<p>I currently have a very good chance of getting into schools with a high academic reputation (my top choices are lehigh, bucknell, and haverford). Actually, I am a recruited athlete at these schools, so would have almost guaranteed admission. However, these schools are very expensive for my family, even when factoring in need-based aid (my family is middle class, so not poor enough to get a lot of aid, but not wealthy enough to be able to easily pay).</p>
<p>I also have the chance to go to lower ranked schools with a less respectable academic reputation (UMBC, Temple..) however, I would be able to afford these schools, with little to no debt.</p>
<p>What do you guys think? Should I go to a more expensive school in hopes of getting a better job, or a more affordable school? How important is name recognition and academic reputation in today's economy? Does it matter where you go as long as you work hard and make the best of your experience? I want to be an engineer by the way (leaning towards biomedical)
Thanks for the insight!</p>
<p>I’d say go to the more prestigious schools, if you can graduate with 20k of debt I’d call that a victory. Try applying to 1 private scholarship a week and see if those 3 schools have scholarships you qualify for.</p>
<p>Unless you go to grad school I would say a prestigious school like Haverford would be great.</p>
<p>So will the prospect of getting a very good job cancel out the huge amount of debt? (I would likely graduate with around 100k debt) I may or may not go to grad school… Do most engineers go?</p>
<p>Engineering…name recognition and academic reputation rarely plays much of a role, outside of landing your first job (or getting into a very selective grad program). </p>
<p>Some schools, like Haverford, do not have engineering programs, outside of 3/2 or 4/1partnerships. These are expensive, as it takes an additional year to graduate.</p>
<p>With Biomedical, its’ typically required to get a master’s degree to work in the field (this is an exception to most engineering fields, that only require BS). If you do want to pursue biomedical, plan on going to grad school and budget accordingly! </p>
<p>It’s going to be hard to justify going in debt a $100K for your undergrad Engineering degree…</p>
<p>So if I went to say, temple and got an undergrad degree in biomedical engineering, would I be able to be admitted to top grad schools? (Assuming I graduate at the top of the class, pursue the honors college, etc…)</p>
<p>Althought D3 schools don’t offer athletic scholarships, you’ll see that if you’re recruited they"ll find a way to help your parents meet their EFC.
(As long as you can get in with your GPA/scores along with sports - as I assume you do).</p>
<p>Sure! Keep your GPA high, get involved in undergrad research and do well on your GRE and you will have an easy time getting into a good grad program. </p>
<p>One note on Temple, the Bioengineering program(they don’t have a biomedical program) was introduced this fall (2013), so it’s not yet accredited by ABET. If you picked this major, make sure you feel good that it would be accredited before you graduate.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you could go EE or ME for your BS and then go Biomedical for grad school (lots of folks would recommend EE/ME for your BS, before going Biomedical for your MS…see the Engineering forum for lots of threads on this subject).</p>
