<p>Hi, I want to major in biomedical engineering (premed). I am really confused about which school to choose. So far my thought process: </p>
<p>Duke:
Great BME program, and is also the strongest overall school of the four. It's beautiful and I can totally see myself loving it there...the acceptance rate was low this year and I know I'll have a competitive class!!!! But it's out of state tuition..</p>
<p>JHU BME:
AMAZING BME program, but I've heard horror stories about how cutthroat it is...and it costs as much as a nice house over the four years!!! Also if I didn't like BME, JHU isn't as good for other types of engineering</p>
<p>Cornell:
It's an Ivy.....haha. Yeah. The engineering is probably the best of the ivy league, but still nothing like Duke or JHU. And it's still pretty pricey. </p>
<p>University of Michigan:
Love it already. I live in state and got a full tuition scholarship for four years so financially, it's solid. the BME program isn't the best, but it has a good med school and a good hospital. But it's just disappointing to stay in state when I've worked so hard my whole life....maybe I'm just being immature </p>
<p>So what do you guys think i should do? Thanks!</p>
<p>how much money does your household make?</p>
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<p>bearcats, even you must appreciate that a free ride at Michigan is a better value in this case than Duke – even if his family earns in excess of $250k a year, wouldn’t it make more sense to use that $160 k differential for grad school; grad gift; starter fund, etc???</p>
<p>OP - follow your heart if you can afford it but since you said you also love Michigan, ask your parents for the differential if you decide to stay in state ;)</p>
<p>BTW, your screen name (whatthefoucault) is one of my FAVORITES ever.</p>
<p>“University of Michigan:
Love it already. I live in state and got a full tuition scholarship for four years so financially, it’s solid. the BME program isn’t the best, but it has a good med school and a good hospital. But it’s just disappointing to stay in state when I’ve worked so hard my whole life…maybe I’m just being immature”</p>
<p>First off, you are not being immature. The BME at Michigan is still close to top ten and the overall engineering program BLOWS away Duke. This is important if you decide you want to major in something other than BME in a couple of years. The medical school at Michigan is as good as any of the other schools mentioned too. In my opinion, you would be foolish to pay 160K more for any of the other schools. Heck, even HYPSM isn’t worth that much more than Michigan. You can always brag to everyone that you got a free full ride to one of the great schools of this country.</p>
<p>"Also if I didn’t like BME, JHU isn’t as good for other types of engineering:</p>
<p>Seriously, have you really checked out Duke for others area of engineering? I would go to Cornell before I would attend Duke if that were the case.</p>
<p>Once you enter school, you begin to appreciate the merit of paying less to have an education more and more. It’s sometimes stressful to think about the 40k (a nice mid-size car) that you owe for a year of college. </p>
<p>But even with this thought, I think it was totally worth it to attend Michigan (and I’m an international – out-of-state, no federal financial support, parents basically poured their life savings on me) </p>
<p>And Michigan is considered to be a good engineering school overall compared to the other schools, and as an engineering student, I will say that the engineering program here is awesome. </p>
<p>Compared to my situation, you’re getting a full ride.</p>
<p>There are four things that Duke does better than Michigan and Biomedical Engineering is one of them. The other three are Basketball, Biology and English. Michigan is no slouch in those four things, ranked among the top 15 Biology, BME and English and making a comeback in Basketball. In all other ways, Duke and Michigan are roughly equal, with Michigan actually edging Duke in Engineering and a couple of other disciplines. Overall, both are excellent.</p>
<p>This said, there is no way you should consider Cornell, Duke or JHU over Michigan, unless your parents are well off, and I am not talking $250k/year salaries. That’s not well off, it is upper middle income. By well off, I am talking the kind of money that would dwarf $160k.</p>
<p>Go to UofM. Use the difference in cost to do foreign study, to take a great internship, to get tickets to the football games, to join a house whatever floats your boat…I can understand why you feel the way you do about staying in-state at your age but stop and think about how amazingly lucky you are to be in-state from both an acceptance and financial standpoint. You’ll meet kids from all over the world just like at any other top notch school and you certainly don’t have to “go home” every other weekend! After college it won’t matter that you are “in-state” for UofM…doesn’t matter where you live…you’ll be a UofM grad and they are literally everywhere in the world.</p>
<p>Choosing UMich does seem to be a rational and mature decision. It ranks among world’s best universities, you love the school and you got a full-ride. What else could you ask for?</p>
<p>Yes, I agree with the guys above.</p>
<p>I’m interested in this thread, but with a twist. My S has offers at Michigan, Cornell, and Duke – all from the engineering programs. We live in Northeast, and right now I’m still waiting for financial aid offers but free rides are not likely. </p>
<p>So – if money is not a factor, any additional thoughts about these schools or programs worth considering? Thanks!</p>
<p>Psychmama, congratulations on your son’s acceptances…they are impresive to say the least. </p>
<p>Outside of BME, Duke is not in the same league as Michigan or Cornell in Engineering. If your son is a “techie”, I think Michigan and Cornell will be more rewarding that Duke. On the other hand, if your son is merely mildly interested in Engineering, Duke will more than meet his expectations. </p>
<p>Ultimately, if you require need-based financial aid, chances are that Cornell and Duke will end up being significantly cheaper than Michigan, in which case I would choose Cornell. Should cost of attendance not be an issue, I would recommend your son go for fit, taking his level of interest in Engineering and overall campus culture/environment into consideration.</p>
<p>I would totally agree with Alexandre.</p>
<p>I have basically made the decision to go to Michigan. It’s about 99.9% certain. I have no desire to make my parents pay 35-40 grand a year (WITH finaid) to go to another school. Plus, Michigan engineering is amazing, I can save the money for med school, and Michigan treats its scholarship winners very well 
</p>
<p>THANK YOU EVERYONE for helping me make what is probably the hardest decision of my life.</p>
<p>Let us know when you are 100% sure. ;-)</p>
<p>That’s awesome. I have a friend who did BME at Michigan - was a senior last year - and he’s now working on a combined MD & PhD. The cool part: Yale paid for it all. You made the right decision.</p>
<p>I am fairly certain you are going to be very happy with your decision. Michigan offers a pretty special and unique blend of great academics, awesome campus life, unbeatable school spirit, highly intellectual yet approachable and down to earth students, as well as popular and highbrow prestige. I can name only a handful of universities that are as well rounded. Your getting it tuition-free is an incredible opportunity.</p>