The Case For…D U K E !!

College Search & Selection
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<p>86% of Duke students would return to Duke
<a href="http://www.**************.com/NC/DU.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.**************.com/NC/DU.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>That percentage is 77% for U of M
<a href="http://www.**************.com/MI/UMAA.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.**************.com/MI/UMAA.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>71% for Columbia
<a href="http://www.**************.com/NY/CU.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.**************.com/NY/CU.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>79% for Cornell
<a href="http://www.**************.com/NY/CORU.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.**************.com/NY/CORU.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>76% for UPenn
<a href="http://www.**************.com/PA/UPE.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.**************.com/PA/UPE.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Those are all I looked up, feel free to look up more, its certainly not a scientific poll.</p>

<p>I'm not trying to justify what EAD said by these statistics, but only show they certainly don't debunk (bad word choice, can't think of better, sry) it. At least when I visited Duke, I got the general feeling that the students were very happy, maybe a little more than other schools, but overall very happy (although this can easily depend on the day/time of year you visit). There was by far the greatest percentage of students wearing school gear at Duke of all the schools I visited and it was very noticeable. I personally do believe Duke students feel a lot of pride for their school, perhaps more than students at other colleges do for their respective school, and perhaps this manifests itself in a heightened opinion about their school. I haven't read everything in this thread in detail, but I've found no obvious/major bragging trolling. Most of the points positive of Duke have been supported in this thread.</p>

<p>In responce to Westsideplaya (can someone tell me how to do the quote when you post?): Yeah, didn't they win 7 titles in a row. They probably have been the best mens basketball program in NCAA history with all those championships Wooden won. I think they won one like 10/15 yrs ago but they haven't won a whole lot recently, and I think if you pull a random person off the street and ask them what college comes to mind with college basketball, they'd be much likelier to say Duke, because of recent success and unique components of the Duke basketball experience (K-ville, K crazies, having a coach who's coaching the olympic team, etc)</p>

<p>ead: I think when a school is unique among its peers it will generate a more partisan response (as we've seen on CC). I've met quite a few Chicago haters too, probably b/c it has the reputation for being much more "intellectual" than other places. Take it for what its worth.</p>

82

<p>
[quote]
its certainly not a scientific poll.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's the problem. It's time for my FAQ on voluntary response surveys again. </p>

<p>VOLUNTARY RESPONSE POLLS </p>

<p>One professor of statistics, who is a co-author of a highly regarded AP statistics textbook, has tried to popularize the phrase that "voluntary response data are worthless" to go along with the phrase "correlation does not imply causation." Other statistics teachers are gradually picking up this phrase.</p>

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<p>Math</a> Forum Discussions</p>

83

<p>To do a quote, you type this <quote> at the beginning and </quote> at the end, only instead of pointy brackets (which I've used, located to the right of the M key), use square brackets (located to the right of the P key).</p>

84

<p>Yep, and if you want to specify the user in your quote box, then use
[quote=user]
instead of just
[quote]
.</p>

85

<p>LOL, some people really have some bad views about Duke. Just to future applicants who may not be particularly impressed by the Duke posters on CC for any reason, I'd visit the school and speak to current students in the RL before jumping to any sort of conclusions. I really liked Duke (for its academics and social life) but my parents discouraged me from applying due to their stereotypes, which was one of my misgivings about the admissions process. I highly suggest that, for any college in general, before cutting them from your list, don't listen to hearsay and experience it for yourself. (I guess this is the time for the Duke supporters and Duke bashers to continue)</p>

86

<p>For an undergraduate, Duke is fine academically. It's no different from any of the top 20 or 25 schools in the country for most non-applied majors. Once you are in this peer group -- the Berkeleys, the Northwesterns, and the Browns of the world -- the schools largely cease to matter, and the student's own initiative is what takes the cake.</p>

<p>For graduate studies, Duke is obviously a notch below some of the Ivies and the top public schools.</p>

<p>The main issue I have with Duke is that it is not a school for many different types of students -- they will have trouble fitting in and will often feel ostracized by the dominant social scene on campus. This differs greatly from many of the other top schools in the country which feature a much greater diversity in terms of student culture and experience. </p>

<p>Before people jump all over me for this, I'll add that I am basing this on anecdote. I am fairly close to several Duke graduates -- they are pretty close to me in personality and interests -- and they don't have the kindest things to say about their time at Duke.</p>

