Hi all! I’m planning to major in engineering in college, but I’m not sure if I should consider Duke.
Academically, I am very interested in neuroengineering. Duke seems like a good match due to its strong BME program plus the option to get both a BME and EE degree. What I’m not sure about is the flexibility of the curriculum and the possibility to study abroad (presuming that I’m pursuing a BME or EE degree; double majoring is probably too demanding?). Do Duke engineering students have time to study abroad and take liberal arts courses? How are placements for internships, undergrad research, etc.?
Also, I’m not really interested in Greek life nor am I a huge fan of basketball. Would I still fit into Duke culture? How’s the social scene besides the two factors listed above? How hard is it to balance social and academic life?
Phew, that’s a lot of questions Thanks in advance for your responses!
Yes, engineers can study abroad. It’s not impossible to do an EE/BME double but it will be very demanding (justifiably so). Pratt students are highly sought after and do very well in the job market.
It’s very easy to opt out of Greek life and still have a good time at Duke. You will probably end up going to a few basketball games. It’ll be an incredible experience.
Manage your time effectively and you will be able to balance everything.
Take a look at the Neuroscience major at Trinity. Also there is something called Program II which essentially allows you to design your own major.
http://program2.duke.edu
There is also an interdepartmental major, but which can only be used for different departments within Trinity
There are plenty of students who are not into hoops and the greek life.
BME/neuro might be a good double.
^ I thought Program II was only for Trinity students.
BME/Neuro is not program II
^ I understand that. @sgopal2 mentioned Program II (see post #2 above). I was responding to that, not to your BME/neuro post.
Actually, a BME/EE double major is not that much more difficult than a straight BME major. Double majoring within Pratt is definitely doable and I knew a lot of students that did that. It requires only like 2 more courses total because of the overlap in curriculums. There are in fact FEWER elective requirements within BME as a BME/EE double than there is straight BME (ie you take far fewer BME courses as a BME/EE double but you also have EE to take). Basically, you have to take more intermediate level courses across the two departments and have not as much choice on your electives, but it’s honestly not much more demanding. A double major of Neuroscience would require MUCH more planning and give you less flexibility than a BME/EE double. That requires 9 completely net new courses. I minored in Psychology while majoring in BME, which required 5 net new courses (one of which was from AP credit; neuroscience didn’t exist as a major at the time and was under the psychology umbrella).
Studying abroad is actually quite popular among Duke engineers and Duke is VERY rare in that regard in that they actually encourage it. I think about 1/3 of Duke engineers study abroad. The main difference from Trinity is that more Pratt students go to the UK or Australia (vs other more exotic places) because they’re not required to take a foreign language and it’d be challenging taking an engineering course in a different language (I went to London for a semester, which was a great experience!).
For the desire to double major and study abroad, Pratt actually is one of the most flexible top notch engineering program that I know of in those two regards, so I’d say it does provide what you desire.
Socially, not being into Greek life is not a problem nor is not being into basketball – you’d be surprised at how many people have zero interest when they step foot on campus. But as said, keep an open mind and you might find yourself at a few games and have a blast doing so. It’s a unique experience!
Duke is a good, expensive school. You can put it on your list, and the reality is that neuroengineering means graduate school. Consider going to either a top engineering school, not Duke, as an undergraduate school. Duke is a good graduate school for the more integrated disciplines.