As a person who wants to major in both bme and cs I’m concerning JHU and Duke. Which would be a better choice to get great education in both fields? Also, can you compare the overall atmosphere and the surroundings of both schools
BME generally requires over 120 credits, so it would be almost impossible to double major with it. JHU generally doesn’t rate well on atmosphere.
(current BME/CS double major)
Sattut is correct in the number of credits required by BME, but incorrect in the conclusion as it applies to Hopkins.
Hopkins allows you to double count credits towards a double major. I am current double majoring in BME and CS and find it quite manageable. If you choose the Computational Biology focus in BME, you’ll only need about 5-6 extra classes to graduate with a double major in BME and CS. It’s a relatively popular path for BMEs who don’t want to go to grad school.
Idk about how Duke works - you should post on their forum about the feasibility of double majoring. I do know that Hopkins is regarded as “more flexible” when it comes to double counting credits as compared to other schools, but don’t know how that extends to Duke.
The question you really should consider is “should I double major in BME and CS?”. Personally, I don’t think the double major is worth it - if I could do it again, I would probably opt to do pure CS for undergrad and specialize in BME in grad school. If you go to the Engineering forum you’ll find a lot of people recommending the same. A BS in CS gives you a lot more options than a BS in BME and a BME/CS double major is no more qualified for BME grad school or an industry position than a pure CS grad would be. While the double major is manageable, I don’t know that the extra effort is worth it.
My son considered both schools and ended up at Duke. He is not majoring in either BME or CS. However, I can tell you that Duke will work with yiou on whatever combination that you desire to do. You can also do a concentration in an area. He has found Duke to have a very collaborative atmosphere. Students and professors all work together for everyone to achieve their potential. Make no mistake, it is tough and you will spend a ton of time studying. HE has really enjoyed it. There are so many opportunities to explore whatever you are interested in doing, and Durham is a great city!
I went to Hopkins a long time ago, and the major requirements were so intense no one double majored, but it is probably different now.
It you really want to be an engineer, that double major is fine, as it helps to have something related with BME. However, most people doing BME at good schools are premed. You need a lower GPA than other majors for med school, as it is more fixed curriculum and the grading in engineering and introductory math and physics classes is hard. If you can get into those schools, much less do a double major like that, you probably could get into med school if you wanted to. A CS double major would not make much sense if you are premed.