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There is no "big city flair" in Raleigh. There is a small downtown nightlife scene. There are also some bars in North Raleigh, etc. Not much of a club scene (you have a couple of options to choose from..) The city itself is VERY sprawled out and you will find yourself doing lots of driving. It seems no matter which area I've looked at, I still have friends who live 25-30 minutes away in different directions.
I moved here from San Francisco which isn't even as big of a city as Boston or NY, and a year and half later it's still major culture shock.
I enjoy the peace and quiet of where I live, but I'm sick of all the driving, the limited options of what to do, and you must also be aware that people here tend to be much more conservative than in those other cities you mentioned (this is the bible belt, after all...)
I agree with a prior poster about this being far more like living in the suburbs than a city. It doesn't feel at all like a city to me, personally.
Just some things to keep in mind before moving here.
good luck!
Completely agree w/this poster! Raleigh is not comparable to those cities that you were questioning! (I am from NY) I think it has the potential to grow and hopefully it will. But as a 25 yr old, there really aren't that many great things to do. (I am comparing this to a big city though) BUT the traffic is GREAT!!!! Some crazy drivers, but no complaints in that area from me. I luckily go home to visit once a year, and that is enough for me. (although I do miss all the diversity, liberals, open minded and artsy sections) I really suggest to take a day or two out and visit, because honestly this will prob be a huge culture shock for you.
Go to whatever school has the best program in your field. I can't imagine that a chemical engineering program will allow much time away from a desk anyway. My graduate program didn't allow much time to do much out of class, lab, library - I could have been in Tokyo or Toledo and it wouldn't have mattered.
IMO Atlanta will feel like a larger (much) version of RDU, Boston and Philly are much more urban and more NE feeling, if you are looking for large cities with all the culture and bad parts then enjoy. Pittsburgh, though smaller that the others is likely more of a middle ground. Purely on education Boston followed by Philadelphia are probably the better choice but all have good scholl offerings as does RDU
MIT>CMU>GaTech>UPENN>NCSU by my very unscientific estimation.
But if you can get into those schools go nuts and broaden it out to include Stanford. Trumps all the before mentioned in most every way. And the weather's better too. For the cost of living Pittsburgh and CMU is hard to beat though.
Pick the place by the school, the rest follows that.
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