<p>Hawkette can praise this culture as much as she likes, but at the end she is doing a disservice to middle-class students who might not be fully aware of the cultural differences between themselves and many of the students who attend Duke.</p>

<p>I Am Charlotte Simmons brought these issues to light, and The Rolling Stone article two years ago just cements these issues. I beg anyone to read the Rolling Stone article from an adult perspective and say "this is the type of environment I want my child to spend four years of his or her life" upon completion.</p>

<p>Sex</a> & Scandal at Duke : Rolling Stone</p>

<p>Of course, the Rolling Stone article doesn't apply to everybody at Duke. And certain aspects of the Rolling stone article are certainly present on other college campuses. But the magnitude to which this culture pervades at Duke -- moreso than at most other colleges -- should give a lot of students caution.</p>

87

<p>Like this ....</p>

<p>[noparse]
[quote]
insert your text

[/quote]
[/noparse]</p>

<p>and it will show as
[quote]
insert your text

[/quote]
</p>

88

<p>i actually got a strong impression that these duke kids are really snobby from reading these posts. </p>

<p>it would've sickened me even if they were attending harvard or MIT, but it's freaking duke. they would make you think they were attending harvard after reading these posts.</p>

89

<p>

Stop spreading your anti-Duke propaganda Cayuga. Duke's Greek scene is a LOT LESS segregated than Cornell's or Dartmouth's are. Or even Princeton's Eating Clubs, Yale's Secret Societies and Harvard's Final Clubs. Not even close. You don't seem to know the grisly truth about your own alma mater. More than 50% of Duke is made up of minorities I believe. There is no "dominant" social scene. This isn't high school anymore. Besides the frats, there are a ton of selective living communities, some of which are focused on the arts and leadership, so there's a place for everyone. Even if you're an independent, you can still go to the vast majority of social events on campus.</p>

<p>The Rolling Stone article is basically yellow journalism at its best. The vast majority of Duke students aren't engaged in that scene. It's also outdated. Don't bring up that garbage to support your points. "I am Charlotte Simmons" was loosely based on multiple schools including places like Penn and Dartmouth. It's just literature. Stop trying to glean absolute truths from it.</p>

<p>Duke grads are more in love with their alma mater than grads of any other top school, besides maybe Dartmouth and Princeton. The Duke grads you know are in the overwhelmingly small minorites who weren't absolutely ecstatic about their college experience. What about Cornell? I bet a decent amount of their grads are unsatisfied. What with the freezing weather, unattractive girls, conveniently deep gorges, Ithaca, segregated Greek scene, etc. etc.</p>

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<p>And it begins anew.</p>

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<p>conveniently deep gorges? ouch.</p>

<p>Also, Yale's secret societies aren't segregated. They were in the mid 1900's, but now they are full of plenty of URMs, Asians, etc. They just pick those who they consider "prominent" people on campus, and to some extent, they even practice affirmative action. Still, the secret societies are an almost invisible aspect of social life; our Residential College system is what makes our social experience, not the secret societies. In the three big societies, there are only about 50 students in total.</p>

92

<p>
[quote]
More than 50% of Duke is made up of minorities I believe.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Are you counting the Plantation's janitors and cafeteria workers? </p>

<p>Try about 84% of students in the NON-URM category in the UG and close to 90% in the graduate school.</p>

93

<p>
[quote]
What about Cornell? I bet a decent amount of their grads are unsatisfied. What with the freezing weather, unattractive girls, conveniently deep gorges, Ithaca, segregated Greek scene, etc. etc.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Sure, a decent number of Cornell alums don't have the best thing to say about their experiences either. But it has nothing to do with the hegemony of a certain social scene on campus, because there isn't one. The different types of social scenes that one can find at Cornell is remarkably diverse.</p>

<p>Cornell alums who are unhappy with their experience tend to a) never wanted to attended Cornell in the first place but ended up attending anyway, b) complain about Ithaca and the weather, or c) thought that the workload at Cornell was too tough. </p>

<p>In all of these points, the student knew full well what they were getting into before they decided to enroll. So they are remarkably different complaints than the complaints about Duke.</p>

