BME College Choice: UPenn v. JHU v. Duke v. Rawlings Scholar Cornell

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hey guys, I was very fortunate to be accepted to the 4 top schools listed above. My original selection was Fisher M&T at Penn, but I did not get in ED-M&T or RD (think my "why M&T" essay was weak smh). I would love to hear some opinions from the gurus, especially those at said schools, on CC about what and where I should weight more heavily in my decision to major in BME at one of these four universities.</p>

<p>At Penn, I know I have a shot of transferring in to M&T, but there are only 5 seats and it is definitely not a good single reason to attend Penn. One question I have is in regards to the value of the regular dual degree program. Is it anywhere near in prestige to M&T? Does Penn have a strong engineering culture, or a strong research focus? I am lukewarm on the latter, as Penn does not have many honors programs, at least the freshman level. It is, however, where I am leaning, since I really love the campus and feel of the place. It would also be great to join the one of the top ranked quiz bowl groups in the country,</p>

<p>At Cornell, I am a Rawlings Presidential Research Scholar, which has superb benefits and sounds phenomenal to me. The only thing holding me back from immediately accepting Cornell's offer is that I am not sure of the flexibility in future the degree will give me and I am not sure of the campus culture. I plan to visit April 17th.</p>

<p>At JHU, I would be entering probably the toughest undergraduate BME program in the world. Every person I've talked to, even professors at top 25 universities, remark "Wow, JHU BME is intense." This challenge motivates me, but I live 45 minutes from JHU. Not great to go to Baltimore when I've been around for 17 years of my life.</p>

<p>Duke is great along the same lines of JHU. Great BME program, and I love the sports (Blue Devil football is rising!). Plan to visit between the 11th and 17th.</p>

<p>CC, what do you think of my choices? I hope you can see that I am torn between a strong desire for a very good technical education, but that I am also looking to get a good business degree if possible (hence my desire to participate in M&T).</p>

2

<p>Very tough choice. In regards to research opportunities, those are definitely very plentiful and easy to come by at Penn in BE and other interdisciplinary fields. Cornell would also be great in that regards. However, something Penn has which Cornell does not is the fact that the medical school is right on campus. Cornell’s med school is all the way in the city. Hopkins med school has a different campus but I don’t think it’s too far away.</p>

<p>Hopkins would probably be the best if you are very into engineering. It is very hardcore but you will come out with a great education. However if you are also interested in business you probably will have to look outside the program.</p>

<p>I think what sets Penn apart would be the opportunities in engineering entrepreneurship and business if that is important to you. </p>

<p>I would pick the school based on how you feel about the department culture and overall school culture. The schools you are choosing from are all phenomenal, especially in BE.</p>

3

<p>BE is great at Penn, very interdisciplinary. Hopkins and Penn are in the city, Hopkins is REALLY in the city and much more of an urban (and somewhat unsafe, my friend works there) environment than Penn. Duke is an entirely different vibe on campus, my friend who went there was struck by the southern vibe even though they sell the Research Triangle = sophistication thing.</p>

<p>If money is an issue, go with who is giving you the most money, unless it’s Cornell and you can’t deal with being in the boonies/colleges only town.</p>

<p>Oh, and I managed to get a D in a Penn BE course. Very very difficult as well (I’m thinking like sixth semester calculus). Not sure anyone with half a reputation can not have a hard BE program, as it tends to be quite interdisciplinary forcing students to get advanced in many areas of engineering with the difficulty of applying them to the body.</p>