u/Comfortable_Club8651

Schools: Duke vs Northwestern

Intended major: Biochemistry (combined with data science/business/something else) 

Similarities: 

• research opportunities, getting into labs/doing research is possible to do early at both
• amazing networking 
• beautiful campuses
• private, so connecting with professors is easier
• really good for bio 
• clubs are abundant

Costs: Similar for both

Northwestern

Pros:

• proximity to chicago, city life (most important for me)
• flexibility in selecting combinations with biochem, like business, and even in other fields like art
• many people from my city are going this year (easier to make friends)
• chicago is a biotech hub; large career fairs occur more frequently here
• beaches on campus
• have to stay on campus for 2 years
• quarter system (higher course flexibility)
• collaborative/communal environment (?)

Cons:

• bad weather, cold most of the year and will be back home when it’s summer
• average food
• dorms are questionable, either good or bad 
• not as highly ranked for bio (though this is trivial)
• quarter system (more exams/work)

Duke

Pros:

• amazing food
• better dorms
• better ranked for bio/computational bio 
• lot going on on campus  
• more school spirit (by a bit)
• it’s closer to one of my relatives
• airport is closer to campus
• semester system

Cons:

• have to stay on campus for 3 years
• suburban/rural campus (coming from a metropolitan city, I’m concerned about this the most)
• lot of greek life and sports culture (not really where my interests lie)
• high course rigor (just a bit more than Northwestern)
• competitive rather than collaborative culture (?)
• essentially no one from my city is going here

Tiebreaking considerations

• does not being in/close to a city matter that much
• is duke really as cut-throat as people make it out to be
• how much does NU weather affect day to day life