<p>George Washington University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have both accepted me into their Biomedical Engineering undergraduate programs. But, now I'm stuck on the decision between the two. Both have given me the financial aid to bring me down to $8,000 a year (from IL by the way), so money won't be a deciding factor. </p>
<p>At the moment, my feeling is that I know (or at least believe based upon what I've read) that I'll receive a solid BME education at RPI because of its experience, equipment, and notoriety. But I'm afraid that I will not enjoy attending the school based upon the criticism of the poor social life. As a male, I (based upon online comments) would only have 'a life' if I joined a fraternity. I currently attend an academic-heavy boarding school where all of the students have made significant sacrifices to their social lives for the hopes of academic success. Therefore, I do somewhat understand the value of making some sacrifices as a student to benefit in the future as an adult. I also understand this is why some of my friends are attending notoriously socially-dull schools such as Cal Tech and MIT, but I'm wondering if an education at RPI is worth that?</p>
<p>As for GW, I feel sure that I will enjoy my college experience (still wondering how much that is really worth) being in a more liberal arts style university located in D.C. Also, I believe I'll have access to some pretty good research and internship opportunities with all of the federal activity in the area. My concern here is the strength of the BME program. It is very new, only starting in 2002, and I'm not sure it has the experience to provide a competitive education, not to mention its not listed in any BME undergrad ranking lists that I've seen. I know GW has put a lot of money into the program, and is building a new BME building, but it won't be done while I'm there. I've spoken to a few current GW BME students (I have not been able to contact any RPI BME students) who said they were confident in the education they were receiving, but because of the lack of current information on the BME program, I'm left with some skepticism.</p>
<p>In summary:
RPI: Pro - Solid education, Con - Likely lack of social life
GW: Pro - Enjoyable College experience, Con - Unknown education quality</p>
<p>I'd like to thank those of you who were willing to read all or some of this, and I would really appreciate your opinions on the matter. The decision is of course very important to me and my family, and all of the information we can obtain is greatly appreciated. Deciding where you go to college only happens once (until transfers).</p>
<p>In case you were wondering, I received my financial aid information very (very) late, and I was able to receive an extension on my deposit and final admission decisions. So no, its not too late to help. In fact, as soon as you see this thread, it will be a great (wonderful, stupendous... helpful?) time to comment.</p>