<p>Meanwhile the deep, dramatic gorges criss-cutting campus are beautiful.</p>

<p>The women down to earth, intelligent and perfectly attractive.</p>

<p>And the City of Ithaca is pure bliss. It's a fantastic place to learn and grow.</p>

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<p>Ithaca is just like the rest of NE in terms of weather. It gets more precipitation, snow, etc, but in terms of temperature, it is similar to other regions in the NE. Unattractive girls? Did you really have to bring that up? How about your school Duke? You would be insane, now, to go argue again in favor of Duke saying that Duke females are an attractive bunch while Cornell girls are ugly. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Duke is NOT any more special than any other great school. When did I say that I was? This is a thread focused on discussing Duke's strengths and I just provided my input on what I love about the student body. I think I know at this point that I can't change anyone's opinions, especially on this forum. I just don't want high schoolers to be misled into thinking that Michigan is right on par with Duke and there's no difference between the two schools, when all the objective data points to the contrary.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>C'on, dude. You have spent over 70% of your entire post history mocking other schools, especially Cornell, Berkeley, Brown, Michigan, and some others, while enforcing how 'special' Duke is, even relative to other ivies such as penn, columbia, etc. You have been the most arrogant poster on CC, even going as far as making a claim that schools like Brown, Cornell aren't worthy of beeing a peer school of Duke. Your stance has been that Duke has similar academics as Penn, Columbia, etc, while having a more "atheletic", "more down-to earth", "better looking", and "more fun-loving" student body, thus making Duke a superior institution in front of others. I suspect that by now, when most on this forum see the name of Duke popping up, they would naturally associate your screen name with your school.</p>

95

<p>EAD // seriously, no matter how you want to fool yourself thinking you are attending a school in the same tier as HYPSM or directly below, you're not attending THAT great of a school. some ppl consider even Berkeley to be more prestigious than Duke. (go read that other thread that sprouted yesterday "Berkeley vs Duke")</p>

<p>and all the schools you're making fun of still has lower acceptance rate than Duke (23%) save for UMich.</p>

96

<p>"Cornell alums who are unhappy with their experience tend to a) never wanted to attended Cornell in the first place but ended up attending anyway, b) complain about Ithaca and the weather, or c) thought that the workload at Cornell was too tough."</p>

<p>At least, they can enjoy some "better" news in Ithaca. </p>

<p>
[quote]

Cornell Cuts Suicide Rate in Half
by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
January 1, 2008 </p>

<p>Cornell University has made the controversial decision that a human life is worth more than strict privacy rules. As a result, it has cut its suicide rate amongst students in half in the past 6 years (as compared to the previous 6 years when this policy wasn’t in place). </p>

<p>At the same time while undergraduate enrollment at Cornell has declined during most of the 2000’s, visits to the school’s counseling center have nearly doubled, from just over 11,000 in 2000 to nearly 20,000 in 2007. This may also help account for the reduction in the suicide rate.

[/quote]
</p>

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<p>I concur that Duke CAS and Engineering students are stronger, statistically, compared to students at Cornell hotel, CALS, and architecture. But, comparing apples to apples, Cornell students are similar with Duke's. Compare Cornell CAS students with Duke CAS students. Also, I never understand why you always seem to be excessively proud of your school's selectivity, to the point where your main arguments center around Duke's superiority over others mainly based on its high selectivity. Duke has 40% acceptance rate in ED round. It has 20% acceptance rate overall, similar to Cornell's. It has 40% yield, again, similar to Cornell. Ironically, schools like Columbia, Brown, have acceptance rates hovering around 12-13% with yields over 60%. To be honest with you, Duke's selectivity chart isn't the most impressive, nothing to excessively brag about.</p>

98

<p>^^ Totally agree with Patlee88 comment. Well put.</p>

99

<p>patlees88// actually, Cornell DOES have lower acceptance rate than Duke (21% vs 23%) so he shouldn't be even talking about selectivity.</p>

<p>not to mention that Cornell's main college (CAS) has acceptance rate somewhere between14%-17%.</p>

100

<p>
[quote]
At least, they can enjoy some "better" news in Ithaca.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Although, Cornell has never had a suicide rate higher than the national average, the university has been commended as of recent for its integrative approach to student health:</p>

<p>Bucking</a> Privacy Concerns, Cornell Acts as Watchdog - WSJ.com</p>