<p>Dreaming, I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you, I was away for a few days. What I meant when I said I like the north more, is kinda what Shermanbus mentioned about the "red state" thing. Though most colleges are naturally liberal, I personally like the political atmosphere in northern schools as opposed to southern ones, in general. From what I have seen and read, northern schools are more liberal and more accepting of all kinds of people. I have seen northern colleges as being more accepting of minorities, homosexuals, etc., and that follows my personal beliefs that nobody should be cut short because of circumstances they could not control. This kinda goes into why I wish to become a lawyer, but that's another ten hours worth of typing. </p>
<p>Basically, I PERSONALLY (please don't get on my butt about this if you're hardcore republican, or a die hard southerner) feel a more democratic vibe coming from Northern schools, which is where my political leaning falls. Okay, so some schools seem more conservative, such as Yale, but there is still a very accepting atmosphere.</p>
<p>Now I have to say that my views may be a little twisted, as I was wearing a Yankee hat while riding in a car with a Newy York license plate during my trips to the south, so that may not have helped the situation, lol. Again, this is just my personal opinion, and the reason I would really prefer a northern atmosphere (btw, Tulane is my second choice, so don't get on me about prejudice/bias and all that).</p>
<p>OMG I can't believe this is still going on. Both schools are great and there's no point arguing this all day long. I am sure dreaming (or whoever started this thread) found out a lot about both schools and there's no point for us to bash Duke or Cornell. Honestly, nobody cares about the prestigious of the school after you graduate. The most important thing in the future is how well you know your stuff. I am sure both schools train their students very well in different ways. This undergraduate ranking is overrated. Once you guys enter college, you will realize how much ridiculous "overall" undergraduate ranking is.</p>
<p>I've gotta say all that arguing was entertaining reading.</p>
<p>I really think that as other people have said, either school will be great to go to. I'd pick whichever school you think you'll be more comfortable at in terms of weather, the campus, etc. My cousin is a junior at Duke right now in BME and he loves it. His younger brother is going to be going to Duke next year and I'm going to Cornell. Like somebody said, it's really splitting hairs to try and decide which provides a better education in my humble opinion. </p>
<p>After such a rough winter in Boston and a recent vacation to North Carolina I'm feeling kind of jealous of my cousins although I'm sure I'd miss the snow if I went down south. And from what I hear Cornell does have its days when you can go windsurfing or whatever you please out on Cayuga Lake, albeit probably not very many. And it's not like Duke is on the beach. It sounds like Duke is the choice if ur 10000000% sure you're doing BME, but on the whole you really can't go wrong either way.</p>
<p>Sean, there is snow at Duke around the winter. There is actually quite a bit of snow too. LOL There is also a beach several miles from the campus that all the students go to.</p>
<p>Plus, if you are not doing BME, why would duke still not be a good choice? It still has AMAZING programs. However, if u choose cornell, U WILL LOVE IT!</p>
<p>Damn you Devil, Damn you.
As far as I'm concerned, Duke is very far inland near no beach and it is stifling hot and I'd miss snow. That's what I am going to tell myself.</p>
<p>But bigger for me is probably just the fact that Conrell is a manageable 6 hour drive at most if I feel the need to go home for some reason whereas Duke is like 14 and more in flying range.</p>
<p>And I'm not saying to go to Cornell for anything other than BME I'm just saying go to Duke over Conrell for BME. But on the whole like you said, you'll love whatever school you end up going to.</p>
<p>"and it was strange...talking to bill nye...about sex of all things...<strong>regress back into my childhood of him on TV...feel better now</strong>" ----------quynh2007 </p>
<p>whoa i just say on page 1 of this thread , is BILL NYE the science guy at cornell? sweet, I saw some epidsodes of his tv shows. Who are some of the other cool people at cornell? professors, students, you name them</p>
<p>"1) Lower retention rate-there's bound to be people who come here and screw around, earning a 1.4 GPA and must transfer."</p>
<p>I read somewhere that a 1.33 or 1.4 GPA is the lowest GPA you can possibly get at Cornell or a 2. something GPA is the lowest possible at Stanford, no lower GPAs are assigned. Is that true?</p>
<p>please say what NYUorColumbia is not all true!</p>
<p>I'm a fairly healthy person who grew up in similar tough climates in northeastern China. so I will not "freeze to death in 10 inch snow and long winter." </p>
<p>"and drink to death on slope days" -----I don't drink alcohol. what are slope days anyways? sliding down the slope for fun? skiing?</p>
<p>"walk to death on slopy and HUGE campus. bus rides are like a dollar each way" ------I finished the PF Chang's Rock n' Roll ARizona marathon , all 26.2 MILES (42.2 Kilometers) of running and walking in abt 5:40 minutes. I don't think i will be tired from walking to death, although the ALL YOU CARE TO EAT food will make me WANT to work off the freshman 15 extra pounds. </p>
<p>"bus rides are like a dollar each way??!!?!!!" " what? just for riding across the cornell campus? many college campuses have free shuttle rides and free printing and free gyms etc. I heard Cornell charges for almost anything you can think of. not good, because suppose I 'd be late for class and not wanting to take the time to stroll down the beautiful campus?? Should I bike? Skate? I got into a car accident a few months ago and my insurance would be too high, so i don't plan to bring a car to campus. How will I navigate Ithaca?? are there buses? do they charge a dollar each way across town too? </p>
<p>"Study to death with ridiculous workloads!?!!!!"</p>
<p>I fear the last one, not that i don't wanna be challenged or i'd never have been accepted to ivy league. but I only pulled two all nighters in my life for the right reasons. I hate staying up all night.. I suppose this worsens the sit., I'm PreMed , and premeds do just as much if not more work than the engineers right.. the stiff competition, the brutal curves (how bad are the curves? extremely hard for an A?) . Even though i think i developed mental toughness through IB Diploma candidacy and physical toughness through 10-20 mile long runs, I don't know if i have what it take to get 3.5 or above GPA or the top percentages of class of 2009 at cornell.</p>
<p>wow, thanks nyuorcolumbia for getting all the myths about cornell. </p>
<p>i think according to him (or her) I must have 300 lives! wow! amazing! And I plan on having another 300 lives since I will be living on West again (and guess what, it's at the bottom of the slope!). whoa, 600 lives...damn straight. i'm immortal!</p>
<p>in fact, why don't EVERYONE come to cornell...because then you'll ALL be IMMORTAL LIKE ME! Considering I still see 20K students walking around on campus every day, plus the countless faculty, that means we have a secret formula for coming back to life everyday. so, come, and find out what it is!</p>
<p>I dunno, Cornell has been getting more and more enjoyable as I go along. I've been getting 7 hours of sleep a night and might actually pull off a 4.0+ this semester (I'm on the verge of a A+ in biochem after getting 1 pt. off the high grade in the class on the last prelim-this is after I got the highest grade in the class on the first prelim).</p>