Rice or Duke?

<p>I know there's been threads about this before, but I wanted to get some fresh views.</p>

<p>I'm still not 100% sure on what I want to study. I'm leaning towards biology. I'm thinking neuroscience/psychology would be interesting, too. Definitely considering pre-med.</p>

<p>I'm a bit biased for Rice at the moment because my favorite teacher in the whole wide world is an alumnus there. Besides that, I love the size, the College Residential System, all the traditions (i.e. O-week, screw your roommate, beer bike, fountain tossing), no frat/soro, etc. Just the environment seems perfect for me.</p>

<p>But all of my family members are leaning towards Duke. One of the reasons being cuz it has higher ranking. Good biology programs. My cousin went there, too. But I just don't know enough about Duke to make any judgment on it. I'm going to research more on it, and hopefully visit soon for Blue Devils day.</p>

<p>Anyhow, for Rice and/or Duke, please give me some insights about social life, student-student relationship (competitive? supportive?), student-faculty relationship, classes, internship/research opportunities, pre-med programs, etc. Thank you!</p>