<p>I'm a rising senior trying to figure out what I want to major in and what school to apply to at Duke. I am interested in both neuroscience and BME, but since they are offered at two different schools, I was wondering if I could get more information on the two programs.
Is it hard to double major for these two at Duke?
Will it take longer to graduate?
If anyone double majored at Duke in neuroscience and BME, I would like to know what you thought about it?
Also, I was wondering if AP scores will affect my chances of getting in. I did poorly on a few of them and my SAT scores are okay. Will the bad AP scores bring my chances down of getting in?
Thanks in advance</p>
<p>Definitely possible - I know a few kids who did both neuro and BME, but had BME as their first major and neuroscience as their second major. I was a neuro major myself (2014 grad :)). But know that it will be a very tough workload (BME is tough as it is, but neuroscience is going to require a lot of work too - not an easy major). I believe those kids were in Pratt though. </p>
<p>In order to double major in engineering and something in Trinity, you MUST be enrolled in Pratt and the engineering major must be your first major. Neuroscience as a major is pretty new at Duke (it used to be within the Psychology dept, requiring several biology courses as well), so I doubt there are a lot of people who have pursued that double. I, myself, majored in BME with a minor in Psychology, including a cognitive psychology course. I really enjoyed the psych courses and the mix - it wasn’t all that difficult to fit everything in, although neuroscience courses are more difficult than what I took in the psychology department and obtaining a major also requires several more credits.</p>
<p>A lot of people do pursue double majors with unrelated departments in Trinity that are enrolled in Pratt, though (economics is popular). It certainly takes additional discipline and basically takes up all your electives as well as requiring AP credits, overloading, and/or summer courses. So, probably not for the faint of heart, but if you enjoy both, it is certainly doable and would be worthwhile. I’d recommend applying to Pratt and taking a couple neuroscience courses your freshman year, and see if you like it enough to pursue it further. You can always change your mind. I’d imaging the freshman year curriculum has some major overlap between the two (e.g. math, chem, etc.). As far as poor AP scores, it probably doesn’t help your application, but shouldn’t break it either if you make up for it with other aspects. Since having AP scores as a junior aren’t all that common, it’s not something they look at to compare across the entire applicant pool, I’d imagine. SAT scores are probably more important…</p>
<p>Hope that helps. Good luck.</p>
<p>After having graduated from duke, do you feel that you could have taken on another major without sacrificing having a life outside of studying? </p>
<p>^ ^ ^ ^</p>
<p>Elusive: Your question is both excellent and extremely pertinent. Obviously, there is no “one size fits all” answer to such quandaries; however, I’ll offer an opinion as one who has hired many younger Duke alumni. I believe at least half Duke’s priceless undergraduate education ideally is accomplished beyond the classroom, the library, and the laboratory. This learning strongly complements the strictly academic side of Duke and it facilitates development of VITAL life-skills including teamwork, leadership, listening, selflessness, ethics, empathy, and much more. Further, such talents become quite crucial as an individual matures and moves into increasingly more responsible managerial and technical leadership positions (there are VERY few senior jobs that are “solo acts”).</p>
<p>No one can be certain how successfully you – or anyone else, for that matter – will deal with two VERY demanding majors, plus the forgoing “extracurricular” education I have alluded to, and having considerable fun at Duke (which certainly is also important). Accordingly, and if it is possible, you might wish to consider a strategy of: (1) BME and (2) after a couple semesters on campus, potentially adding Neuroscience.</p>
<p>Finally, I’ll respectfully suggest that VERY few employers or postgraduate programs will be terribly concerned with your having both BME and Neuroscience majors (because – especially at Duke – either will absolutely demonstrate both outstanding intellectual and academic capabilities). Whereas, they will be most interested in your academic AND your non-scholastic performances (recommendations are most significant, and absolutely not only from professors). Of course, you may be able to excel in all germane arenas (i.e., BME, Neuroscience, enjoying a great Duke undergraduate tenure, and non-academic learning). However, sacrificing the enjoyment of Duke and your classmates, while failing to capitalize on substantial non-academic learning opportunities, would, in my opinion, be myopic.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure if I should ask it here or not, but I was just wondering if you guys would be able to give me some advice. I will definently major in neuroscience and something else. I just have a strong inclination towards BME. If not BME I would major in Mechanical at Pratt. My CR/M score is 1500, but my overall SAT score is not very good. I really like my sciences and math and I was wondering if, as a female, it would be easier to apply to Pratt instead of Trinity. I know many threads say that it doesn’t matter and that both are difficult to get accepted into, but I would still like an answer based off of me. Thanks in advance. I feel like this is such a cliched question, but I won’t feel satisfied until I get an answer. </p>
<p>Others may disagree, however:
a) I know of no gender-based undergraduate admission’s policy bias (nor have I seen any statistics to suggest one exists);
b) Years of data indicate that Pratt’s standardized test scores and GPAs marginally exceed Trinity’s. </p>
<p>@TopTier: Regarding b), does that mean Pratt is more numerically focused/less well-rounded that Trinity, or does that just mean Pratt is overall more competitive (not just based on numbers)? </p>
<p>^ ^ ^ ^
I really couldn’t say with certainty; therefore, I provided only substantiated data. However, I would be reluctant to accept your “Pratt is more numerically focused and less well rounded” premise. They are not mutually exclusive and there is no quantitative information (that I am aware of) to document such a conclusion. </p>