<p>My daughter has been accepted into Duke and Rice and is at a crossroads on her decision. As parents, our preference is Duke, however after her recent visit to Rice, she is leaning towards Rice. It's a difficult choice especially given that she has not decided on a major. Possible majors could be pre-med or bioengineering. Minor will be in international studies. </p>
<p>We would appreciate your comments on the pros & cons of both schools. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Duke and Rice both have an outstanding undergrad program (Duke has seen as a bigger “hook” to students because of their lifestyle and prestige–mainly due to the great spirit of the school, the law, the medicine (M.D.) and Business program (all graduate))</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I’m not totally familiar with Rice, however, I do know that their life science is also outstanding and the pre-med is vigorous. They are often overlooked because they don’t have a Med School (unless you count Baylor) and that’s probably why they are often overlooked. However, their pre-med program is very good and often times do sent kids to strong med schools. Although pre-med is chosen by many students, many students loose interest after their first few month and even years, mainly because pre-med is vigorous, it does not allow much flexibility with your schedule (this depends on the school) but also at college, the student may become more interested in other fields of study. </p>
<p>Duke has a great undergrad program. Their science and math are outstanding. There are many programs that focus on undergrads. Duke’s studies are enjoyable, I have heard that many kids like the fun and enjoyable life of Duke, and the great school spirit.
However, Duke is bigger than Rice and so undergrad attention might not be as “big” as Rice</p>
<p>Also, Duke and Rice BOTH DO NOT have pre-med as a major and there are no premed degree. </p>
<p>Not to discourage pre-med (I hope to study in pre-med too), but make sure you select a major that is in the interest of your daughter, cause it will affect the future. If pre-med curriculum is not her interest, I believe that she should explore other fields of studies because when she finds a career in the long run, that career should be one that she enjoys. Any changes in major should be made as early as possible. Pre-med is more of what classes you take, and there is no major in pre-med
I hope she picks the college that she think she will enjoy and also succeed in</p>
<p>This is one of my favorite quote and I believe it says a lot:
“College is a match to made, not a prize to be won” (going to a prestigious schools means nothing unless you truly enjoy that school and have an interest in it)</p>
<p>Also just like colleges “Jobs are also a match, not a prize”
your job should be one you enjoy, even if it doesn’t make lots of money because life should be a enjoyable experience instead of a burden.</p>
<p>I hope she selects the one that she likes best</p>
<p>cdz512, thanks a lot for your insightful comments. </p>
<p>After a lot of thought and review, my D chose Duke. Being a fairly all-around student, her major is undecided. She felt that Duke offered more choices for her to dabble in before deciding on a major. Also the enthusiastic spirit of Duke students and faculty is hard to beat! With several of her older friends already enrolled at Duke, she should adapt fairly easily. </p>
<p>We are very happy with her choice and know that Duke will be a great experience for her. Onward ho’ </p>
<p>Any comments on the Focus program? Duke has been marketing this program fairly strongly, but we’ve heard some not-so-stellar opinions from other Dukies. </p>
<p>Ciao …</p>
<p>The FOCUS program is a big committment in terms of time, coming especially at a point in one’s academic career when course choices are critical in determining how the next 4 years will map out. </p>
<p>Thus, FOCUS probably wouldn’t be the best choice for someone who has a ton of intro requirements to take and not a lot of time to do it before say taking a standardized test…(possibly a premed who doesn’t have a lot of AP credits, also apply to engineers who don’t have a lot of APs). So it really depends on the person. If you find one that you really like and you have the time, then go for it, it’ll probably be a great bonding experience. But if you are not sure, it’s wise to map out an overall schedule for the next 4 years to see where you stand.</p>
<p>The FOCUS program, to a certain sense, is less academic than more of personal interest and commitment. The FOCUS is different in many sense because it focus on one single topic but a lot of thoughts have to put into that single topic and is actually, in my opinion, more thinking than memorizing. Also you have to see if the topics are of your daughter’s interest. Like SBR said, it is a great bonding experience in which you live with the people in your FOCUS topic, you think with them, discuss with them and even argue with them (although I hope the arguing doesn’t go too far). It truly depends on your daughter’s interest, does she like the topics this year, is she willing to commit her time to do other studying that is more towards discussions and seminars? I mean yes there is a lot of academic and learning, but what is different is that I believe the FOCUS program has less boundaries and there are significantly more discussions. The FOCUS is unique and in that sense, it truly depends on the student. You might have heard that there are people who didn’t really enjoy it, this maybe because they didn’t like the topic they choose, it is very crucial to which topic your daughter chooses because if she doesn’t enjoy it, it is waste of a semester and a space in her schedule where she could have selected another class.</p>