Bioengineering, Entrepreneurship, Research at Swarthmore

<p>I'm facing the choice between Swarthmore and UPenn for Engineering. To put it plainly, I love Swarthmore already: the environment, the people, the culture... It would shape me as a thinker and as a person. Penn is not great in any of those regards, yet it may be a far better fit academically. I'm really trying to justify to myself going to Swarthmore, but I just don't know if I can.</p>

<p>I would probably major in Computer Engineering at either school. On top of that, I'm keen to explore biotechnology, physics and business, and (at Penn) would probably end up doing a double major with one of those three (for business, I'm not interested in finance so much as business management and entrepreneurship).</p>

<p>If it was just Computer Engineering, I would be able to swallow the fact that Swarthmore has a smaller program with fewer resources. I could take the fact that its business classes and networking are dwarfed by Penn's world-leading program, if it had some good resources available to Swattie would-be entrepreneurs. And even the complete lack of bioengineering could be remedied somehow - perhaps with a few extra classes at Penn? But all of those things combined, at a place that otherwise literally seems made for me, is a wrenching decision. Added to that the fact that a contact at my dream PhD program has indicated that, in general, they value the sort of research done at unis like Penn more highly in acceptance decisions, and it feels like I'm just clutching at straws (and yes, I know that Swat's PhD placement is good, in general, but for this particular engineering PhD it seems slightly disadvantaged). I don't know what to do. I half want to live at Swat and just commute to Penn. Does anyone know if there's a limit to the number of courses that can be cross-registered? Or if I can, from Penn, take part in Swarthmore student life? Or have any advice to give?</p>

<p>This post is a bit frantic, sorry... I've been having trouble sleeping over this decision. It feels like I'm giving up either a career or a home, and I don't know what to do.</p>

<p>You know, I hope, that there is no major in computer engineering (or any other kind of engineering other than a BS in engineering) at Swarthmore?</p>

<p>There is an annual Swarthmore conference on entrepreneurship ([Lax</a> Conference for Entrepreneurship :: Alumni :: Swarthmore College](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/alumni/lax-conference-for-entrepreneurship.xml]Lax”>http://www.swarthmore.edu/alumni/lax-conference-for-entrepreneurship.xml))
Of course a good number of Swatties have become entrepreneurs, but I wouldn’t expect there to be a lot of formal support for students who are aiming at becoming entrepreneurs.</p>

<p>Didn’t you need to choose by 1 May? According to your past posts, you were deciding between three schools before the 1 May cutoff. Looks like you’ve taken Duke off the list now. I think that you are going to just need to decide. While you can take classes at Penn, my understanding is that these are classes that you can’t take at Swat, you also can’t take classes at Wharton. It isn’t the same level of flexibility as with classes at Haverford or Bryn Mawr. Over time you could probably meet folks and do things on occasion at Swat, but truth be told, once you are in West Philly, you aren’t going to want to head out to Swat. You need to decide what is more important to you over the next four years. A true liberal arts education at one of the top LACs in the world and all that entails or four years at an Ivy League research University. Just remember that these four years can’t be replaced with any experience in graduate school.</p>

<p>I’m interested in very similar things as you, and am currently at Swat. What I’ve noticed is that it if you want to do something, the school will provide for you in some way or another. If you are proactive, it is easy to get research opportunities. Also, the comp sci and engineering programs go very well together at Swat. That being said, you really can’t compare with the engineering resources available at Penn. Coupled with wharton and tons of other business/entrepreneurship resources at Penn and around philly, the professional-based decision points to Penn. The intellectual one is completely yours to decide.</p>

<p>Go to swat. Be happy and fulfilled and work hard. Get summer internships at Penn/ Stanford wherever (funded by swat, if they are unpaid). Boom.</p>

<p>I’ve just found out that the summer research internships at other unis under the REU program aren’t available to international students (that’s me). Xanadu, do you know whether there are many non-REU summer opportunities at other unis?</p>

<p>All swarthmore summer grants are available to international students and there might be some grants specifically for international students.</p>

<p>summer research funding:</p>

<p>[Swarthmore</a> College :: Summer Research Opportunities :: Summer Research Opportunities](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/student-life/summer-research-opportunities.xml]Swarthmore”>Academic Division Opportunities :: Swarthmore College)</p>

<p>I’m doing biomedical research this summer at a Tier-1 university, funded by Swarthmore.</p>