<p>I am a bioengineering major, and I chose Rice over Duke, along with Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins (also accepted to BME major), and Olin College of Engineering. The first five of those are all ranked higher than Rice and may arguably have bigger “names,” but in the end, what does that really mean? Sure, I denied my parents the ability to say “my kid goes to an Ivy League!” but other than that? I plan on going to grad school, and that name will be far more important in my career. And besides all that, Rice is actually very well known where it counts. Average Joe may not know its merits, but future employers, graduate schools, med schools, and most educated people do. Above all, Rice is just the right place for me. </p>
<p>Duke, I can say, was just not the correct fit for me. I came from a very Duke-oriented family (my dad’s uncle was a professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies there), but I visited, and I could not picture myself in the type of community where students are so elitist and, for lack of a better word, preppy. I would actually say that Duke felt like more of a “southern” school than Rice does. </p>
<p>May I ask, why do you favor Duke?</p>