<p>I've been admitted to Duke, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, and UCSD for an MS in biomedical engineering. Which grad program would you guys recommend? </p>
<p>I have no interest in obtaining a PhD or working in academia. I want to instead work in industry in an entrepreneurial/start-up environment in the future, focused on designing medical products. I have plans to apply for an MBA a few years down the road in the hopes of obtaining a management role.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Which school offers you the most money?</p>
<p>I didn’t receive any funding and the tuition difference between the schools is negligible. </p>
<p>My priority is in selecting the school that can offer me the most stable/best paying job when I graduate and the most industry/business connections down the road - sorry to be “shallow” here, but these are honestly really important factors at this point in my life.</p>
<p>Are all of them the same type of masters (thesis vs coursework)? All of them the same length?</p>
<p>I’d ask each program for a list of where their students wind up with statistics on salaries. Keep in mind those things are usually self-reported, too. Find out how many students a year they take into the program, as well. A large program may make it easier to find work since it’s likely more employers will come there looking to recruit. Is there a certain one of those areas you’d like to live in? Regional startups/employers are more likely to only be focusing on getting students from their local schools.</p>
<p>Cornell and Yale are 1-year, coursework-only programs. Duke, UCSD, and Columbia are 2 year, thesis programs.</p>
<p>Who can I ask for a list of statistics on salaries? Do I just email the dean or something?
None of the programs have salary info on their websites or only very vague details on job placements.</p>
<p>Location isn’t a factor since I’ll only be there for 1-2 years. I’m hoping to move back to either the SF bay area or Socal for my first job though…</p>
<p>You can try asking whoever’s been sending the e-mails and whatnot to you. I’m sure at one point they’ve asked if you have any questions about things. You can also try looking on the career center website to see if it’s there. I know ucbalumnus has a good thread on here with links to a ton of post-graduation surveys from various schools, so you might want to try looking there too.</p>
<p>Location matters because you’re likely to get some regional employers at each school. So you’re more likely to get a Socal recruiter in San Diego versus New York.</p>
<p>The 2 year programs will cost you twice the amount in tuition, plus an extra year of lost wages. That can add up to over $100k pretty easily.</p>