<p>i recently got good news that I might be off of the waitlist for harvard…</p>
<p>so now i have to decide between the two schools…btw my major is biomedical engineering and i want to do pre-med</p>
<p>bump…(10 chars)</p>
<p>well i’m 97% sure you don’t need any cc help making the right choice</p>
<p>[The</a> New York Times > Week in Review > Image > Collegiate Matchups: Predicting Student Choices](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/17/weekinreview/20060917_LEONHARDT_CHART.html]The”>The New York Times > Week in Review > Image > Collegiate Matchups: Predicting Student Choices)</p>
<p>Grandmaster - Since you posted this question on the Harvard forum and not on the Duke forum, I’m interpreting that deep within your subconscious, you want to be told that ought to go to Harvard. So here we go: Do you want to go through the rest of your life wondering if your life might have gone differently had you gone to Harvard? No? Well then . . . :-)</p>
<p>Harvard has a higher overall prestige and academic reputation than Duke. However, in your intended major(BME), Duke trumps Harvard and they are about on par with regards to sending kids to med school.</p>
<p>I am going to take gadad’s statement and reverse it because it seems more relevant in your case. Do you want to go through the rest of your life wondering “what if I had gone to Duke”? This is a legitimate possibility since there are numerous stories about Harvard students being cut-throat and miserable. Obviously, Harvard could turn out wonderful for you, but keep in mind, its social life and school spirit definitely lags in comparison to Duke. The academic resources that Harvard offers are phenominal but Duke is no slouch in this regard either.</p>
<p>If you can look past the Harvard name, which is admittedly difficult, I suggest you remain enrolled at Duke. Also, ignore the user “justcallmebob” who presented you with a flawed and outdated NYT survey.</p>
<p>I think it is hard to pass up if not only for the fact the you will be in Cambridge/Boston instead of the Triangle unless you averse to some cold weather. I’ve lived in Boston and now reside in NC, and I think the Boston area is more fun for a young person.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Since medicine is a very accepted and highly-regarded field, Harvard has a lot of established pre-med courses. That being said, a lot of students didn’t like them while I was there, especially those in the Bio track. I would try to talk to as many students as possible at both Harvard and Duke to make sure that you’re going to go someplace that you’re going to be happy. I found that the lack of support for my field of interest (technology and entrepreneurship) made my time at Harvard considerably more difficult. Looking back, I wish I had at least known that students with similar interests were much happier at other schools such as Stanford.</p>
<p>Aaron '04-'05</p>
<p>oh, so you are one of the 3% who turned down harvard for duke are you dictator?</p>
<p>zing! – and they call you the evil one</p>
<p>The OP turned down Harvard for Duke. (According to his answer on the the WL thread)</p>
<p>the previous poster is correct…i have turned down harvard for duke because of the lack of a biomed engineering program at harvard…harvard is good and all but i want to do something this is the forefront of a university. bme at duke is worldly known. harvard on the other hand is good at other things…therefore i chose duke…</p>
<p>^^Harvard has a biomedical engineering program:</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Research - Bioengineering](<a href=“http://www.seas.harvard.edu/research/bioengineering.html]Harvard”>http://www.seas.harvard.edu/research/bioengineering.html)</p>
<p>they have bioengineering not biomedical engineering and anyways…its not as recognized as duke…and i’m not sure it is abet accredited…</p>
<br>
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<p>Based on what the website states, I’d say that’s a distinction without a difference. The bioengineering program is heavily medical in nature.</p>
<p>Excerpt:</p>
<p>"The application of engineering principles and techniques to address problems in biology and medicine has resulted in a number of important contributions to healthcare and scientific discovery. </p>
<p>Work in this area includes understanding aspects of biological function at various levels (examples include biofluidics and cell mechanics) as well as tackling medical problems by developing instruments and devices that, for example, mimic biological organs (such as functional tissues) or assist in healthcare (such as drug-delivery devices). </p>
<p>Harvard’s efforts in bioengineering spans various FAS departments (such as Chemical and Chemical Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Physics, and Statistics) as well as FAS Science initiatives such as those in Neuroscience, Genomics, Imaging and Mesoscale Structures, and the Rowland Institute. In addition the Division has strong ties to the Harvard Medical School Quad, particularly departments such as Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Neurobiology, and Systems Biology as well as the teaching hospitals. </p>
<p>The bioengineering research environment in the Cambridge-Boston area is one of the richest in the nation, with leading science and engineering institutions, world-renowned medical schools and hospitals, and a large concentration of biotechnology companies."</p>
<p>agreed…its just that duke’s bme program is the top of the top…harvard is great no doubt…its just that biomed at duke is the forefront…at harvard there are so many things that are good that bioengineering might not be a top priority.</p>
<p>well, it’s a decision he’s already made, so stop fighting with him. I think you will be very successful at duke, grandmaster</p>
<p>No one is “fighting” with him. I have nothing but good wishes for him and his success at Duke. But I think it’s important that this thread not be allowed to possibly misinform other potential applicants that Harvard doesn’t have a program or that it is a lousy one.</p>
<p>The #1 program in biomedical engineering would be Hopkins, not Duke. It might be in top 5.</p>
<p>“Biomedical engineering” is a pretty loosely defined term and if you look at faculty research in such departments, you often see very disjointed group of people who are really cell biologists, material scientists, biochemists, computational scientists, radiologists, etc. calling themselves “biomedical engineers”. Harvard has plenty of leaders in each of these fields who are pursuing research relevant to biomedicine.</p>
<p>“they are about on par with regards to sending kids to med school.”</p>
<p>Duke - acceptance rate about 85% according to their website. [Office</a> of Health Professions Advising – Duke University](<a href=“http://premed.duke.edu/class-of-2012/]Office”>http://premed.duke.edu/class-of-2012/)</p>
<p>Harvard - 93% last year.</p>
<p>Another way of looking at it - Your chance of not getting into any medical school is at least 2-3 times higher at Duke than at Harvard.</p>
<p>The actual difference may be a bit larger as Duke’s number only includes those applying as seniors while Harvard’s number includes both seniors and alumni (In general, medical school acceptance rates are lower for alumni applicants).</p>
<p>regardless…duke is #2 which is as good as johns hopkins for bme…harvard isn’t even in the top 20 i think…so harvard wouldn’t have been good for me…regardless…duke allows me to perhaps go to unc med school for a cheap price and easy percentage…harvard would have left me with an expensive medical school with a harvard degree…duke would have made unc med school a lot chepaer…</p>