<p>Sooo, I never thought I'd be in this kind of situation. I ALWAYS thought I was going to the University of Alabama. ALWAYS. I am waiting to hear back if I was admitted into their Computer-Based Honors Program, which is a fantastic opportunity for undergraduates to start as freshmen doing research of their own choosing while a professor in that field sort of guides/observes/helps them with the project one-on-one. This would especially benefit me since I would be doing chemical and biological engineering there. </p>
<p>I'm also NMF, which at UA covers tuition, housing, fees, laptop, and study abroad, so with that and other alumni/ACT awards, I can pretty much go there for nothing and save the money my parents have saved up for my college to go to grad school wherever I can get accepted. </p>
<p>BUT.....</p>
<p>I love biomedical engineering and Duke is my "dream school". I never thought I would get admitted, and it still seems surreal. However, because of my parents' income, I would get NO financial assistance, meaning I would pay over $200,000 just for an undergraduate degree. Duke's biomedical engineering program is consistently ranked among the top in the nation, so it would be a GREAT degree, but probably the only one I would be able to get. Not to mention the fact that the curriculum is so rigorous that chances are my GPA won't be near what it could be at Alabama. </p>
<p>Still, Duke is a fantastic opportunity for me, one I never thought I would get. I can't seem to stomach turning it down, but at the same time, I can't ignore the fact that I have a chance to get a good degree for practically nothing along with as much graduate work as I want. </p>
<p>So, my dilemma basically boils down to this:</p>
<p>take the full ride at UA and hold out for grad school anywhere I want in the country(and can get in, of course)
OR
wager $200,000 on a single degree from my dream school</p>
<p>However, consider asking your parents to split the UA windfall with you in some way – let’s say 50%, 60%, something like that, of their newfound savings. It would be great if they agree to GIVE that % to you no strings should you decide not to pursue graduate school… Win/Win.</p>
<p>If you plan to stay in the south, take the full ride at UA as that degree will be looked upon positively. If you think you want to move to Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest, or West, then I’d highly recommend Duke especially since you said it was your dream school (unless this puts your parents into an enormous amount of debt, then it’s not a fair comparison). You only go to college once and an Alabama degree is not even close to comparable to that of Duke for employment and grad school opportunities in those regions, IMO. But nobody knows the logistics of your parents finances, so it’s really a personal decision. And it certainly is more about the individual more than the school, so if you are highly successful at UA, I’m sure there will be plenty of doors opening for you.</p>
<p>meaning I would pay over $200,000 just for an undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>No brainer… Go to Duke for **GRAD **school. :)</p>
<p>BTW…are you considering medical school or just grad school</p>
<p>Also…even tho you’ll probably come with AP Bio credits…take Dr. Guy Caldwell’s honors bio class. Excel in it, and he’ll let you do research in the Caldwell Lab (which is his lab and his wife’s lab). They’re doing bio-med research there.</p>
<p>“I am amazed by the sophisticated experiments conducted by (Caldwell’s) undergraduate team; they are as good as or better than what one encounters in some of the leading graduate programs around the world.” – Dr. John W. Holaday, a biotechnology entrepreneur and an adjunct professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine</p>
<p>“The Caldwells are at the forefront of therapeutic development for these (human movement disorder) diseases, and their work has been widely recognized by both the academic and industrial research communities,” wrote Dr. Susan Lindquist, a molecular biologist at both the Whitehead Institute and M.I.T., in support of the Caldwells, with whom she collaborates.</p>
<p>I generally recommend that students seek to have their undergrad experience in the most challenging and selective setting that they can, but not for an extra cost of $200,000. You might see if Duke would be willing to re-evaluate you for aid, but barring that, it’s clearly better to take the freebie.</p>
<p>bluedog: I do plan on staying in the South, mainly because I live near Research Park in Huntsville, and it’s basically an engineer’s paradise, so you make a pretty good point. It won’t cripple my parents to send me to Duke, but I know they’d rather give me that kind of massive financial support at a graduate level. </p>
<p>mom2: as always, you are awesome Going to Duke for grad school does seem like the ultimate solution, especially since I love UA so much as well, and with it being so much closer to home and PAID FOR, I think it will ultimately be the best undergrad experience for me. I just don’t know if I will be able to make the cut and get into Duke’s grad school in four years… but then I guess that’s the perfect motivation to not slack off at UA. </p>
<p>I have heard AMAZING things about the Caldwell lab! If I choose UA (more and more likely by the moment) I will go ahead and enroll for this summer and hopefully get a chance to see their lab, and I will definitely do all that I can to get a position working there. I am HUGE fan of their work.</p>
Going to Duke for grad school does seem like the ultimate solution, especially since I love UA so much as well, and with it being so much closer to home and PAID FOR, I think it will ultimately be the best undergrad experience for me. I just don’t know if I will be able to make the cut and get into Duke’s grad school in four years… but then I guess that’s the perfect motivation to not slack off at UA. </p>