<p>Me? Biased towards Penn? You have to be kidding! I always get blasted for criticizing it! I recognize the strengths of Penn but I'm very critical of the housing, the safety, the horrible freshman classes and the climate. (and that's speaking as someone who grew up in the Phila area!) </p>
<p>I try to be objective about all schools. That's the only way to really help people. If I have a bias, it's towards large and fun state universities, Williams, Rice and Vanderbilt. And I don't claim these schools are right for everyone.</p>
<p>I am not a Philadelphia fan at all- and I haven't heard many people extolling the virtues of New Haven. But Durham? Come on, hawkette! It's a dump, despite Duke's presence.</p>
<p>^^ I forgot about my UChicago bias, although back when I was there for law school (think dinosaurs roaming the Midway), I thought the undergrad students looked geeky and miserable. I think it has changed a lot and offers a very intellectual environment for THE RIGHT STUDENT.</p>
<p>Duke is the greatest school on the face of the planet and Duke students know it. Some people hate this stuck up attitude; however, others like me don't mind it.</p>
<p>Is it sad that I was disappointed that I didn't see myself listed as a troll? Or should I be proud I neither spend enough time here nor so shamelessly exhibit my bias as to be called out for it?</p>
<p>This thread is silly as it was unprompted, and perhaps a bit of hyperbole, but otherwise it certainly sums up some of the broader high points of Duke.</p>
<p>1600 posts- for CC, a milestone of sorts if you think about it.</p>
<p>^^ don't worry, I know you as a NU fanboy/fangirl. (When I saw that you were the one who latest posted on this thread, I immediately thought Northwestern. :p)</p>
<p>I attended the University of Minnesota. I have visited the campuses of almost all colleges mentioned in this thread (definitely including Duke), some multiple times. I always thought my favorite college was Caltech ;) but it isn't bashed as much as some of the other colleges mentioned in this thread, so I probably do speak up for Harvard more. And the reason I ever speak up for Harvard, any time I do, is to make for all the years when I used to bash it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
don't worry, I know you as a NU fanboy/fangirl. (When I saw that you were the one who latest posted on this thread, I immediately thought Northwestern.
<p>Well, Duke uses the CSS Profile which might account for why its calculation of EFC differed from that of other schools for a particular family. However, it's worth noting that they do have a loan cap of $5000 per year now (and a no-loan policy for low-income families much like that adopted by many peers).</p>
<p>I stand up for Wisconsin but most of my stuff is fact based--not some random list of unproven superlatives. I just think some people are not aware of the facts about Wisconsin as it is well out of the urban media orbit. Before there were SATs and minute breakdowns of application data, the UW was widely regarded as having one of the best most productive faculties in the US. And that's how universities were judged and ranked.</p>
<p>I am laughing out loud reading all of the posts in this thread. Throw a little chum in the water and the Duke haters start thrashing and competing to see who can post the most negative things about Duke. Very, very entertaining stuff.</p>
<p>On a more serious note, I think that Cayugared said it first and best with his observation that much of the same comments could be made about many of the USNWR Top 20 colleges. I strongly agree and believe that many of the students and alumni of these colleges feel just as passionately about their college as the Duke folk (although the Duke folks sometimes have a tendency to overdo it a bit). </p>
<p>Do you really think that the Duke students and alumni are more committed or loyal to their college than those from Dartmouth or Princeton or Notre Dame? Or believe their college environment is more ideal than the folks at Yale or Cornell or Rice? Or enjoy their wonderful academic/social/athletic trinity more than their peers at Stanford or Northwestern or Vanderbilt? I don’t. These are all great colleges with enormously gifted students and very dedicated alums who fondly remember their undergraduate years and why it is so great to be a Tiger or a Bulldog or a Wildcat or a….</p>
<p>hawkette. It was more than obvious that your thread was an attempt to stir up negative talk about Duke. The question I have is, "What did you hope to prove by doing so?"</p>
<p>I have to agree with a few of the previous posts that mention the additudes of some pro-Duke posters here. When I first found College Confidential, I noticed a lot of negative posts regarding Duke. Being a Duke fan and legacy, I was kind of annoyed; however, after reading posts by some (though not all) of the students that currently attend Duke, I can't say I blame people for having negative feelings.</p>
<p>Something that is especially telling is that before coming onto CC, I was planning on applying ED to Duke. Now I am not sure that I want to apply at all.</p>
<p>bginger, I don't believe that CC people necessarily portray an accurate portrait of the school they represent. It's unfair to take a very, very, very small and self-selecting sample of people-- namely, the current and prospective students who post on this website and choose to spend their time here rather than doing other things-- and then use that sample to generalize about a large population of students. </p>
<p>Dukies come in all different shapes and sizes-- to check out a Duke person who in some ways represents the opposite of the Duke stereotype (if that stereotype is a conceited, anti-intellectual, unaware, unconcerned person), take a look at Mondo's posts. I don't necessarily agree with Mondo on everything Mondo writes, but Mondo writes in a clear and thoughtful way that's very appealing to me, and it makes me think that Mondo and I might be friends if we knew each other in real life. So if I went to Duke, I'm sure I'd find Mondo and Mondo-like people.</p>
<p>FWIW, my stance on Duke is more or less my stance on any school I don't attend or am not crushing on when I'm bored with talking about my own school-- I'm sure it's a great school, but I don't think it's the best place for me personally. </p>
<p>Perhaps I, like hawkette, don't really understand where the Duke hate is coming from... from personal experience, I can tell you that people who for whatever reason decide they don't like your school, continue to dislike your school, and then go on other forums and spew more about how they dislike your school can bring out the ugliest in people who attend that school, love that school, and try to defend it diplomatically.</p>
<p>Rjko,
I didn’t start out writing about Duke with the intention of spurring a lot of negative comment. I started off writing hoping to present Duke anew and in what I considered a more accurate light. </p>
<p>Sure, Dukies are passionate and sometimes prone to hyperbole or exaggeration, not to mention too frequent lapses into obnoxious behaviour (traits that I think they share quite closely and visibly with posters from your alma mater), but I still feel that my descriptions in the OP are accurate as applied to Duke. I also see now that I was so stupidly na</p>