Trying to decide between Michigan, Stanford and Duke(PLEASE HELP!)

College Search & Selection
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<p>Wow… people are seriously suggesting that Detroit is better than the bay area? Highest murder rate in the country, QED. OP is a full-need student, so he isn’t coming from some isolated haven.</p>

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<p>Stanford is so much better than Michigan and Duke</p>

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<p>lockn, Michigan is located in Ann Arbor, not Detroit.</p>

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<p>The quote that was originally disputed: “You say that you live in Detroit, Michigan. Well, congratulations on your acceptances. You’re about to experience a major upgrade in your surroundings.”</p>

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<p>

In what, the world of nuclearpirate99?</p>

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<p>^Agreed. And Stanford seriously isn’t a school for everyone. I was accepted, visited, and it was honestly a terrible fit. I wouldn’t have applied early had I known.</p>

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<p>In terms of quality of the individual departments and reputation of faculty, Stanford is obviously better than Michigan and Duke.</p>

<p>It is hard to find a department where Michigan or Duke is better than Stanford. In terms of reputation of faculty, Stanford leads by hundreds of miles (see below).</p>

<p>Membership of National Academy of science:
Stanford (131), Michigan (27), Duke (18)
[National</a> Academy of Sciences:](<a href=“http://www.nasonline.org/site/Dir?sid=1011&view=basic&pg=srch]National”>http://www.nasonline.org/site/Dir?sid=1011&view=basic&pg=srch)</p>

<p>Membership of National Academy of enigeering:
Stanford (90), Michigan (22), Duke (3)
[Members</a> By Parent Institution](<a href=“http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/members%20by%20parent%20institutionu?OpenView&Start=30]Members”>http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/members%20by%20parent%20institutionu?OpenView&Start=30)</p>

<p>winners of national medal of science:
Stanford (34), Michigan (6), Duke (1)
<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recipients.cfm[/url]”>http://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recipients.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In fact, Only Harvard and Berkeley can compete with Stanford across all the fields.</p>

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<p>^Stanford is truly impressive indeed. In fact, only in the following fields is Michigan better:</p>

<p>Art History
Classics
Music
Spanish
Pharmacology
Biomedical engineering
Industrial engineering
Anthropology
Political science
Sociology</p>

<p>But for most that were rated by the National Research Council, Michigan is only several places behind. Duke is slightly lower overall than the other two schools. So I think the OP will get an amazing education at wherever he/she chooses.</p>

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<p>No one besides those in academia really care about National Medals of Science and Engineering. Sure, it’s great to have distinguished professors but even PhD students can do a great job of educating undergraduate students. After all, the undergraduate study of engineering, chemistry, economics, etc. is not so complex that you need an award-winning faculty member to teach the subject.</p>

<p>My worst experience at Duke was with a so-called “distinguished faculty member” who often held limited office hours, never responded to e-mails and frequently skipped lectures and had TAs teach temporarily when he had to leave Durham for academic and research symposiums.</p>

<p>I think young professors and PhD students are terrific teachers because they are still “hungry” in the sense that they feel like they have a lot to prove in order to become well-respected instructors, so they go out of their way to help undergraduates. I feel like a lot of tenured professors are arrogant, complacent and feel that they are “above” undergraduate concerns.</p>

<p>With regards to general prestige among laymen and employers, Stanford is slightly better than Duke and both schools clearly trump Michigan.</p>

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<p>“With regards to general prestige among laymen and employers…both schools clearly trump Michigan.”</p>

<p>Do you have facts/surveys to support your assertion, or is this just your privates-are-automatically-more-prestigious-than-publics knee-jerk reaction?</p>

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<p>HUAZHONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
[US</a> UNIVERSITIES RANKINGS](<a href=“http://www.auap.com/classu.html]US”>US UNIVERSITIES RANKINGS)
Duke: #6
Stanford: #7
Michigan: #27</p>

<p>AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES ADMISSIONS PROGRAM
[US</a> UNIVERSITIES RANKINGS](<a href=“http://www.auap.com/classu.html]US”>US UNIVERSITIES RANKINGS)
Stanford: #2
Duke: #12
Michigan: too low to be relevant</p>

<p>I’ve provided rankings that show an international perspective.</p>

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<p>I see, for the links that you’ve provided (by the way, your two links are the same), Penn State (#10) is apparently more prestigious than Yale University (#11) in the eyes of international students. And HYPS all fall behind NYU…</p>

<p>I suggest the following more reputable survey and ranking:</p>

<p>Concerning the prestige of Stanford, Michigan, and Duke among laymen:
[Harvard</a> Number One University in Eyes of Public](<a href=“Harvard Number One University in Eyes of Public”>Harvard Number One University in Eyes of Public)</p>

<p>and</p>

<p>Concerning the reputation of Stanford, Michigan, and Duke among employers:
[QS</a> Top Universities: University rankings by indicator - employer review](<a href=“http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2008/indicators/employer_review/]QS”>http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2008/indicators/employer_review/)</p>

<p>As you can see, Duke does not “trump” Michigan as you claim.</p>

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<p>omg. stanford, duh.</p>

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<p>Actually, your linked website [US</a> UNIVERSITIES RANKINGS](<a href=“http://www.auap.com/classu.html]US”>US UNIVERSITIES RANKINGS) says that NYU(#3) is better than HYPM, Penn, Chicago, Cornell, and Caltech. </p>

<p>It also says that NYU is in MA, Harvard is in NY, Yale is in CA, University of Michigan is in Arbor. Looks like you might have stumbled onto a scam site, ring<em>of</em>fire.</p>

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<p>Regardless, I wouldn’t go to Duke. But that’s just my two cents.
So I’d decide between Stanford and Michigan.
Stanford is more prestigious, more well-known in the real world, and will probably open up more doors after you graduate than Michigan would. Plus, Stanford is in California. The weather is great almost year-round (I’m a CA resident).
Michigan is prestigious as well, but doesn’t have the same name brand that Stanford does. Everyone knows about Stanford. However, I wouldn’t let that sway your choice.</p>

<p>So overall…
Stanford for many open doors after you graduate.
Michigan for the traditional college experience and prestige (though not as much as Stanford).</p>

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<p>Baddy- Take the time to read the whole thread before posting. The OP clearly stated that (s)he did not like Stanford and would probably be choosing between Michigan and Duke. </p>

<p>Prestige means little if you don’t like a school. :rolleyes:</p>

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<p>^But her dislike/like were based on a very short campus visit. Campus visit can be informative but in many cases, misleading.</p>

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<p>More misleading than rankings? I think not. </p>

<p>Let’s be honest. The only real advantage Stanford has over Michigan and Duke for most undergrads is prestige, and the other two are quite prestigious in their own right. </p>

<p>Considering the OP is planning to go to law school, any of the three would do. Why dismiss the OP’s feelings about a school and advocate it purely on the basis of prestige? That doesn’t make much sense to me at all.</p>

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<p>I think the OP never thought their thread would generate over 10 pages of responses!</p>

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<p>IBclass06,</p>

<p>I was merely pointing out a fact. I mentioned nothing about rankings or prestige. You don’t need to get so defensive.</p>