Rice vs. Duke (BioE/BME)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>I'm considering Rice and Duke for Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering. I know this seems kinda late, but I've been accepted off the Duke Pratt waitlist, so I face a tougher choice. I'm leaning towards going to medical school after undergrad--it's not entirely set in stone though. I won't have time to visit Duke, although I want to, and I've visited Rice, whose campus is nice. </p>

<p>I'd really appreciate it you give me suggestions (preferably backed by data) for both schools in these following aspects:</p>

<p>--Strong BioE/BME program</p>

<p>--Premed preparation/med school acceptance</p>

<p>--Faculty-Student Interest/Interaction & Class Sizes in Science/Engineering</p>

<p>--Student Life (1-10) (10=cutthroat, 1=collaborative)</p>

<p>--Campus Location (Durham vs. Houston)</p>

<p>--Prestige</p>

2

<p>For BME/pre med, this is a very easy choice to make. Duke has one of the most highly acclaimed BME programs in the nation. Rice doesn’t even come close. I’ve never been to Rice’s campus so I can’t comment on it, but I can tell you that Duke’s campus is absolutely stunning. We call it the ‘Gothic Wonderland’. My friends who came to visit me during spring break were absolutely spell bound by the campus. So yeah, finances permitting, come to Duke.</p>

3

<p>I would argue that Rice has a less competitive/cutthroat atmosphere that Duke in the Bio/Pre-Med field programs. The students are more collaborative, while I have heard that Duke students, while then do collaborate occasionally, are more about trying to get into med schools themselves-which is perfectly fine, if that’s what you’re in to. Personally, I would choose Rice, and although Duke is more prestigious, when it comes to applying to medical schools, they know that both schools are prestigious, and going to Duke over Rice wouldn’t help your chances. I can’t speak for Duke, but I know that Rice University has a very large percentage of students accepted to medical school once they graduate. But, the bottom line is that you shouldn’t be asking strangers on CC where they think you should go: this is the time to do a little self-reflecting and see which school would be a better fit FOR YOU. At the end of the day, if you’re not happy, then it wasn’t worth it. </p>

<p>p.s. not trying to favor Rice, but they’ve been voted by Princeton Review for the past 2 years as having the “Happiest Students” in the nation. Possibly Quality of Life as well, but don’t quote me on that.</p>

4

<p>As someone who attended both Rice and Duke as an undergrad, I agree completely with Jazmine. Rice BioE is nothing to sneeze at. Contrary to what happyman2 claims, it is number 7 in the country, while Duke’s is number 2 or 3. Such a difference does not make a large difference at the undergrad level, especially such rankings are focused more on faculty research than undergraduate teaching. Both departments have different focuses too. If I am not mistaken, Rice BioE is more focused on tissue engineering, whereas Duke BME is more focused on medical devices. Go through the research opportunities and curriculum on both pages and see what fits you better. </p>

<p>Rice BioE website: <a href=“http://bioengineering.rice.edu/undergraduate_curriculum.aspx[/url]”>http://bioengineering.rice.edu/undergraduate_curriculum.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Duke BME website: <a href=“http://bme.duke.edu/undergrad/prospective[/url]”>http://bme.duke.edu/undergrad/prospective&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>From my experience, you are more likely to find down-to-earth, genuine students at Rice than at Duke. Sure, these students exist at Duke too, but Rice has a more uniformly “nice/friendly” student body. Duke has a more preppy atmosphere than Rice. There is a slightly more collaborative atmosphere at Rice. The residential college system fosters a greater sense of community among students of diverse backgrounds at Rice. I’ve noticed more interaction among students of different ethnicities/socioeconomic groups at Rice, whereas Duke students are more likely to self-segregate.</p>

<p>Class sizes are slightly larger at Duke, but not significantly much in my opinion. You can check out the courses and sizes at Rice at courses.rice.edu. </p>

<p>In terms of premedical opportunities, you are next to the world’s largest medical center (Texas Medical Center), and the various medical institutions there (e.g. MD Anderson, Baylor College of Medicine, UT-Houston Med, Methodist, etc.) love having Rice students as research assistants and volunteers. Duke has the Duke Medical Center, which has tons of opportunities as well, but it is no Texas Medical Center.</p>

<p>Rice has about 90% of students accepted into a med school, whereas Duke has about 85% accepted into med school. I believe this difference is negligible, and I believe it can be accounted for by the large percentage of in-state students at Rice (who have an advantage at the Texas medical schools). Both are among the top schools in the country for premed preparation in my opinion.</p>

<p>Rice has a very beautiful campus too in a very nice part of Houston! The Museum District and lots of restaurants/shops are close to Rice’s campus.</p>

5

<p>Duke and Rice are both top schools with great prestige and excellent pre-med programs. You can’t go wrong with either school. Forget about which program is # 2 or # 5 ranked, it doesn’t matter. Visit both schools, spend time on each campus and go where you feel you would fit in best and be happy for the next 4 years.</p>

6

<p>Which is cheaper for you?</p>

<p>The schools are quite different and if you ignore the ranks, the environment is different.</p>

<p>Rice is a smaller school compared to Duke. Rice also has only one graduate professional school. However, Rice BioE dept works with two medical schools that are within walking distance for a lot of their research and they are tied in when they bid for research grants.
Rice is in the middle of a major city, with some level of influences on campus from the surrounding city and has residential college system that mimics Yale.</p>

<p>Duke is a bigger school, with professional schools in all areas (business, law, medicine…) and has a serene environment (lots of land, seclusion, not influenced by the surrounding town). Lot of interest in sports and liking basketball would make Duke a default choice.<br>
Duke boasts of having the first biomedical engineering department ever.</p>

7

<p>I agree with most of what was already said, especially by Slik Nik (who has had personal experience with both programs as an undergraduate) though it’s slightly slanted towards Rice. The important thing here isn’t rank or % admitted to med school. It’s what type of environment do you want? </p>

<p>If you want urban, small school, a more tissue engineering/biology focused BioE department, then go to Rice. It’s also got the Texas Medical Center next door and Rice works closely with UT Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, and MD Anderson - great med schools and one of the best cancer centers in the world. </p>

<p>If you want more secluded campus-oriented culture, awesome college basketball, imaging/electronics oriented BME, slightly larger cohort of students, and a world-class research university with every lab/school in a compact walkable campus then Duke is better. It’s also got a top notch cancer center and med school along with strong research programs but you don’t need to go off campus for it. </p>

<p>In the end, applying to med school is a very individual thing, a school can only get you so far and from what I’ve seen both Rice and Duke do great jobs. the important thing is for you to do well on the MCAT, maintain a good GPA, and do plenty of extracurricular and clinical experiences. So you should go where you feel you’ll best be able to do that.</p>