Duke vs WashU St Louis vs Rice vs Northwestern

With the early decision deadline coming up I have narrowed my choices down to these schools. I have visited all of the schools besides northwestern, but I am planning to visit it soon. I am interested in studying bio/biochem or neurology on a pre med track, but I also am looking to explore biomedical engineering. I also plan to study business on the side. I am very interested in research and am also looking to get involved in other extracurriculars on campus. In term of social life, I hope to meet a wide range of people and have some time to do things outside of schoolwork. If you can, could you tell me some pros/cons of any of these schools. Here is what I understand so far.

Duke
pros:
very strong BME/ biology programs
school spirit/ basketball (I’m a huge basketball fan)
weather seems nice
lots of opportunity for research
new facilities finishing up this year (can someone tell me about these)
great campus
lots of on campus activities
proximity to UNC / research triangle
Medical center om campus
presitige
cons:
Not much info on administration quality

Durham seems quiet and dead
Duke at night seems shady
greek life/ party culture
dorms are disparate in quality
from what I’ve heard food options are limited
elitist attitude (I have heard of it but not seen it)
east campus is far away from the central campus

WashU
pros:
great dorms and food
strong biology departments
lots of research opportunities
helpful administration
nice campus
students seem to be happy
amazing location - forest park / st Louis
cons:
grade deflation
pre-med classes are difficult and it’s hard to maintain GPA
medical school located across park
not a large emphasis on sports

Rice
pros:
great campus and facilities
next to Texas medical center
rated to have very high quality of life
lots of research opportunities
residential college system (not really sure if pro or con)
strong BME/biology program
small class size means more focus on undergrads
cons:
HEAT
people seem to be too focused on studies and don’t have much of a social life
not directly affiliated with a medical school
lack of interest in sports
residential college life may grow tedious
not sure about dorm quality

Northwestern:
I do not know much about this but I have heard it is in a great location and the academics are excellent

If anybody could provide me with more information about these schools or correct any of my statements, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

As to Northwestern:

Check out the Northwestern forum on CC (Northwestern University - College Confidential Forums), you might find it helpful. If you haven’t done so yet, you could check out the forums for the other universities too.

Also, you can learn more about NU from the Northwestern website (http://www.northwestern.edu/).

I’m a current NU student, and can help you out by providing a pros/cons list for NU like the ones you made for the other schools. I don’t know all that much about the pre-med opportunities at NU though, so I’ll be of limited help in that regard. And I’m probably pretty biased since I really like Northwestern lol.

Pros:
good BME major
easy to double major
suuuper easy to get involved in research
great med school, where undergrads can help out with research
wide variety of majors appropriate for pre-med people (BME, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Chem, Bio, Philosophy, etc)
cool campus - right on Lake Michigan
close to Chicago
Big 10 school, if you’re interested in that kind of stuff
lots of campus activities (events, student groups, etc)
helpful and friendly administration
high quality of academics

Cons:
winters. cold.
some pre-med courses, especially organic chemistry, are very difficult
not that much student interest in sports, even though its a Big 10 school
expensive (but there are ways to save money)
social scene often perceived as being divided/clique-y
there’s no common architectural theme, so there are strange contrasts between the styles of some of the buildings

If you have any questions about my pros and cons, or about Northwestern, please let me know!