<p>I don't know which to choose. duke's bme is good but at hopkins bme is a huge deal. you get special treatment and research opportunities with leading researchers in the field. of course it's rigorous to the point of almost suicidal but people turn down stanford and mit for this kind of opportunity.</p>
<p>oh yeah and also throw Northwestern BME into the discussion. although i am considering northwestern more for its location and proximity to chicago than for its BME program.</p>
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<p>I chose Duke BME over JHU BME and also lived near Evanston for a year (and know a lot of people who went to Northwestern) so can talk about. To me, it came down to the the complete collegiate experience. I got the impression that JHU was more cutthroat, less fun, and it just didn’t have the right overall vibe for me. At Duke, I felt much more a part of a community and the sports culture certainly helped that. For others, though, they might feel JHU is a better fit.</p>
<p>Ok, now on to BME specific. I spoke at length with somebody in JHU BME and he spoke very candidly of it. First, he said the research opportunities are just amazing. You can walk into the office of world class researchers in the BME dept/medical center, and get a great opportunity. I think something like 90% of JHU BME students do research. At Duke, it’s still quite high (around 2/3), but not quite as high as JHU. If you go to JHU, you WILL do research with a great professor. At Duke, most likely you will and there are ample opportunities, but it’s not a requisite to graduate or anything.</p>
<p>The most important difference between JHU and Duke BME is the focus of the curriculum. If you look at sample curriculums, you’ll notice that JHU is more physiology/biology-centric, while Duke is broader in its approach. This leads to about 2/3 of JHU BME grads going on to medical school, while at Duke it’s closer to a third. The Duke curriculum surely has its share of research/courses focused on tissue engineering, modeling cellular behavior and the like, but it also covers biomechanics, imaging, biophotonics, etc. JHU BME curriculum really delves deep into the physiology, while touching on imaging, electronic instrumentation, etc., while Duke BME is broader based. I spoke with a engineering graduate admissions person at another institution and he mentioned that JHU BME grads are EXTREMELY well versed at the biological aspects of BME, but appear to be slightly behind in the more “traditional” engineering aspects of circuits, instrumentation, etc.</p>
<p>I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, so the broader curriculum appealed to me. This is NOT to say that if you go to JHU you have to be pre-med; I’m just saying that more are. There are also opportunities to do research in the concentration of your choice; just more JHU BME people tend to do research with the medical center, while Duke BME has ample professors doing research with other engineering departments. Also, JHU medical center is far away, while the Duke medical center is adjacent making collaboration on research easier at Duke.</p>
<p>On to Northwestern. Evanston + Chicago is much much nicer than Durham or Baltimore… Northwestern also has a very strong engineering school as a whole. I’d say the social scenes of Northwestern and Duke are fairly similar, actually, while JHU is more acadmic/research focused, less into sports, greek scene, etc. You’ll have to work hard at BME at any of these institutions. One thing I didn’t like about Northwestern was the quarter system. My friends at Northwestern CONSTANTLY have mid-terms since the course periods are shorter. In addition, they don’t get out til mid-June as opposed to the end of April at Duke. This may not seem like a big deal, but getting out earlier really DOES help with summer internships and jobs. Most of all, though, Northwestern was just too close to my home, so I wanted somewhere different. I’d personally choose Northwestern over JHU, and Duke over both for BME. But, again, it’s a personal choice. All are very highly regarded in BME. I think Northwestern’s BME curriculum is similar to Duke’s, but you can check the course listings to find out for yourself.</p>
<p>Good luck with the decision!</p>
<p>bluedog, thanks for providing excellent insight into these programs…i’m already having an impossible time deciding so any advise is helpful. could you possibly elaborate on why you would take northwestern bme over jhu bme? you mentioned that you didn’t like the quarter system at northwestern yet you’d still take it over jhu? why? so you think jhu bme is best at preparing students for medical school as opposed to a professional engineering degree?</p>
<p>Haha, I’m in a similar situation as you, except not really. Accepted into Duke (Trinity) and JHU BME, and I have no clue what I want to do with my life in terms of majors and careers, other than I know I want something science-y, be it medicine or a social science. Duke would give me more options in terms of choosing a major and making sure I’m happy with what I choose, whereas JHU BME would lock me in. I’ll stop stealing your thread now. (;</p>
<p>Anyway, I’d forget about NU if the main reason you’re looking at it is because of it’s location. I highly highly doubt it’s BME program would be “better” than Duke or jhu (not to mention quarter system), and take it from someone who’s lived by Evanston for 18 years–there is nothing to do in Chicago. Evanston is a nice enough city, but really there’s not much that you’ll find that’s particularly special, and Chicago gets old after you’ve seen all the main attractions once or twice (not to mention pricey with 10% sales tax in the county-hurhurhur). While Baltimore isn’t the most attractive city, hey, it has the benefit of the #1 BME program here. And perhaps Durham isn’t the most attractive city either, but Duke itself is absolutely gorgeous (never visited JHU though, going on things I’ve heard).</p>
<p>So as for Duke vs. JHU–good luck. Still working on that myself.</p>
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<p>I personally would choose Northwestern over JHU because of the social aspects. I feel that Northwestern provides a better social life, a more fervent sports culture, and less cutthroat academically. Even though JHU BME is ranked higher, Northwestern BME is still highly regarded and the other aspects would trump the prestige factor for me. Having said that, I know many people who love JHU and I know many people stressed out about the workload of Northwestern. Also, I could have played a varsity sport at JHU (D3) so that was appealing to me. So, it’s just personal preference. I’d choose Duke over Northwestern though, obviously. And there’s PLENTY to do in Chicago. I don’t know what oreogasms is talking about…You don’t like Chicago because of the sales tax rate? That’s a pretty interesting reason…</p>
<p>And yeah, I’d say jhu bme is FANTASTIC at preparing students for med school and not as strong for a professional engineering degree. But be aware that it’s not easy to pull in a 3.5 in any BME program - it’s much easier to get a good GPA and get into med school by majoring in Psychology at State U. I know LOTS of people who had pre-med plans dashed because of a poor GPA. Be prepared to work hard. If you have a solid GPA in those BME programs though, med schools will love you and you WILL get in to a good one.</p>
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<p>Well there are other reasons too, but a 10% add-on to all of your purchases can get pricey, especially if you like Chicago for the Michigan Avenue aspect, just something to take into account. I’m also not sure exactly what “PLENTY” bluedog is referring to–you can only go to Navy Pier, Wrigley Field, the Sears Tower, and Millennium Park so many times before the appeal wears off (for me, this happened around the second-third time I visited, perhaps I just get bored of things too easily, but there’s not exactly much to do at Wrigley or the Sears Tower besides stand and look). Maybe you can visit the Baha’i temple hundreds of times and still be in awe, but are one or two landmarks really worth it as a deciding factor? Of course, Evanston and Chicago can have their own charm that Durham and Baltimore may not have, but personally, I don’t see anything amazingly special about it.</p>
<p>Anyway, obviously, people may disagree with me. Just my opinion, and if someone wants to be snarky about it, well, that’s his/her own choice.</p>
<p>^When I was at NU, I would go to neighborhoods between downtown and Evanston. They were lots to do and see. My friends and I loved going to Lakeview or Agyle (New Chinatown) for dinner Fri/Sat nights.</p>