<p>Ok so I need some advice about college. I got into University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, Duke, UPenn, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard. I want to do Biomedical Engineering
Things I have considered so far:
1) Johns Hopkins and Duke have the internationally highest ranked programs in BME. All of the rest of them are not that far behind.
2) If I go to Harvard, I would do Neurobiology with Math or something different because their engineering is not that highly ranked. (It wasn't that high on my list before, but now that I got in...I am taking it more seriously.)
3) I want to do BME right now, and I know I want to stay in the health-related industry, but I might end up switching to ChemE or something (U of M has an overall good engin. school vs. JHU which is really only well-known for world-renowned BME)
4) I am instate for Michigan, and not only that I am a Shipman scholar with a full ride to Michigan (tuition, room and board, everything)
5) My financial bracket is such that I don't qualify for need-based aid anywhere- so Harvard, JHU, Duke: everything's like $50,000+. But my parents are willing to pay if I think it will make a difference to go to that school. I feel kind of bad making them pay that much if I could get it for free at Michigan.
6) I plan on going to med school, but I don't want to become a practicing doctor. I want to do research, and I've heard for BME-related stuff, it's beneficial to have a medical degree anyway. </p>
<p>I know this is a lot to consider- but I'm wondering what you would consider in making this decision.</p>
<p>Go with Michigan. One of the best public schools, good engineering, great academics. You can’t beat a free education like that. Michigan will have plenty of research opportunities, and will prepare you for med school just as well as JHU or Duke would. Plus, med and grad schools don’t care so much where you went for undergrad, only what you accomplished. I’d save the money you would be spending on a private school for med school.</p>
<p>If you have visited all the schools, then go with the one you truly love. Even if you will be in debt for the rest of your life, you’ll never regret attending a college with the environment of your dreams :)</p>
<p>Full ride at Michigan is an awesome opportunity. I don’t know if financial packages came out yet but wait and see what happens with Harvard- their aid is great, obviously, and you might be pleasantly surprised. Whichever way you go, you’re in an amazing position that people would kill for. Congrats :)</p>
<p>Michigan is an insanely good public school, one of the top few in the country. Ellopoppet is right, it doesn’t matter worth a damn where you go for undergrad if you do well and get research experience while you’re there, which you definitely would at Mich.</p>
<p>Full ride? Are you kidding me? I’d kill for that at my ISS UT Austin. Top 5% of their students in SAT score and GPA, but they still can only afford to give me 5k a year what with the texas budget issues. Full ride at Mich is the deal of a lifetime; unless harvard or the others give you an awesome finaid package, go with the free education and use your parents money for med school. You have no idea how fortunate it is to make it through med school with minimal/no student loans.</p>
<p>Shipman is pretty nice. Plus you’ll need big bank to pay for Med school. If any of the others really, really attract you, nicely go to them and tell them that UM’s Financial package is what’s holding you from ultimately choosing them and see if they could sweeten their financial package to you. You have some leverage. If you aren’t obnoxious about it, you might get a nice counter offer from some of the other schools. Good luck. You face a nice problem</p>
<p>Go to Michigan! Take Harvard off your list. It’s not an engineering school. </p>
<p>If you plan to go to med school or grad school in engineering, going to Harvard over Michigan won’t give you an edge in getting in. It’s more important to get into a prestigeous grad school.</p>
<p>Well, if I go to Harvard, I won’t do engineering. I would do like Neurobiology and Math or something.
Also, I got into the Dean’s Innovation Group at Hopkins. I don’t really know how prestigious that is, or how much value that carries, but thought I should add that to the list of considerations.</p>
<p>If you want to be your traditional doctor/surgeon working in a local practice, the name of your UG school and even your grad school won’t matter tremendously. What matters is your degree and the reputation you establish within your community. My dad’s a local surgeon with a Duke UG and an Ole Miss med degree (a degree he could have gotten after a successful UG career just about anywhere). He was lucky enough that his parents were willing to foot the bill for undergrad, so he chose Duke, but many of his partners made much more financially sensible choices for UG and are doing just as well. There are also those with much more prestigious degrees, UG and med, and they’re not doing any better or worse financially or in terms of reputation. </p>
<p>In short, this is a long-winded way of saying that the differences between UMich and Harvard or JHU are miniscule in the long run, but the financial differences are enormous.</p>
<p>Yes, it is true that Harvard is Harvard, but a full-ride to Michigan that would leave money in your parents’ pockets to help pay for med school trumps all.</p>
<p>I am starting to consider Johns Hopkins BME as a serious option. I have heard a lot about the prestige of the program (it is #1 in the country) and now I am a part of the Dean’s Innovation Group, I wonder if it might be better overall. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I get the idea from your post that you would like to attend Michigan, but feel that it is foolish to pass up going to Harvard, because it is Harvard. </p>
<p>If you chose Michigan a lot of people are going to tell you that you were nuts to pass up Harvard. Yet, if you choose Harvard a lot of people will tell you that you are nuts to get into so much debt just to go to Harvard to get an undergrad degree. </p>
<p>I think the fact that you got into Harvard proves that you have what it takes to make the right decision and to be very, very successful in life and to get into a great medical school no matter where you get your undergrad degree. </p>
<p>My vote is for going to Michigan on the free ride and save your money for med school. Michigan as you said also gives you more options if you change your mind about what you take versus JHU.</p>
<p>Congrats on having such a choice to make!! Good Luck and fill us in on what you finally decide to do.</p>
<p>ConflictNotSure, nearly every person on this thread has told you that Michigan would probably be your smartest choice. (Of course, none of us can pick for you; but you asked for advice). But, after all that, you came back and said you’re thinking of going to JHU, “do you have any more thoughts?” </p>
<p>I’m with the majority of responders. Michigan is your best choice, imo. WHY would you pay $200,000+ for something you can get for free?</p>
<p>But, then again, that’s a reflection of my family’s values.</p>
<p>My son didn’t apply to any ivy league schools, but he got into MIT, Rice, USC, Vanderbilt, Wash U – to name a few (all his schools, less Stanford) – and he’ll be turning them all down to go to a state school for free (plus stipend). He’s very happy with his choice and knows he will get a great education. And we’re very proud of him for making such a smart choice! MIT is probably a golden ticket; there’s no doubt. It’s hard to pass that up. But, the fact is, we really can’t afford it. And, hopefully, he can go to MIT for graduate school! He’ll hopefully have the money for it by then – OR, it could be free(ish) if he does really well in his undergrad program!</p>
<p>Good luck to you! (Take the money and run! )</p>
<p>Accepted to Harvard, Princeton, UPenn, Vanderbilt, Emory, Pomona, UVA, all full rides, I am out at the most about 3K at some, I really did not think I would get 3 freakin’ full offers from Ivies…now what to do and where to go…Chemistry is my main interest, plans to go into medical or chemistry research…</p>
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