<p>Alright, this is cheating a bit since I still don't know if I got into Michigan yet, but let's say I do: where should I go for biomedical engineering? According to the rankings, Mich is extremely good both in general engineering and specifically in BME, but Columbia is just... Columbia. I visited the campus yesterday and it seemed awesome, NYC seemed awesome... argh! I'm transferring into sophomore year, by the way, but I don't know if that makes a difference.</p>
<p>For engineering, Michigan. </p>
<p>Columbia College is a whole different story...I'm not sure if Columbia is THAT great for engineering as is Michigan.</p>
<p>You are in the SAME boat I was, for the same major. I am transferring to Columbia from Drexel University (I will be a sophomore), and I chose Columbia BME over Michigan. Yes, Michigan is ranked higher (mind you US News inflates rankings for schools with good athletic programs), but I couldn't pass up Columbia. Columbia DOES have a great BME program, and your professors will actually know you, because CU SEAS is small. Michigan is gigantic and spends a great deal of time and effort weeding students out. Columbia does the weeding out during admissions, so there's less of that in the classroom. Ann Arbor is wonderful, I was born there and lived there when my dad was getting his PhD and we visit a few times a year. Great college town, beautiful surrounding area. But you really can't beat New York, period. Both schools are very sink or swim, and you have to search for your niche at both from what I hear.</p>
<p>If you are out of state for Michigan, you will be paying the same for Michigan as Columbia. Columbia gives much better need-based aid, though. Did you get any merit-based from UMich?</p>
<p>Furthermore, I'll be at CU! :) PM me, I want to talk to a fellow BME person.</p>
<p>Go with overall fit - I personally think Columbia has more to offer for a more comprehensive undergraduate experience.</p>
<p>if u want to enter the work force as an engineer, i advise u go to the Univ of Michigan, if u plan to go onto grad school, or go into management or work as investment banker, hands down, Columbia</p>
<p>now if u were in columbia college....that would be a different story</p>
<p>how would it be a different story?</p>
<p>Because Michigan is better than CC for engineering? Dunno.</p>
<p>Anyways, thanks for the replies. </p>
<p>Layla: Glad to know that the BME program's good, since I didn't really know a thing about it. As for the cost, the difference is actually kinda big: Columbia is $46k, while Michigan is $36. I haven't even gotten a decision yet from UMich, much less anything about financial aid, but Columbia only gave me $10k in loans and work study. If I go to Columbia, I'll have to pay off those loans myself. Then again, if I go to Michigan I'll have to go to summer school to do a prerequisite, so neither one's perfect.</p>
<p>bball: I plan on going to grad school. Why do you say that, though? Are you saying it's easier to get into grad school from Columbia? I thought the people there would care more about how good the engineering school was than the whole "ooh, an Ivy" thing.</p>
<p>Man... maybe UMich will reject me and I won't have to decide. That would be cool.</p>
<p>Michigan is better for engineering.</p>
<p>Rankings are mostly based on graduate research, so you don't know which one is better for undergraduate education.</p>
<p>So, pick the one you like :)</p>
<p>Rankings are mostly based on graduate research, so you don't know which one is better for undergraduate education.</p>
<p>So, pick the one you like :)</p>
<p>i meant, that, columbia engineers aren't typically like the cornell or michigan engineers, in that, many from columbia go on for mbas and go into banking, and other fields. It is not that one is necessarily better, but columbia is definetely more like business/banking/management oriented for grads than is michigan engineering (where the engineers go into engineering firms, and so forth).</p>
<p>do engineering firms recruit students from columbia seas?</p>
<p>
[quote]
do engineering firms recruit students from columbia seas?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Nope, never.</p>
<p>Seriously, of course they do.</p>