<p><em>Sigh</em>. I got off of the waitlist for Duke last week, and I just received my financial aid information today. I previously sent in my SIR (deposit) to UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>Some Background:</p>
<p>My major in Berkeley: Bioengineering in the College of Engineering
My major in Duke: Biomedical engineering in the Pratt School of Engineering.</p>
<p>I will be visiting at the end of the month. I've asked for an extension until the 3rd of June to let them know if I accept.</p>
<p>Now, both schools have excellent programs in Engineering, Duke is especially the best (well, top 2-3) for Biomedical Engineering. Also, I'm going to go either pre-med or pre-business after, so I think Duke may be better for GPA/placement. Not entirely sure though.
**
Berkeley*:
*Pros:
GREAT location. Awesome roommate. San Francisco + Berkeley are always busy. Wonderful climate. Engineering programs ranked top 3. Cons:
Big. Really really big. Insanely competitive, especially for pre-med/business.
GPA killer =/</p>
<p>Duke Pros:
Beautiful (from pictures for now) campus. Weather is also pretty decent. Excellent academics, especially in my major. "Brand name"/Prestige (I know, I know...but maybe helpful for grad schools?)</p>
<p>Cons:
North Carolina seems pretty...dismal. I'm not a big fan of the Greek system - which I hear is pretty big over at Duke. Added cost (about $25,000 extra, not including misc. expenses such as airfare from So. Cal). Culture shock? I dunno, this could either be a good thing or a bad thing :D</p>
<p>^ Problems? Haha! Yeah, it's an up and coming program.</p>
<p>$500 million donated by BP to start-up the Energy Biosciences Institute...the program will be at the forefront in a few years time. New facilities are being built...Cal just finished Stanley Hall, a new building that houses cross-disciplinary departments such as molecular cell biology, chemistry, bioengineering, and chemical engineering.</p>
<p>Yeah for sure - Stanley Hall is awesome!
From a purely financial/college environment standpoint, Berkeley is infinitely preferred. </p>
<p>Duke, the only advantage I can see is the, perhaps, relative ease of the classes (as compared to Berkeley, not to say that the classes aren't hard!)</p>
<p>If money is an issue, CAL (please note UCB! hehe) costs half as much as Duke. It is hard to justify attending Duke for an additional $100k over 4 years.</p>
<p>I think the culture shock will be tremendous. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you are excited about being in the Bay Area, it's hard for me to imagine you're going to be thrilled at Duke. </p>
<p>Frankly, I think the grading stuff about Berkeley is exaggerated.</p>
<p>Indian,
North Carolina is certainly not “dismal.” It has as high a quality of life as almost any state in the USA with great variety of topography, excellent business environment, temperate weather with all four seasons, nice nice nice people, etc. I don’t know many folks who don’t like NC once they’ve sampled the life there, although I would suggest that you not view North Carolina by what you might see in downtown Durham. Sort of like judging the Bay Area by what you see in Vallejo. After you finish visiting Duke’s campus (and you’re right about its being gorgeous), drive through the Research Triangle business area and the Chapel Hill area and this will give you much greater insight into why a lot of folks like the area. </p>
<p>Having said the above, I think you might be a better fit at UC Berkeley. First and foremost, the cost differential is quite large and the institutional differences are not nearly as great, including in your field of study. Second, Duke has a large Greek scene which plays a large role in the social life of the school. Plenty of folks get by without it, but it sounds like you would find this an irritant. Third, the grad school “prestige” difference is tiny, if it exists at all. Fourth, the Bay Area is fabulous and it’s a lot closer to home and could provide a lot more personal connections for you should your postgraduate career place you in California.</p>
<p>Oh boy, I'm terribly sorry! North Carolina in general is a really chill place - I meant to say that Durham is dismal. Actually, Durham isn't either. It's just a completely different environment from either LA or the Bay Area. Thanks for the insights, Hawkette.</p>
<p>@UCBChemEGrad: I totally agree, of course college is supposed to be challenging! Some of the horror stories/myths (especially concentrating around MCB majors, hmmm) are slightly disheartening though.</p>
<p>@rjkofnovi: What were those values that you quoted? PA?</p>
<p>Overall, I think I'm leaning toward staying at Berkeley. However, I can't make any calls before I visit. Who knows :)</p>
<p>Also, what do you guys think about the whole "small school vs. big school" deal?</p>
<p>I wouldn't base your decision on the location itself. I live in the triangle area now, but I grew up and went to high school in Sonoma County, and was always in the bay area. There is definitely a difference, but I wouldn't say it flops in comparison to Berkeley. It all depends on what you want. A visit to the campus would probably be the best thing you can do though.</p>
<p>GPA killer.....anywhere is a GPA killer unless u go to a community college lol....but if you're parents have no objection to paying money....Duke will definitely give you more prestige and better flexibility</p>
<p>
[quote]
Now, both schools have excellent programs in Engineering, Duke is especially the best (well, top 2-3) for Biomedical Engineering. Also, I'm going to go either pre-med or pre-business after, so I think Duke may be better for GPA/placement. Not entirely sure though.
[/quote]
Duke BioE is not really better. BioE students generally take a lot of EECS classes. BioE is an interdisciplinary study, almost. A project my sister worked on was collecting data from monkey brain and DSP them. Where on earth can you find a school that rival Berkeley in EECS? Ultimately, you will need Mechanical Engineering & EECS to do research in BioE and Duke isn't well known for either.
I'm not sure about Duke and GPA, but read their med school placement with a grain of salt. Some school like Haverford only let a certain students apply for med school, hence, 100% acceptance rate. Berkeley is a public school; it does not practice the aforementioned.<br>
Prestige-wise, Duke isn't better than Berkeley. And if you're the type who's interested in doing research, Berkeley research (even at undergraduate level) blows Duke out of the water.</p>