<p>Hey,
I actually got into the Vagelos Program this year too and am choosing Duke over it. I’ll tell you what I learned from my research and some of my reasons why. I don’t claim to be an expert, and it’s just my opinion, but maybe it’ll help:
U of C- I know almost nothing about this school, but my friends there say it’s pretty difficult. </p>
<p>Upenn- If you Google, browse CC, speak to Penn Scholars, you’ll see only about 10/35 entering Vagelos scholars graduate. Now, this may not because of how the tough and rigorous workload is. Maybe some students found that they liked other majors better or something else happened, but I’m also assuming some dropped out of the problem due to the rigor. My main reservation was that the program would wreck my GPA and take so much time that I wouldn’t have time to do what I wanted, pursue a lot of E.C.s, and study a lot for the MCAT. </p>
<p>Duke!-
I was just there a few days ago. The environment really is nice and more laid back, in my opinion. From the research I’ve done and kids I’ve spoken to, you can definitely get a decent GPA at Duke. It’s definitely no walk in the park, but your GPA may be higher at Duke than at UPenn if you’re playing the numbers game.
I spoke with many professors, deans, and had dinner with Dr. Truskey of Biomedical Engineering. They all were so kind and open to undergraduates. After speaking to a professor after class, he, not knowing I wasn’t a student, offered to set up time outside of class to meet with me if I couldn’t go to office hours. Duke also has considerably less undergraduates and pretty small classes as I understand it.</p>