Duke is perhaps the only school besides Caltech, Stanford, and MIT that competes with some of the Ivies head to head in pretty much everything (financial resources, student outcomes, selectivity, etc.). The top 8 non-Ivies are just as good as the Ivies themselves if you compare them head to head and this isn’t even including good schools like Rice and Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Like I said before, Vandy’s selectivity has now improved so it needs to improve its student outcomes in order to become a top 15 university. It needs to start placing more graduates into elite law school, medical school, PhD programs, investment banks, and management consulting firms. Otherwise, no one will take it seriously.</p>
<p>If professional/graduate placement doesn’t elevate, then Vanderbilt will become another Wash U-a university with extremely low selectivity but not a lot of substance. You don’t want to go down that route.</p>
<p>You mean “high” selectivity. People’s definition of “substance” is variable. I’m sure most WashU students do just fine regardless of if they end up in elite programs. They are smart, well-educated, and they can figure out their life without needing to go to HPY or an elite IB or firm just as the majority of students that attent HPY themselves (while they send a large chunk to other Ivy grad./prof. programs and prestigeous places, the majority of the graduates are using their intelligence and education to do other awesome things. Do these types of graduates matter less? In terms of what will gain the school recognition and prestige from outsiders, maybe. But in terms of satisfaction of the graduate with the institution, no). Regardless of who “takes WashU seriously” I’m willing to bet many of its graduates are quite happy immediately after the experience or on down the road. Same goes for Vandy.</p>