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The only faces that need a slap are the ones that go into hysterics anytime they think the word “Duke” is being placed within 50 characters of “HYPSM” or any of its constituent colleges. </p>
<p>Nobody is saying Duke is Harvard, Yale, or anything else. Even lesdia said that very plainly in another thread.
Ignoring the BYU comment, which is perhaps intended to be deliberately provocative, I think most people would agree with you – I certainly would and have stated precisely the same thing on numerous occasions. I firmly believe a go-getter (and I do emphasize that!) can acquire an equally good education at a top private and a top public. </p>
<p>That said, one does wonder what sense of “better” you’re referring to, as it’s a very vague term often bandied about with little indication of what’s being considered. Better at what? Better in what sense? There several different ways one could say one school is “better” than another.
[ul][<em>]What about, say…award production? In the production of Rhodes, Truman, Marshall, NSF scholars, etc., Brown and Duke do better than most publics (except UNC and UVA for the Rhodes) and generally fall right behind HYPSM.
[</em>]Alternately, one could use peer assessment as a measure. Here one can conclude that Berkeley is better than Brown, Duke, and Michigan.
[<em>]As yet another measure, one could consider selectivity. By that measure, Brown and Duke are better than Berkeley and Michigan.
[</em>]Or perhaps one could measure sports. Looking at the directors cup results, UNC is better than the other publics, and Berkeley is better than Duke, which is turn is better than Brown.
[li]One could also consider international prestige, where Berkeley and Michigan are better than Duke and Brown.[/ul][/li]Bottom line…who cares? Goodness, one can slice and dice the data any way one wants to in order to come out with the “right” rankings. Duke and Ivy supporters will tout selectivity, placement, and award production lists. Public school supporters will tout peer assessment and graduate rankings. LAC supporters tout PhD production lists. I think if there’s that much disagreement, it is VERY obvious that there is no clear-cut “better” school (or group of schools) to be found by such measures. It’s perhaps best to simply call them all great schools and be done with it. </p>
<p>In the meantime, all of these students and graduates of elite public and private universities still have to put on their pants one leg at a time, just like the rest of us…even HYPSM students. ;)</p>