<p>Hey guys, I was accepted into Columbia Engineering and Johns Hopkins BME. I'm thinking of doing biomedical engineering, and then going into med school after. </p>
<p>I really like NYC and the well-roundedness of Columbia, but Johns Hopkins BME is #1... what do you guys think?</p>
<p>dude columbia is an ivy. go there.</p>
<p>Man, are you kidding ?
go Columbia</p>
<p>If you are 100% sure on BME then go to JHU. If not, go to Columbia. But it comes down to where you like more.</p>
<p>Columbia is an ivy but its engineering sucks. I’d go with BME, if you’re set on it.</p>
<p>If you’re set on BME, then I’d say go Hopkins. Otherwise, go visit both schools and see what you like better. I went to Columbia for an interview a few weeks ago and the campus environment seems quite different than Hopkins.</p>
<p>Hopkins Engineering > Columbia Engineering</p>
<p>Simply because a school belongs to a sports league (ivy), that does not make it a better place for you to go to college and would probably be the worst reason to choose a college. </p>
<p>“it’s an ivy, go there” is probably the worst advice. ever.</p>
<p>if i were you, i’ll go to Columbia
just b/c it was my top dream school…there is way to many reasons
but Columbia forum has all the reasons…
anyway i like it’s core system and NYC surroundings- two main reasons
and there is small reasons like MoMA(my hobby is art)
and the fact it’s not strong core engineering school and that i have room for my other hobbies, plus i just like gateway lab class…</p>
<p>just sad that i got rejected…really sad
more sad sort of frustrated b/c this kid who probably never ever took any honor class but is a strong athlete got in w/ full ride…btw he is not poor, he is rich.</p>
<p>anyway if you want really intense engineering education, i guess JHU is better.</p>
<p>ahhh i visited both schools. Still torn though. I really like the overall feel of Columbia, and the diverse strengths that it has. It has NYC, amazing humanities, and a vibrant student life.</p>
<p>I like Hopkins’ campus and the school in general but I’m not too sure about Baltimore…</p>
<p>However, Hopkins BME is #1, while Columbia is like #15+… :(</p>
<p>At this point in time, I am dead set on doing pre-med, and am fairly set on BME…</p>
<p>what to do…</p>
<p>If you’re dead set on biomedical engineering/premed go to Hopkins.</p>
<p>Oh please. Do any of you “pro-columbia” people even know ANYTHING about the school? There’s a huge and strict core curriculum there and the engineering basically sucks.</p>
<p>Hopkins has no core and engineering is strong. </p>
<p>Pick what you want.</p>
<p>I started college as a pre-med. I ended as a philosophy major/bartender. I’m now a lawyer. I caution all young folks (including my younger son who is starting at Columbia in the fall) not to pick a college based on projected major. The next couple of years will rock your world.</p>
<p>I think this depends on how set you are on your future plans and what kind of college environment you want.</p>
<p>Hope2getrice, what do you mean that there is no core? JHU BME definitely does have a core and a lot of requirements; you will have only so much room to pick and choose. (Out of 129 total credits, I believe it’s six credits of electives? Maybe if you have AP credit then you’ll get more options; I’m not sure how it works.)</p>
<p>I’m not sure about Columbia, but my impression of JHU is that it’s a very rigorous program and if you’re looking to do med school after, JHU BME might not be easiest on the GPA, which will be important for med school admissions… (Not that BME at Fu would be easier though… I don’t know, I didn’t apply to Engineering there). At the same time, I’m pretty sure that once you graduate from JHU BME, the MCAT and even med school itself will be easier because you’ve been used to an intense workload. I also read somewhere that JHU BME is highly regarded in med school admissions, but I can’t find the source now. I don’t know about Columbia BME.</p>
<p>Good luck! Either way you’ll be in a great place :)</p>
<p>methionine:</p>
<p>there is no core in the sense that you must take Philosophy 101, Classics 202, etc, as you will probably have to do at Columbia. There are simply distribution credits that need to be fulfilled at JHU, and not specific core classes like at Columbia.</p>
<p>However, for BME, that might be a little different, but BME is the #1 program in the country at Hopkins, regardless.</p>
<p>JHU in general is very highly regarded for Pre-Med. BME will not give you a significant edge over other JHU applicants in other majors. JHU applicants for med school, overall, are among the top two most respected pre-med applicants in the country (right behind Harvard), and the respect shows, with students from JHU with presumably lower GPAs getting into some amazing places.</p>
<p>Student life at Columbia and JHU is TOTALLY DIFFERENT. I went to columbia’s summer program and all i can say is it was prob the most adventurous/amazing 3 weeks of summer ever. NYC is literally boundless…you can do/find/buy anything u want. Besides, Columbia is more prestigious no doubt.</p>
<p>Anyways, I won’t get into bashing Columbia, but I will mention that plenty of BME students at Hopkins turn down Stanford, Columbia, Penn, Yale, etc just to attend Hopkins’ BME, and they seem to love it.</p>
<p>I think Hopkins provides a more cohesive college environment, Columbia gets a little lost in the nyc mix - which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a different experience. When you walk around a campus like Hopkins, you know everyone around is generally affiliated with the school… when you walk around the Columbia campus, it’s city folk mixed amongst other folk, so there isn’t as much of a community feel.</p>
<p>Overall, the academic quality is equal at both schools - both challenging and attract top students.</p>
<p>Hmm… i’m still really torn…</p>
<p>what about the study abroad opportunities? is there any opportunity to do that as a BME?</p>
<p>is there/how bad is the grade deflation for BME?</p>
<p>and also, I was just wondering-- how much more difficult is it to get into BME at JHU? (as compared to general admission)</p>
<p>At Hopkins, its definitely possible to study abroad, both for a semester and over the summer. Because the program is an accredited engineering program, studying abroad during the semester is more difficult than with other non-engineering majors, but it is definitely. My understanding (though this may not be 100% correct) is that unless you go to an English speaking country with an official program through an American university, then any engineering-related coursework may be counted towards your degree. But even if this is not what you want to do, it’s still possible to go abroad by planning in advance and taking a number of your humanities/social science courses while away from Hopkins. I know a couple of BME students who have done this in the past few years.</p>
<p>Studying abroad (whether it’s research or courses) is a lot easier. The BME department has here has a partnership with the department at Tsinghua University in China, so they have a program where students can go do research in China over the summer. The School of Engineering also has the Vredenburg Scholars program, where engineering students are given a scholarship (up to $8000) to take classes, do research or intern at a private company or non-profit while abroad. I’ve had friends use the scholarship to go to Spain, Germany, Australia, China, India, etc</p>
<p>Hey, that sounds really cool! Do you have any more information pertaining to this BME partnership? It would be something I would definitely be interested in. Is it competitive to get in?</p>