<p>Hey guys, I know that Duke's Biomedical Engineering program is one of the best in the nation, but does that mean their biology program is amazing as well? I'm interested in research, but not premed, but I think I'll still be indicating biology as my academic interest for Duke.</p>
<p>Also, does Duke admit based on academic interest? If so, how do you think I would hold up in biology?</p>
<p>Basic overview:</p>
<p>SAT I 2340
SAT IIs 750 USH, 770 Chemistry, 770 Biology
GPA 3.99 UW
Class Rank: top 1% out of ~400 students
1 summer of scientific research
1 summer at math & science camp
over 300 hours of community service</p>
<p>Don't wanna make you guys have to read too much, so I'll just end by saying I'm also involved in sports, clubs, and have won a few awards for community service and academics, but nothing huge like Siemen's.</p>
<p>(I'm more interested in how good the biology program at Duke is, so feel free to ignore my stats if you don't have time.) Thanks!</p>
<p>Duke hasn’t mentioned anything about admitting based on interest…unless you indicate an interest that Duke doesn’t have, in which case your application might suffer. </p>
<p>As for Duke biology, I’ve heard positive things about it, can’t say much beyond that since I’m BME.</p>
<p>One thing though, BME and biology are totally different, a good BME department means very little when trying to evaluate the biology department.</p>
<p>^Ah ok thanks. I just assumed that you needed somewhat of a strong foundation in biology and chemistry to go into BME. (By the way, I took up your advice earlier on my other thread and decided to go bio :p)</p>
<p>Does anyone else have an idea how good the bio program at Duke is?</p>
<p>I should also mention that I’ve heard my friends say the bio department might be in the middle of a curriculum revision/overhaul of sorts a la chem department. So things might be a little different a few years down the road.</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s what SBR meant. Biology is redesigning its introductory courses such that the current intro curriculum (25, 116, 118 I think, I may be wrong) will be streamlined into two intro courses: 101L and 102L (or something like that). It still is and will continue to be a great major choice for students looking for a career in the health sciences. I don’t have any objective rankings to show you, but the people I know who are prospective biology majors are all extremely smart and capable. How will you hold up in the major is entirely dependent on how much work you put in (and how luck you are, to a certain extent).</p>
<p>In fact, I see it as opposite. I feel like this shows how dynamic Duke’s programs are. When speaking with advisors, they told me that the reasons for the change in the biology curriculum is due to the shifts in medical school requirements, graduate school recommendations, and shifts in knowledge/academia.</p>
<p>Duke is not really known for the Bio department itself. But I think this is because of our strong BME and Neurobiology depts, and the Center for Genome Sciences and Policy initiative. They kind of overshadow/overlap with the biology department, and a lot of the genetics and molecular biology research groups are actually associated with these other departments. I think this also reflects the bio program (and Duke) in general, the academic program is extremely interdisciplinary, and as a result there is a lot of freedom and opportunities for specialization - you can do a bio major with concentration in biochem, pharm, ecology, etc. So I would say that the Bio sciences departments as a whole at Duke are VERY good (of course I am biased ^-^). The bio dept itself is more associated with ecology-related areas, and they also have associations with initiatives like the Nicholas School for Environmental Policy, and a ties to some fantastic DukeEngage (study abroad) programs related to biodiversity.</p>
<p>I’m interested in research too, and seriously, Duke faculty are really open to having undergrads in their labs. I think its one of the best things about this school, because there is so much good research going on in the bio-related depts. 2 months into freshman fall, I had already gotten involved in BME research, and I also got a paying lab job in a neurobiology/genetics lab, and my PI is actually pretty well known in his field. All you need to do is go to [url=<a href=“http://dukelist.duke.edu/]DukeList[/url”>http://dukelist.duke.edu/]DukeList[/url</a>] to check for open positions. Or you just find professors yourself and email them, but I didnt even need to do that. If you are on financial aid, Duke has a work-study program where the employer only has to pay half your salary and Duke pays the other half, so its actually beneficial to labs to hire undergrads! For certain concentrations like biochem, research is required as part of the curriculum too.</p>
<p>Hopefully this helps. I didnt know much about bio at Duke either before I came, only the BME program, but I’m really glad I ended up here. I would also encourage you you consider the BME program too! It is pretty tough academically though.</p>
<p>Because of the Duke Hospital affiliation, there is a TON of research being done at Duke, and it’s really easy to get involved (as in you’ll probably get a job somewhere within the week if you contact a few professors). It might not all be strictly within the biology department per se, but perhaps in other closely related but differently named departments such as cancer biology, pharmacology, neuroscience, biochemistry, etc.</p>