<p>Is Pratt really bad? Is the average Pratt student really "inferior" to, say, an average Caltech or Stanford engineering student?</p>
<p>Even though it may not be as good as that of Stanford and Caltech, Pratt is still an excellent engineering school, especially in BME. Why would a top 10 university have a “really bad” engineering school and “inferior students”?Duke engineering students are very smart. The reason Caltech is a stronger engineering school is because its main focus is engineering… it doesn’t devote that much attention to the liberal arts. Stanford has better engineering probably because its endowment is about $8-10 billion dollars greater than Duke’s.</p>
<p>No, Pratt isn’t bad. It’s engineering is tied with such “terrible” universities as Columbia, Harvard, USC, and UPenn at #26 in USN&WR’s latest ranking. Engineering ranking has a lot to do with research output and sheer number of faculty that are well-known. A school like Georgia Tech with 14 departments and a student body/faculty ten times the size of Duke has a lot more exposure. Duke, with its measly four departments, isn’t as much the engineering powerhouse with monumental studies coming from it from all facets of the engineering world. It’s much more focused. </p>
<p>Having said that, those four departments are very strong and the students and faculty *are * very quality. There’s a reason that Pratt attracts top students. If you compare the student quality at Duke and Minnesota (which is ranked higher), it would be a joke. And there’s a reason for that. I’d say in general, though, engineering firms aren’t as interested as other industries what school you went to and that Duke engineers vary widely based on interest. Many Pratt students go into banking or management consulting rather than engineering. I’d say Duke’s program is similar to UPenn’s (i.e. more business oriented career goals, smaller, top-notch students and faculty, in the context of a larger liberal arts focused institution). So, if you want a huge engineering program with every conceivable major available at your disposal and are 100% sure you want to be an engineer, Duke probably isn’t the best choice. Instead, if you’re interested in being in a more intimate engineering program with top notch students and faculty, but only four available majors, with a very diverse (from an interest standpoint) student body and the opportunity to do research as an undergrad in the context of a larger liberal arts school, then Duke probably is a good choice.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the ranking. Ultimately you, the student, will determine what you make of any engineering school. You could have the worst professors at a top-ranked school or the best professors at a low-ranked school.</p>
<p>John I’ve seen some of your posts lately. You seem to be very concerned with your image with getting into Duke and what a Duke degree will do for you. I think Duke is a great school. I don’t think it’s the best school, but it is without a doubt a solid school. My dad graduated from there (Pratt) and has had a very successful career. I think a lot of that is based on his own merit, however. There are some Duke grads that don’t get top jobs. It’s really what you make of it. So don’t worry about the ranking so much is all I’m saying.</p>
<p>Pratt is inferior to Georgia Tech. The truth hurts. Sorry, have fun at Duke :rolls eyes.</p>
<p>^Being rejected doesn’t give you the right to be so condescending, sorry. Pratt is different, not inferior. It’s a niche school, like at Penn and Columbia.</p>
<p>The problem with Duke is that their admissions office is pompous, thats why Im upset. You have qualified students that make a great fit for their student body, but they’re told they’re not good enough. Georgia Techs engineering is as good if not better than Pratt, and they accept more students, because so many of their applicants have strong test scores and bring great things to the campus. Duke is in the same situation but they feed off their ego by accepting less.</p>
<p>You have to draw the line somewhere man. It isn’t about ego and Duke admissions doesn’t “get off” on rejecting people. It just isn’t a public university: the school just isn’t big enough to accept everyone that is qualified to be there. I’m sorry you didn’t get in but try not to view it as Duke saying you “aren’t good enough”. Lots of people don’t get in that would have excelled at Duke. I have a twin brother who had a nearly identical application to mine back when I applied. He didn’t get in and I did. It made absolutely no sense to me but that shows you how thin the line can be. (and honestly I think they made a mistake and didn’t realize we were twins because I think they usually try and admit both twins if they are that similar) Anyway he still turned out alright and is at law school at Duke now. (go figure)</p>
<p>To answer the initial question: USNWR rankings are not the be all and end all of university quality. Try not to get blinded by numbers that mean very very little and concentrate on the programs themselves. I say this even about the areas where Duke ranks very highly. The rankings mean almost nothing, it is just a way to sell magazines.</p>