<p>hey all you BME's. so little time to make a decision! i'm sure you all can relate. i do wanna study bme, but i havent actually been in the program (so how do i really kno if i wanna do it for 4 years?!). i also am interested in caltech, which is pretty banging for engineering... but i dont kno if i wanna pass up jhu bme (isn't it the #1 bme program in the nation?)</p>
<p>also considering cornell engineering and (i <3 columbia). so it's crazy. i wanna make the right choice. </p>
<p>hahah, everyone's trying to decide between bme and other schools too. : )</p>
<p>I was debating between a couple of the same schools this time last year. I strongly considered Caltech because of its reputation in science/engineering but decided not to go there because it seemed like it was only a science/engineering school (not to many people go to Caltech to be humanities majors...). Hopkins, on the other hand, is a mix between a tech school like Caltech and a LAC. It's got top ranked engineering programs (especially BME, which is my major), but it also has awesome departments in the humanites (such as Writing Seminars, IR, Film and Media Studies etc). Even though I never considered majoring in the humanities, I'm interested in politics and world affairs and I think that Hopkins gives me opportunities to explore those areas that I wouldn't have had at Caltech. </p>
<p>In terms of the sciences and specifically BME, I think that the fact that Hopkins own medical school is located not too far away is a great advantage. Lots of students do research at the medical campus, even starting freshman year.</p>
<p>As for Cornell, I visited and loved the campus and the city, but Ithaca seemed a little too isolated for me. Also, since I'm coming from Texas and I had never lived in snow before, I wasn't really sure I could handle Ithaca's cold.</p>
<p>Have you visited all the campuses that you are considering? The "feel" on-campus is quite different between Hopkins, Caltech and Cornell and you should definitely visit, take a tour and stay overnight if you can before you make a decision.</p>
<p>thanks for the info you guys! i would LOVE to visit all of the schools, but caltech is on the extreme opposite side of the country compared to JHU. I've visited JHU before, it was pouring tho... : )</p>
<p>and that's very true, i do want to get an awesome liberal arts education as well. and like you said, tho, caltech does have a great reputation for engineering.</p>
<p>i'm glad to hear that people were in the same boat as me, having to make these decisions</p>
<p>is jhu bme extremely difficult to handle? (like 24 hrs. of homework?)</p>
<p>No offense but if you are worrying about the amount of coursework you are going to get in any of those programs, you picked the wrong schools! All of the schools you mentioned have tremendous reputations in engineering and with that comes A LOT of work, so wherever you decide to go be prepared to pay your dues.</p>
<p>As for your other question, it wouldn't be ridiculous to pass up any program (even JHU BME) if you feel more comforatable/like somewhere else better. At the undergraduate level, the difference between studying BME at Hopkins and BME (or something like MechE or ChemE and concentrating in Bio) at CalTech would be minimal, don't be fooled by the superficial rankings into thinking that one is really that much better than the other. </p>
<p>My recommendation to you would be to research the programs and find out exactly what you will and can take as an undergrad. I believe at CalTech you HAVE to take 4 semesters of physics up through Special Relativity and Wave and Modern Physics, you are also required to take more courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences at CalTech (I believe 12, couldn't quite figure out the credit system for them), at Hopkins you only need 6. So maybe you will get a more liberal arts education at CalTech. These are the things you have to research to find out. But you also have to worry about the other things such as social life, location, size, etc. It is a very difficult and very important decision you have to make and it is best to make it once you have all the facts. </p>
<p>The second link is to the ACE Guide which is a student published guide that rates all of the classes at Hopkins. Figure out which classes you'll take and find out what the students had to say about the profs that teach them, and the classes themselves. This tool is very helpful in deciding which classes to take.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! I did talk to a Caltech student and he said the liberal arts type classes weren't as great- (he said, it's caltech).. but the physics, calculus classes and professors were amazing... i expect a lot of coursework (yea, definitely more than high school!), but ya know, i still wanna enjoy my college experience too, not being bogged down completely. Also, I talked to the caltech student and he said that they dont really have a great bioengineering program, but a great bio program.</p>