<p>So recently I was admitted to Berkeley as a ChemE major and Duke University for Trinity. I am planning to pursue a Engineering degree, so with Duke, I would have to switch over to Pratt first/second semester. Regardless, in general, I want to engineering/business (and definitely minor in something business related).</p>
<p>I know that Berkeley has a renowned Engineering Department and Business Program (both rank in the top 5 in the nation), but I feel that attention and opportunities I will receive at Duke will ultimately benefit me in the long run, despite the fact that Duke isn't known as prominent for engineering as Berkeley. </p>
<p>In my opinion, Duke will provide a closer connection to teachers, counseling, more opportunities for grad school (the Research Triangle in Durham - though I feel that is more towards Medical Research and I'm not that that into research). I come from a single-parent, low-income family so having a closer connection with the people I work with will help me definitely. </p>
<p>Then again, if Engineering at Berkeley is outstanding, and I am sure that the internships at Berkeley will direct me to a job after I graduate. However, I just don't know how competitive they will be. But what also attracts me about Berkeley is the Haas business program, which Duke, to my knowledge, doesn't have an undergrad business program.</p>
<p>I visit Duke next week, but would like to get people's opinions on my situation!</p>
<p>What is the net cost after non-loan financial aid at each school? If they are substantially different, then the difference in amount of student loan debt (especially of the unsubsidized kind) can make a big difference in your life choices after graduation.</p>
<p>I’ll never understand why people do engineering if they don’t want to BE engineers. Sure, it looks great, but at Duke at least, it is MUCH easier to get a 3.7+ as an Econ major concentrating in Finance than to get a 3.5 in pratt or at UCB. And the Haas dynamic scares me, having to apply and whatnot.</p>
<p>Here’s how you should choose between these two schools depending on which of the following scenarios apply to.</p>
<p>1) If you’re a 100% sure of doing specifically Chemical Engineering, go to Berkeley (Duke only has ME, BME, ECE and Civil).
2) If you definitely want to do business (Consulting/Investment Banking/Corporate Development Programs) for sure, I would lean towards Duke but I would go to Cal if you wanted to definitely stay on the West Coast. Also, there’s no guarantee you will get into Haas and if you stick with just regular Economics at Berkeley, you would be much better off with Duke if you wanted to do consulting or finance. Even if you do get into Haas, Duke will still be better if you wanted to get an elite business job in New York or Chicago. It doesn’t matter what you major in at Duke, you can major in any subject and get a good job as long as you are academically qualified and show interest in the job.
3) If you want to do Engineering and study one of the 4 disciplines that Duke actually offers, I would choose based on fit and go to the school unless its BME, in which case you should definitely go to Duke and Computer Science/Electrical Engineering, in which case you should definitely go to Cal unless you strongly prefer one of the other schools.
4) If you’re unsure between Engineering or Business or generally think you will change your mind a lot, I would definitely go to Duke because its very flexible with regards to changing your major and your career prospects don’t really hinge on what you study. At Cal, I’m pretty sure its impossible to major in Engineering and still enroll in Haas as well. Even if you can, there’s no way you can do that in 4 years so you will have to pay for extra schooling.
5) If one of the schools is significantly cheaper for you, then go there.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision and PM me if you have any questions about Duke specifically!:)</p>
<p>Thank you all for the replies! And to answer braap comment about being an engineer, honestly I don’t to do in life. I just know that I’m more of an applied science person, I’m stronger in math and science, and would like make a good salary given my family’s low income situation. I was never exposed to engineering at my high school (single track curriculum) but all my teachers recommend me going into the field as it combines science/math together. That’s just a little summary of why I want to go an engineering field, especially ChemE cause I do like chemistry.</p>
<p>As for my financial aid package, my EFC is 0 so therefore, I would need to pay $10,000 (minus $4000 in work study if i choose) in loans per year at Berkeley compared to $4000 a year at Duke (2000 can come from work study). Honestly, my mom doesn’t make much so this is why my financial aid package is well.</p>
<p>Again if anyone would like to give their opinion about my decision, please feel free!</p>
<p>Do yourself a favor and go to DUKE! You will have to work less (work study) and pay 6K less? It is totally worth it. Of course if you are a California resident, you have to factor in airlines costs home, but with 6K less to pay it would still be worth it. You can save 24K over 4 years and Durham is cheaper to live than the bay area.</p>
<p>I would go with Duke since it is cheaper. UCB has an amazing ChemE department, but I find most eng + business kids end up in finance or in corporate development or in consulting and Duke wins here. Duke also isn’t as resource constrained as UCB and is not dependent on state funds (California funds at that).</p>
<p>Chemical engineering has good job and career prospects, but chemistry does not.</p>
<p>If you want to go into finance, you may want to consider some combination of math/statistics/economics/finance, since the financial industry pays well for people who can do math.</p>