What colleges get the most hate on this board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had never heard of Vandy and Northwestern during the 1980s, but I had heard of Tufts.

I had never heard of it until recently.

[Anonymous]

The only people I know who “hate” Duke just can’t afford private college tuition. And they probably know one or two families who send a kid to Duke and they’re rich, bigger house, WASPyish, attractive clean cut overachieving kid — just everything they’re not. Seething envy.

[Anonymous]

Your small circle of acquaintances is not the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only people I know who “hate” Duke just can’t afford private college tuition. And they probably know one or two families who send a kid to Duke and they’re rich, bigger house, WASPyish, attractive clean cut overachieving kid — just everything they’re not. Seething envy.

Keep convincing yourself that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:duke

Duke envy! Honest persons admit Duke is an elite institution with a consistently great basketball team.

Much UVA hate which seems in response to UVA boosters trying to elevate the brand higher than reality.

I’m not a hater. My feeling is that any school outside my neighborhood that I’ve heard about at all can do great things for the right students.

But, when I was applying to college, back in the 1980s, and wanting to major in physics, I assumed that Duke, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and Northwestern were all weaker than places like Tufts, Emory, Wash. U. or Case Western *because* they had Division I sports. It wasn’t till I started reading DCUM, as a parent, that I learned that people thought of Duke, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt as prestigious.

It could be that, outside of the Southeast, Duke takes a hit, with respect to perceptions of academic prestige, because it looks like a basketball team with a university attached.

You have got to be kidding. Duke, Northwestern and Vandy have always been stronger schools than WashU, Tufts and Case Western. Even back in the ‘80s.

Vandy is no better than WashU or Emory. Tufts and Case I agree are a step below.

Northwestern and Duke, at least, have been academic powerhouses since the 60s and 70s (and very likely before, as well). That PP has no idea what they're talking about. Just because a university also invests in athletics doesn't mean they're weaker. Stanford is the prime example of this - they're by far the most successful athletically of this group, and also the most successful academically. You can be good at both.

[Anonymous]

I was a poor kid with very good academics who also was lucky enough to be a national champion in high school. I bit on Duke and found it very difficult socially and culturally. My friends and competitors in high school were from the southern suburbs of Chicago - a few actually were actually good students - but all were very mentally tough kids who knew they had to earn everything on their own. This was far from the case at Duke. The students were very gifted, but many were a bit shallow and soft. While I had nothing in common with most of them, I was not treated poorly and in fact was treated better than I deserved.

The education within the classroom was unparalleled if you focused and I was prepared for graduate school very, very well. I could not have done better in grad school. It was much easier than Duke (and the grad school was one with identical prestige as Duke). So I while I did not enjoy Duke I have no complaints.

I can’t imagine anyone today going to Duke without understanding the history of the school. It remains an aggressive upstart, with Buck Duke’s nouveau rich attitudes still permeating the place. Duke was deeply impacted by his view of the South’s backwardness, and was maniacal in gaining social and economic acceptance (marrying a Mayflower descendant and buying big chunks of Park Avenue). Duke is a unique piece of American history, but that history exists in a legacy way today. For some it is great, but it is a hyper competitive place (was good for me as it gave me hugely unexpected social mobility), but one should be aware of what they are getting into - and easily understand why some dislike Duke.

Duke is a great story in history. Wash Duke - JB’s father - started the tobacco business with a 5 dollar gold coin Lincoln insisted go to freed Confederate prisoners. He didn’t spend it as he walked back to Durham. That sense of striving which often reflects arrogance lives on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:duke

Duke envy! Honest persons admit Duke is an elite institution with a consistently great basketball team.

Much UVA hate which seems in response to UVA boosters trying to elevate the brand higher than reality.

I’m not a hater. My feeling is that any school outside my neighborhood that I’ve heard about at all can do great things for the right students.

But, when I was applying to college, back in the 1980s, and wanting to major in physics, I assumed that Duke, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and Northwestern were all weaker than places like Tufts, Emory, Wash. U. or Case Western *because* they had Division I sports. It wasn’t till I started reading DCUM, as a parent, that I learned that people thought of Duke, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt as prestigious.

It could be that, outside of the Southeast, Duke takes a hit, with respect to perceptions of academic prestige, because it looks like a basketball team with a university attached.

The most visible edifices from above at most U.S. universities appears to be the football stadium and the basketball arena. If not that, the hospital. Some appear to be health systems with universities attached.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had never heard of Vandy and Northwestern during the 1980s, but I had heard of Tufts.

That reflects poorly on you, not the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a poor kid with very good academics who also was lucky enough to be a national champion in high school. I bit on Duke and found it very difficult socially and culturally. My friends and competitors in high school were from the southern suburbs of Chicago - a few actually were actually good students - but all were very mentally tough kids who knew they had to earn everything on their own. This was far from the case at Duke. The students were very gifted, but many were a bit shallow and soft. While I had nothing in common with most of them, I was not treated poorly and in fact was treated better than I deserved.

The education within the classroom was unparalleled if you focused and I was prepared for graduate school very, very well. I could not have done better in grad school. It was much easier than Duke (and the grad school was one with identical prestige as Duke). So I while I did not enjoy Duke I have no complaints.

I can’t imagine anyone today going to Duke without understanding the history of the school. It remains an aggressive upstart, with Buck Duke’s nouveau rich attitudes still permeating the place. Duke was deeply impacted by his view of the South’s backwardness, and was maniacal in gaining social and economic acceptance (marrying a Mayflower descendant and buying big chunks of Park Avenue). Duke is a unique piece of American history, but that history exists in a legacy way today. For some it is great, but it is a hyper competitive place (was good for me as it gave me hugely unexpected social mobility), but one should be aware of what they are getting into - and easily understand why some dislike Duke.

Duke is a great story in history. Wash Duke - JB’s father - started the tobacco business with a 5 dollar gold coin Lincoln insisted go to freed Confederate prisoners. He didn’t spend it as he walked back to Durham. That sense of striving which often reflects arrogance lives on.

A school built on cigarette money with a huge oncology business in its hospital.

[Anonymous]

Why is UVA so maligned? Right now, that is our second top choice. Waiting on EA decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is UVA so maligned? Right now, that is our second top choice. Waiting on EA decisions.

Jealousy.

I just read an article about a girl at Langley High with a perfect ACT score and straight As. UVA is her first choice.

[Anonymous]

Elon - in particular the same person who always responds that the only students who attend have special needs or learning disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elon - in particular the same person who always responds that the only students who attend have special needs or learning disabilities.

Elon? Never heard of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is UVA so maligned? Right now, that is our second top choice. Waiting on EA decisions.

Jealousy.

I just read an article about a girl at Langley High with a perfect ACT score and straight As. UVA is her first choice.

So a UVA supporter can claim UVA is Ivy level. If someone disagrees, it is simply jealousy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is UVA so maligned? Right now, that is our second top choice. Waiting on EA decisions.

Jealousy.

I just read an article about a girl at Langley High with a perfect ACT score and straight As. UVA is her first choice.

Great story.