<p>I was recently accepted to Duke, Rice, and UPenn for chemical engineering at Rice and Penn and Biomedical Engineering at Duke and I can't decide where I want to go! I want to study chemical engineering, specifically the pharmaceutical aspects of chemical engineering, which is why I think Biomedical Engineering at Duke would be a good option too. After college, I plan on going to medical school, but since those plans could definitely change, I want to go to a university that will have a good pre-med program and would have good career placement programs should I decide to enter the workforce after I graduate. </p>
<p>The most important factor to me is the social scene of the school, since all three schools have great academic reputations. I care about having a really close-knit community and school pride. I want a social scene with a lot of options that isn't exclusive at all, and not a really intense greek scene. I hear that Duke has an intense greek scene, with the entire social scene revolving around that, but I have no idea if thats a true statement. The whole elitist vibe is a turn-off and I don't want an overly competitive academic environment. </p>
<p>I am a pretty athletic person and fitness is really important to me too. I could play a varsity sport at Penn if I wanted to, but I could play club at Duke, and Rice doesn't have the varsity or club sports that I play, but I hear the intramurals are really competitive because of the residential college system. </p>
<p>...So any suggestions and opinions are welcome. I will be visiting all three before making my final decision. It seems like everyday I have a different first choice, and the pros and cons just keep adding up. Help!</p>
<p>The force is strong with Darth here, good advice.</p>
<p>All great universities, but I, too, would opt for Duke. Academically, it is superb, which is not to indicate that Rice and Penn are not outstanding. However, the unique Duke spirit and the cohesiveness of the undergraduate population, the real opportunities for undergraduates to collaborate with faculty, post-docs and PhD candidates in legitimate, meaningful research, the integration and cooperation between academic units (e.g., engineering / medical / chemistry / public policy / law / business), and the accessibility and commitment of the faculties simply set Duke apart.</p>
<p>As a Duke senior who spent his first year at Rice (transferred for the environmental sciences program), it seems like Rice would be the best fit for you. If you find that you don’t like BME, you can’t switch to chemical engineering at Duke because we don’t have it. Rice has the best social scene of the three schools (my cousin goes to Penn so I have an idea about their social scene), and the reason I say that is I found less self-segregation at Rice than I’ve found at Duke. Rice’s residential college system does an excellent job of ensuring that students of diverse backgrounds interact, whereas self-segregation is more prevalent at Duke. That’s not to say you can’t find a diverse group of friends here- I was fortunate to encounter a fraternity with a very diverse group of guys, and I’ve develop friends outside my fraternity from classes and other extracurricular activities. At Duke and Penn, the Greek scene is prevalent. Not everyone is involved in it, but it is a very noticeable part of campus life.</p>
<p>As someone who is also planning on applying to medical school, I will say that Duke and Rice are among the best schools to go to for premed. Duke has the School of Medicine and the Medical Center on campus; Rice has Texas Medical Center next door, which is the world’s largest medical center and has plenty of shadowing/volunteering/research opportunities for Rice undergrads. Some of my Rice friends actually found research opportunities at the Baylor School of Medicine, and I have Duke friends who are research in Duke Med labs. For premed, both will prepare you well for medical school, and students at both schools have about equivalent success into getting into medical school (approximately 85% of Duke undergrad applicants and 90% of Rice undergrad applicants get into at least one medical school). Both have collaborative atmospheres for premeds, although I would say Rice is slightly more collaborative than Duke.</p>
<p>If you have any more questions about Rice or Duke, feel free to PM. You are fortunate to choose among 3 distinguished universities.</p>
<p>I would STRONGLY recommend visiting all three schools- the visits will help you decide which school is the best fit for YOU, not advice from strangers on CC.</p>