<p>Congratulations!</p>
<p>Even if you get off the waitlist at Duke, I would recommend that you attend Cornell, mostly because the opportunities that come along with the Rawlings Scholar program are really unparalleled. </p>
<p>Cornell is already an excellent place for undergraduate research, and the additional funding and connections that you will make as a Research Scholar place you in a really coveted position. While Duke does offer a somewhat stronger program in biology and genetics, the life sciences at Cornell are very strong as well, and as an undergraduate the differences will not be meaningful. In graduate school the differences might be significant, but even so, Cornell has invested so much in nanotechnology and life science research in the last five years, I have the feeling that the differences are being lost.</p>
<p>My recommendations are really strengthened by the fact that you are seriously interested in Astrobiology. Cornell may not have Carl Sagan any more, but it’s still a fantastic place for people of your interests. I would actually go so far as to recommend that you email Steve Squyres or another professor in the Astronomy department, explain your status and your academic interests, and ask them for their recommendations. I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered you a research position on the spot.</p>
<p>[Cornell</a> Astronomy](<a href=“http://www.astro.cornell.edu/]Cornell”>http://www.astro.cornell.edu/)</p>
<p>There’s also something to be said about getting out of your comfort level a bit – going a little bit farther from home and moving to Upstate New York would be a change of pace and culture that would help to expand your horizons and perspectives on the world.</p>
<p>I talked a little bit more about Cornell’s campus and Ithaca on another recent thread, but those seem to be all extraneous to your decision. The only reasons why I can think of not to go to Cornell is if you absolutely must live in or near a city, but that doesn’t seem to be your case.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/496107-upenn-cornell.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/496107-upenn-cornell.html</a></p>
<p>There was another thread on Cornell v. Duke. I will try to dig it up.</p>
<p>And we will make a hockey fan out of you yet.</p>