<p>Since you live close to Duke, your image of Duke is probably tainted. While a little irrelevant, this may be a good read:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/870731-upenn-duke.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/870731-upenn-duke.html</a></p>
<p>If you are debating between Caltech and JHU/Duke then that by itself should tell you that Caltech is probably not for you. Caltech is for the most hardcore students who want to devote all their time to learning and pushing themselves that extra step. The prestige of Caltech will not get you through that insane problem set at 2am after you’ve worked all evening. Caltech has one of the highest suicide and drop out rates of any top school in the country even though it’s in warm and sunny Pasadena with a beautiful campus. Some of the most socially awkward kids I’ve met were supposedly the most normal ones there. </p>
<p>If your dream is to win the nobel prize in physics/chem/medicine some day and you are willing to devote your life and soul to that end, then Caltech with 3 students per faculty member beats any school on the planet by a noticeable margin. If you aspirations are less stratospheric and more rounded Duke/JHU becomes the right place.</p>
<p>It is not true that getting into Caltech means you have what it takes to succeed there (seeing from the low graduation rate). Most people I knew who ultimately chose Caltech knew it was for them from the start, picked straight away and met almost all of the criteria above. This is a pretty polarized decision imo.</p>
<p>If going to Duke will inhibit your independence, then perhaps JHU is the best choice, it takes you out of your comfort zone, but still fits you well with a slightly nerdy atmosphere, great BME program, and some social life.</p>
<p>Hahahh eatsalot, I started that one too, it helped convince me that while living nearby influences my opinion of Duke’s prestige, it doesn’t change the fact that I’ll be more tempted to rely heavily on my parents. </p>
<p>I like how the opinions here started out as “go to Caltech!” and got increasingly nearer to Duke/JHU haha. I think those of you who said that you have to be REALLY committed to Caltech in order for it to be right for you are probably correct… I wish I knew exactly how difficult Caltech academics are. Especially in humanities courses. I can deal with problem sets, I just don’t know if the same level of difficulty carries over to the writing intensive courses.</p>
<p>If your parent ask you to go to Caltech, you probably should listen to them. After all, they probably know you better than any one of the posters here. If you can handle the rigor in math, science and engineering, I don’t see any problem.</p>
<p>I personally would choose Duke as I feel like it would fit me better. However if I were you I’d pick JHU. It seems to fit your needs more. CalTech is only for those who can fit in there and it doesn’t seem like you would.</p>
<p>Professor101… what makes you think parents know a person better than one knows oneself?</p>
<p>^^ I was comparing her/his parent with us (the posters), not himself. What I mean was if he/she has to choose to listen to us or her/his parent, she/he should listen to his/her parent.</p>
<p>---- duke ----</p>
<p>Canary, seriously, if you are even asking this question, then maybe CalTech is not for you…</p>
<p>seriously!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Confidentialcoll, the facts seem to suggest otherwise on what you stated here:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Percent of Freshmen returning for their Sophomore year
CalTech - 98%
JHU - 92%
Duke - 96%
MIT - 98%
Carnegie Mellon - 96%</p>
<p>Six Year Graduation Rates
CalTech - 88%
JHU - 89%
Duke - 95%
MIT - 94%
Carnegie Mellon - 87%</p>
<p>^^What do you mean, JohnAdams? Is that like a “you’re too dumb for Caltech” or a “obviously Caltech humanities are not hard” or a “obviously humanities at Caltech are much more difficult than at any other college”?</p>
<p>Caltech humanities are pretty much a joke in terms of rigor, at least compared to the science, math, and engineering courses. With a few exceptions, most humanities class are pretty much speak English and pass go.</p>
<p>The drop out rate and graduation rate thing is not (to my experience) because students fail out, its because students burn out. If you do the work, you’ll very likely get a passing grade. But you have to do the work.</p>
<p>Just remember, no matter how many people tell you to go to Caltech, it’s you who’s going to have to do the work in the end, not them.</p>
<p>Canary, what I mean is that if you are not ready to destroy your clasmates intellectually in each and every class that you take at CalTech, then maybe you should not be there, because, I can guaranty you that 95% if the freshmen will enter in the Fall semester with that intellectual comfort attitude.</p>
<p>I’d rule out CalTech right now. social scene has gotta be terrible. Out of those I’d pick duke, but if you don’t wanna party then JHU. JHU’s campus is nicer than duke anyway. And if you’re worried about prestige, JHU’s BME program is the best you can get.</p>
<p>I think I was mistaken, Caltech’s grad rates are on par with JHUs, which means that JHU actually has a surprisingly low graduation rate. The kids at Caltech are also more qualified and much more intense, so I would expect them to graduate at a higher rate, but they do not because Caltech is more difficult. </p>
<p>What is conveniently not addressed by JohnAdams12 is the suicide rate, I looked up some numbers and they are truly shocking:</p>
<p>[Andrew</a> Lange, Caltech PMA Chair, Commits Suicide - Topix](<a href=“http://www.topix.com/forum/state/ca/TF6JSG5U9DV9CUP5Q]Andrew”>http://www.topix.com/forum/state/ca/TF6JSG5U9DV9CUP5Q)</p>
<p>Even if 3-4 suicides a year is an over-estimate, Caltech has at least 1 suicide per year on average, and this is still 6 times the national average. Which is significantly more than MIT, Cornell, NYU or other schools colloquially associated with suicide. Caltech is thus a massive outlier when it come to suicide. With great weather and a beautiful campus something is clearly seriously wrong with the place.</p>
<p>I visited Caltech last week and didn’t get the impression that the suicide rate there was one of the highest. True that they had 3 last year. And also true that this is probably one of the most challenging undergraduates on earth. One freshman I talked with said he usually goes to bed at 2 a.m. – but he also mentioned that when his study group gets easily distracted.</p>
<p>I wonder which one did you choose at last…Caltech I hope? :)</p>
<p>since our little birdie posted yesterday evening on the Caltech board, odds are Caltech was the choice.</p>
<p>For future reference, when you are admitted to Duke. You DO NOT have a major (your reported/prospective major on your application DOESN’T MEAN anything). You are either admitted into Pratt or Trinity. You can EASILY switch from Pratt to Trinity (and vice versa). You’ll just have to meet with your dean and take courses from the other school during your first year; your switch will be completed after the second year.</p>
<p>Also if you switch from Trinity to Pratt; you will be simply a Pratt student and can freely declare as a BME major (unlike Hopkins’ highly restricted BME program).</p>