<p>I've finally narrowed my choices and am finally down to these 3 AMAZING schools: Northwestern, Cornell, and Duke. I've made my pro/con lists but they still go head to head. I plan to major in chemical engineering or materials science and go on to graduate school, whether for law, business, or a PhD, I don't know yet.</p>
<p>So far, Northwestern gives me the best finaid, about 30K. Cornell gives me nothing but work study and Duke is in between. I visited Duke recently for Blue Devil Days and I LOVED it there though there doesn't seem to be much to do... I live in NYC, so campus-wise, I swing either way, I don't mind staying in a suburban setting or getting used to the relaxed rural setting. :)</p>
<p>Cornell Engineering is more well known but financial aid is a big factor and I don't know if it's worth it. I know that Duke doesn't have ChemE, but the large amount of groupwork and relaxed atmosphere is extremely appealing. What are some materials science opportunities that Duke offers? Is Duke engineering highly regarded professionally? Is the curriculum for engineering flexible enough to minor or pursue a pre-law pre-business track? Is the campus as boring as it seemed? Gah, I don't know what to do! Please help! Thanks. :]</p>
<p>I got into Cornell too (didn’t apply to NU) and chose Duke. Duke is just more respected generally and Cornell is a lot more rural than Duke. Also, Duke is very intellectual in the research triangle which has a huge amount of PhD’s (I think the most in America) and the research opportunities, especially for what you are doing, are amazing. Plus, Cornell was WAY too cold! I want to be able to go outside in college instead of being cooped up!</p>
<p>The topping factor for me though was I want to go to Law School and Duke is the 6th best school in terms of sending kids to top Law and Med schools like Harvard and Johns Hopkins/Duke Med.</p>
<p>Plus, people may study a lot, but they also have a lot of fun on weekends. I live about 3 hours away from Duke but have been there a couple times and Duke is really great in terms that it is next to a huge shopping center (Southpoint), next to Raleigh, and downtown Durham has a really liberal/urban/city vibe.</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong either way though. Tell me when you decide!</p>
<p>just keep in mind that Duke doesn’t have that many majors in the engineering department… and yes it is DEFINITELY possible to do a double major or sth like that in the pre-law pre-business track like econ. Many, many, many people here major in say BME and Econ. (but if course, there isn’t relaly a “prelaw” track so to speak)</p>