Which school is a better major for Biomed/Bioengineering? I live in the Metro-Atlanta area (Tech is my 3rd choice school, but I’m focusing on privates for this particular question), plan on playing college football, and college life is important for me. I’m not a city person at all, though I want to live close to a city to have the experience (I live in the suburbs but am only a 15 minute drive from Atlanta, for example. And something similar to this situation would be perfect: living outside, but close to a city). Diversity isn’t a big thing for me. Though I want to play college football, quality of the football team isn’t a big thing for me. Based off of my income and my family’s financial situation, my family won’t be paying anything (Though I’ll still have to pay a few thousand bucks a semester), so finances is important, but won’t scare me too much away from a school. I’d prefer smaller class sizes. Basically:
Which one is the strongest academically in this major?
Based off of my description, which school would be a best fit?
Which has the best college life?
Which one provides the best research opportunities?
Which one would set me up the best after graduation (basically, which school would give me the best job opportunities)?
Which school focuses on undergrad more?
BONUS: This isn’t important for me, but which one is the most prestigious?
BONUS #2: I heard Duke and Stanford are VERY similar socially and academically. Is this generally true? (since those are my top 2 schools)
All are outstanding choices, but Duke is the weakest for engineering. Of the others Stanford>Rice>Northwestern but Northwestern is excellent for Material sciences and Rice is in the middle of the largest concentration of petrochemical companies in the country. No bad choice, I would revisit this if you are admitted to any of them.
Which will you get a football scholarship too? Are you being actively recruited to any of these or are you a planning to walk on? What position do you play are what are your skills vs the current teams?
Do you realistically think that a) you have a chance as a walk on at any of those programs and b) will have time? ChemE is considered the most demanding program in engineering.
@TooOld4School I was being recruited by a few D2 and schools last year, and would have been starting and thus more heavily recruited if not for our senior runningback. Sadly, a foot injury has sidelined me for my senior year, which means I have to heavily focus on academics this year to make up for it. I have the talent to play at the D1 level (Could have dominated this year, lol), so as long as I don’t go out and just completely crap my pants in the walk-on, and the coaches actually consider me (since I know some coaches don’t really even pay walk-ons any attention at times), I should be fine. I played 6A, which is the highest skill level, BTW. Stanford is the only one I have any worry about, since they have a pretty stout squad, especially at my position.
And I’ll be able to handle the workload. Sure, there will be late nights, but last year between AP classes and football practice, I was only getting like 5 hours a sleep at times anyways. Shouldn’t be TOO different.
Also, I thought Duke’s BME program was pretty strong? Like Stanford level? I know OVERALL their Engineering is decent (compared to the other top colleges such as CalTech, MIT, Stanford).
At the undergraduate level, the quality of education you would get at any of those places is identical. It is silly to quibble.
Look beyond the major and at each place as an institution. They are scattered across the country, in different locations with different weather (Houston vs Chicago is giant difference right there). The campus set ups are different, the college experience that each offers is different.
I wouldn’t count on making the football team at Duke, Stanford, or Northwestern even as a walkon unless you have gotten attention from numerous DI coaches. Now go out there and prove me wrong.
If you are undecided between several engineering specializations (very typical!) it is better to attend a university that is highly rated in multiple disciplines. Duke is a bit below the others in that aspect, merely excellent vs elite. I have no doubt you would be able to handle the initial load along with football, especially if you can take a light load in fall semester, but you may miss out on many of the student clubs and projects which distinguish these elite schools, especially in engineering. As you progress past the introductory courses, that may change.
You may also want to check into school schedule and see if you can make up some classes over the spring/summer if your load is light in fall. Not all of the universities operate a full schedule then.
As far as research, Duke and Stanford top your list, followed by GT and Northwestern. All have strong Alumni groups and good placement. A lot is going to depend on where you want to live since career placement tends to be regional
Interesting–I was told by a Stanford BME prof a couple years ago that he thought Duke had the best undergrad BME program at the time. I was surprised, but he was dead serious.
Rice has been near the top/at the top of the Princeton Review happiest students/best quality life so many times it is ridiculous.
Rice and it isn’t even close. Rice is much smaller than those other universities and it is the only one with more undergrads than graduate students. Undergrads are the prime focus and getting actively involved with research is incredibly easy due to its small size. Professors will be more than happy to have you, it’s a close-knit community.
These are all outstanding. I suggest forming a list of the “fit” variables you think are most important. Here are a few to start with: location/environment, social vibe, cost, and some academic fit variables you think are important. You might also add the athletic participation variable.
Tooold4school doesn’t know what he/she is talking about. You don’t need to care much about your school excelling in multiple engineering programs. It only matters the specific program you are going for and Duke is the best of that group in BME.
Johns Hopkins is considered the best BME program in the nation. If the major is the most important criterion, shouldn’t it be included in the list?
Stanford’s program is not called Biomedical. They have Biomechanical or BioE. They are totally different from each other as well as the traditional biomedical ones.
I will comment on the football aspect, but I do have a BME major so I have visited Duke, Stanford and Rice. Both DS (football player Ivy) and DD were accepted to Rice. Not accepted to Duke or Stanford (not surprised). Son actually got into Rice from his application only but was told by the football coach that he could walk on if wanted to. He was interested in engineering so Rice was a great fit. However, he realized early on that D1 football is your major. I don’t care what they tell you, it comes first. I know there are kids at Rice that have done it but its not common and its a lot of work and a physical beating. And by the way, its not much easier at an Ivy league. He puts in 30 hours a week in season and there is no special treatment for engineers (chose civil) ie note taking, etc. The coaches want football to be first because they want to win games. The students feel pressure to have to choose between academics and football. This has been our experience.
DD liked Rice due to its locale in Houston near some of the top medical centers in the country, as her interest is in cancer research. We met with a professor in the BME dept and both got the sense that it is very student centered due to its size and has a very hands on approach to engineering.
@texaspg What are the main differences between Biomedical and BioE? I’ve talked to multiple people and have read a few threads on CC, and most people say it’s nearly the same with a few minute differences. Maybe it’s different at Stanford?
@dansmoaustin Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I’ve heard of the tales of college coaches not giving a rats ass about academics. My brother actually majors in electrical engineering and walked on to play football, and is now one of the starting backs. I talk to him about the balance and the difficulty about finding time for both school and ball. I’d at least expect it to be different at one of these top schools, seeing as pretty much everyone who attends is brilliant. At the end of the day, I’m most focused on academics, and I wouldn’t want to jeopardize that just because my coach was being an asshole, lol (though if I somehow get PT I’d be more lenient)
You really need to look carefully at the bio engineering major curriculums. There can be huge differences. Stanford has one major that is based largely on the mechanical engineering aspects of the body and one that is based on the chemical engineering aspects of the body. Different schools focus on different aspects of bio engineering.
@texaspg I never said it’s the best in the country. I said it’s the best in that group the OP selected. And the #1 program isn’t that much different from the #2 program.
@jwest22 - I would normally quote someone if I was responding to someone specific.
I was asking a question of OP as to why JHU was omitted despite being considered the best in the country. Most kids include JHU if BME is their first choice major.
Why are people only bickering about BME when the headline also includes CHEMICAL ENGINEERING? Besides, between the two, chemical engineering is the more versatile of the two at the undergrad level. ChemE majors can get into pharmaceutical, petroleum, food/product processing, environmental, or biotech (many chemE majors have biotech concentration).