Rice vs. Duke (BME/BIOE)

College Search & Selection
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>*Finances for both schools = NOT a problem</p>

<p>I'd really appreciate it you give me suggestions (preferably backed by data) for both schools in these following aspects(all the information I've looked up so far has been kind of inconsistent, though):</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>–Strong BioE/BME program
Duke</p>

<p>–Premed preparation/med school acceptance
Not different</p>

<p>–Faculty-Student Interest/Interaction & Class Sizes in Science/Engineering
Not different</p>

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

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

<p>–Prestige
Duke</p>

<p>The question comes down to whether you want to chase that extra bit of prestige versus being in Houston for 4 years?</p>

3

<p>Rice offers an incredible college experience and Houston is a great place for a college student. The difference in prestige is negligible, really.</p>

4

<p>Slik Nik has posted comparisons of Duke and Rice many times before. Here’s one:</p>

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5

<p>Duke is much stronger in BME, is more academically respected overall, and has higher prestige. Unless you have a strong affinity to Houston and Rice’s residential college system, I suggest you go to Duke.</p>

6

<p>According to USNWS Duke is #3 and Rice is #6…I wouldn’t say it is much stronger.</p>

7

<p>You can argue a lot of things mentioned, but there is no arguing that Duke trounces Rice in BME (BioE).</p>

8

<p>No arguing? I don’t think 4 places in the US News ranking (I just checked and saw #3 vs. #7) counts as trouncing. I guess you can argue about the accuracy of that ranking, but I have a feeling it’s at least generally correct.</p>

9

<p>Rice BME does have the advantage of being located right next door to the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest collection of hospitals, schools, and research centers. The University of Texas’ MD Anderson center, the #1 cancer research center in the world is there as well. Lots of room for cross-collaboration with Rice.</p>

10

<p>If you change your mind from going to medical school or getting a BME job, Duke will be much much better recruited for traditional business jobs.</p>

11

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<p>I agree. Duke overall is probably academically stronger, and more prestigious, than rice. But you should go for fit.</p>

12

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<p>Check the PA score difference. There is a large difference. In biomedical engineering, JHU/Duke are by far the two most prestigious and best BME programs in the nation. Rank doesn’t even matter.</p>

<p>And Duke is starting a new House system this upcoming year, which will become a version of the residential house system found at many schools.</p>

13

<p>Don’t worry about the PA score difference. In terms of engineering, Duke and JHU actually have relatively weak engineering faculties. Rice has more professors inducted in the prestigious NAE than Duke and JHU combined, and is second only to UT Austin in Texas. So in terms of engineering faculty strength, Rice is actually significantly stronger than Duke (and JHU).</p>

14

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<p>On the whole, this is true. That said, as a BioE at Rice, I was able to get interviews and job offers at the “traditional business” powerhouses–Goldman Sachs, McKinsey/Bain/BCG, etc.</p>

<p>OP, FWIW, I made this choice a few years ago and haven’t regretted it in the slightest. Feel free PM me if you have any specific questions.</p>

15

<p>If you want to go to Duke Medical school, do not go there for undergrad. Someone else who went there for undergrad who I know (I know his parents actually) was excluded from medical school admissions because Duke’s med school has a policy against accepting Duke undergrads for Duke Med school. Hope that helps!</p>

16

<p>lol…CC is so full of BS. I’m sure Duke bans all Duke undergrads from attending. [LeBauer</a> Research Foundations - Physician’s CV](<a href=“http://www.lebauerheart.org/cv/downeycv.html]LeBauer”>http://www.lebauerheart.org/cv/downeycv.html) </p>

<p><a href=“http://mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=6796&refname=Search%20Results&refuri=search,search_appstatus:accepted,search_school:14,search_year:0,search_age:0,search_ethnicity:0,search_state:0,search_areaofstudy:0,psr:1,orderby:,order:[/url]”>http://mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=6796&refname=Search%20Results&refuri=search,search_appstatus:accepted,search_school:14,search_year:0,search_age:0,search_ethnicity:0,search_state:0,search_areaofstudy:0,psr:1,orderby:,order:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Did you happen to pull that “fact” out of thin air?</p>

<p>Rice has mildly strong representation in NAE, but it’s engineering programs aren’t great by any quantitative metric. It’s graduate engineering programs are also atrocious.</p>

17

<p>Blah2009, you hit the nail on the head. Saying Duke Med School doesn’t accept Duke undergrads is ridiculous considering its probably one of the most incestuous medical schools out there. Check out the “Duke University School of Medicine Class of 2016” Facebook group. Out of the 116 members, 15-20 are newly accepted Duke undergrads and another 10 or so are like 2nd Year or 3rd Years in the medical school.</p>

<p>The difference between Duke and Rice for Engineering is negligible but Duke is stronger in BME and outside of the realm of Engineering, Duke takes Rice to the cleaners academically. It’s also much better recruited for elite banking and consulting jobs while Rice is basically a non-target.</p>

<p>Unless you’re 100% sure about medical school and strongly prefer Rice’s atmosphere, you should go to Duke.</p>

18

<p>

This is the sort of claim that demands more specifics.</p>

19

<p>Rice is every bit as good as Duke academically.</p>

20

<p>MomofWildChild, I can barely think of any departments academically that Rice matches Duke in. Here’s what the 2010 NRC Rankings say: Using the R-Rank (Reputation)…</p>

<p>[NRC</a> Rankings Overview: Classics - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“NRC Rankings Overview: Classics”>NRC Rankings Overview: Classics)</p>

<p>Classics
Duke: 2-15
Rice: Out of Top 50</p>

<p>Evolutionary Biology
Duke: 1-4
Rice: 45-70</p>

<p>Chemistry
Duke: 21-59
Rice: 22-70</p>

<p>Computer Science
Duke: 14-27
Rice: 37-60</p>

<p>English
Duke: 13-47
Rice: 41-87</p>

<p>French
Duke: 1-4
Rice: 34-43</p>

<p>History
Duke: 16-29
Rice: 41-80</p>

<p>Political Science
Duke: 6-17
Rice: 22-44</p>

<p>Statistics
Duke: 10-36
Rice: 13-47</p>

<p>Sociology
Duke: 12-27
Rice: Out of the Top 100</p>

<p>You get the idea. On top of this, it will be very tough to find an elite job outside of Houston with a Rice degree.</p>