<p>i'm deciding between michigan and duke. i applied to trinity, but i think i may want to switch to biomed as i might want to do a pre-med path.<br>
financially, michigan is offering me pretty much full tuition (28,000 a year) while duke is only giving me a grant of 14,000 this year. BUT duke's grant is probably only going to be for my freshman year, as it is because my sister will be a senior next year. once again, the middle class seems to get the shaft as duke expects me to pay 43,000 a year!
from a purely academic point of view, duke is of course an excellent biomedical program. but michigan's also seems to be a highly reputable program. because michigan is so large, a person told me research opportunities are very readily available. duke's research opportunities seem to be focused on grad students? hopefully some of you bluedevils can provide some suggestions. thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I chose Duke over Michigan and I don't even have a single dollar in financial aid. I chose Duke mainly because of the size (a lot smaller than michigan), the weather ( a lot warmer), and the biomedical engineering program.</p>
<p>Research positions are quite common at Duke for undergrads. Not really for freshmen, of course, because you need a few courses to acquire the appropriate background. You can be premed without being BME (although Michigan's program is excellent), and both schools have good med school placement rates. </p>
<p>The choice should be based on fit. Are you willing to shell out more money for a smaller school? Michigan may be cheaper, but if you'd be miserable in a large school atmosphere, it's not worth it. On the other hand, if you really like Michigan, go there! You can always go to Duke for med school. </p>
<p>If you want my advice, though, I'd say go to Michigan. Based on Alexandre's (and a few others') posts, it sounds like an amazing place for college students. If you decide to go to medical school, there's absolutely no point in racking up debt during your undergrad education. I'd rather have the money to spend on whatever med school I choose, personally.</p>
<p>In the mean time, I suggest you read this thread by frecklybeckly, an amazingly talented young woman.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=130452%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=130452</a></p>
<p>Wow, I'm down to the exact same situation. UM is not offering me full tuition, but they are giving me 20k per year. Duke's finaid is negligible. I'm also premed and looking to do BME. If I had to choose today, I'd probably choose UM because of the money. However, it's so difficult to turn down my dream school.</p>