<p>I've been accepted into both and my family wants me too go to MIT, mostly because of prestige. I want to know I'll enjoy college more than just a fancy name in my degree. Should I choose Duke or MIT? Why?</p>
<p>I would choose Duke. You seem to prefer it and it has a better reputation in Biomedical Engineering than MIT. Duke will probably be less stressful and more traditionally fun than MIT as well though based on what I’ve heard. :)</p>
<p>Duke is traditionally stronger for BME and should provide you with a more well rounded college experience. Having said that, MIT is obviously a great school as well. Go with your heart. Don’t let people tell you what to do with your life.</p>
<p>I already mentioned in the MIT thread that you should go to the admitted students weekends at both schools and then decide based on academic and cultural fit. </p>
<p>However, be aware that Biomedical engineering at Duke is probably very different from bioengineering at MIT. </p>
<p>Biomedical is usually one of the engineering disciplines applied to solving medical problems and in particular many students think of it as creating robotic arms or other medical devices. </p>
<p>Bioengineering at MIT is mostly about genetic manipulation and isn’t specifically related to medicine. Bio engineers can be creating biofuels/cosmetics/pharmaceuticals or manipulating the genome for various other reasons.</p>
<p>Here’s a better explanation from the MIT website: [MIT</a> Biological Engineering & Biomedical Engineering Society](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/bmes/www/academics.html]MIT”>http://web.mit.edu/bmes/www/academics.html)</p>