renowed, Duke has business at the graduate level too, right?</p>
<p>Duke does have a grad business school. It's actually pretty decent, ranked 11th by both US News and Business Week. If you are choosing between NU and Duke and planning to major in econ, I'd suggest you to pick NU (assuming the strength of your intended major is the deciding factor). Not only because its econ is highly ranked but also because it's pretty much in Chicago, which is 2nd only to NYC in terms of number of finance/business jobs.</p>
<p>
it's pretty much in Chicago, which is 2nd only to NYC in terms of number of finance/business jobs.
</p>
<p>Exactly why the OP should choose Duke, actually. Duke has a much better alumni network in NYC, second to none (along with Princeton, Wharton, and Dartmouth), among investment bankers.</p>
<p>incollege88, given your rather skewed "Duke hands down....Is there really a question about it?" response earlier, I seriously doubt what you said was proven fact. Prove to me that Duke has much better alumni network among investment bankers in NYC with published reports and data if you don't mind. Seriously, how exactly does it have such a great alumni network in investment banking? Duke is not really that known for econ/finance. Duke is also NOT in the northeast. Northwestern's econ (also industrial engineering whose graduates often enter finance/business field) has long been considered top-10 and Kellogg has been reputatable IN THE WORLD for a long time (complete sweep over Harvard/Stanford in Business Week's ranking over the last 10 years). Northwestern also has special programs such as MMSS and BIP that complement econ very well and are well-regarded and supported by major companies such as Goldman Sachs. Maybe not in other fields, but in business/finance, my guess is NU is just as reputable as Duke in NYC, if not better, given NU's strength in the related fields.</p>
<p>The reason behind the protests was that MX House has room for perhaps 20 people and almost always has empty space (there are over 200 black students at Wes--so, that should tell you something about where they fit in the self-segregation continuum.) Putting frosh into theme houses (everything from MX House to DKE is considered a theme house at Wesleyan) might solve the empty space problem but sort of fly in the face of the idea of "choice", the basic idea behind them.</p>
<p>Sam,</p>
<p>Your references on faculty quality ratings are extremely valuable. Thanks.</p>
<p>In going over the data, what do the numbers mean? For instance, Biochem for U. of Alabama: 1.48; 39; (169.5). Also what year is the data published?</p>
<p>We need people like you in this board.</p>
<p>I think Sam Lee is defending his alma mater and incollege is defending his school. This is a familiar pattern on this board. LOL</p>
<p>My niece just graduated from Northwestern and my son goes to Duke. I personally think that they are both great schools. And either one of these kids probably would find their niche at either school. My niece actually visited Duke and liked Northwestern better. (She applied ED there.)</p>
<p>Wow, i cant imagine why anyone would choose NU over Duke; in my opinion, Duke is a much better school.</p>
<p>She really loved the campus at NU and the proximity to Chicago.</p>
<p>NU's campus is prettier than Duke's??</p>
<p>Bahamain-</p>
<p>Never visited NU, but heard that Evanston is a very nice suburban locale. (I think some of the campus actually has scenic Lake views.) </p>
<p>I forgot to mention that one of the more impotant reasons that my niece picked NU was the fact that she thought she might want to pursue journalism. NU has a much stronger journalism program than Duke.</p>
<p>Ok, ...makes sense. :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I think Sam Lee is defending his alma mater and incollege is defending his school. This is a familiar pattern on this board. LOL
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's true that if NU weren't my alma mater, I wouldn't be here talking about it. But I am not "defending" using baseless claims. I used published data to actually show Duke is better in arts and humanities as well as biological sciences. I also used the same published data to show you Duke is NOT "much better" and actually quite far from it as NU has the edge in physical sciences and engineering. They are even in social science. </p>
<p>Bahamain_Dukeapp99, I can easily think of a person choosing NU over Duke. NU's engineering is quite good (3 top-10 and most are in top-20) and extensive whereas Duke's is rather limited, offering only 4 disciplines, (it's actually kinda funny that some applicants are not aware of this until they look more closely after they are accepted). Aspiring engineers (except BME) can easily pick NU over Duke.</p>
<p>cajundad, you are not alone; it was confusing when I first looked at it. It's easier to deduce what they are if you look at MIT's engineering. Those 4.56, 4.63..etc are raw scores, the "67, 72..." are scaled scores and those "(1), (2)" are rankings.</p>
<p>Bahamin_Dukeapp99,</p>
<p>Actually NU's campus is right on the lakefront and it has a lagoon and a small beach. The architecture is not particularly pretty and kinda random, unlike all the beautiful gothics that Dukes has. But many would consider it scenic because of the lake (which looks like the ocean), the lagoon, and the open area/bike lane along the lakefront.</p>
<p>cajundad,</p>
<p>I don't know what year it's published. I am an engineer and based on what I know, those engineering rankings look right around what I'd expect. Duke's BME is a bit too low (#4 instead of #1 or #2) but it's not ridiculous. I'd say it's probably 5-10 years old given that WashU was listed as having no BME when its BME was founded in 1997. The ranking of the dept moves a lot when there's sudden influx/exodus of large number of prominent professors in that field but that doesn't happen often.</p>
<p>Sam Lee:</p>
<p>The data are interesting, but you are comparing apples and oranges. The data is for doctorate level faculty ranking. Yes it has some meaning at undergraduate level, but not as much as your implications. The four years of undergraduate experience depends a lot on the entire campus scene.</p>
<p>Duke does have higher name recognition, better student body than NU and prettier campus too. But here again, the difference may be small to some and quite a big to others. Some time you just have to go with the feel.</p>
<p>I will tell you a story:</p>
<p>Long ago I wanted to buy a camera. The choice was between Nikkon and Pentex. I made a big list of all the features and put the weighted rankings. Nikkon ranked higher, and I bought CANNON.</p>