<p>So my son was accepted to both. Older brother is at Hopkins, making UCSD attractive as a new experience. We're OOS, and will visit UCSD this weekend. I realize that both schools are ranked highly (at least in this particular field), but son is not certain that BME is what he wants to pursue. Thoughts? </p>
<p>I’m in a very similar situation. Accepted to JHU and UCSD for BME and really having a tough time with the decision. A few factors to consider
Prestige - While both schools are ranked very highly for BME (JHU is ranked 1st and UCSD is ranked 5th) JHU is a higher ranked school in general. This factor helps not only stroke your ego when talking about your son at parties but also -more importantly- will help in regards to graduate school -or med school. This also helps in regards to switching majors.
Location/Weather - Lets be honest, UCSD probably has some of the best weather in the US. The campus is always sunny, borders a beach, and is in the middle of a really safe town -of course you could see this as a disadvantage since your son might get to distracted by the beach and sun to study :). JHU on the other hand has worse weather and is situated in Baltimore -by no means a “safe” city. Of course JHU arguably has the best campus security in the US so safety isn’t as big of an issue as people make it out to be. Also in regards to location living on the East Coast means you’re a train ride away from several large cities including NYC, Washington DC, and Philadelphia.
Tuition - UCSD OOS costs about 40k a year while JHU costs 60K (without a scholarship). Sending two kids to JHU without any type of financial aid would really hurt your wallet.
Programs - JHU does offer a 5 year BS/MSE program which you have to apply for in Junior year. Additionally JHU offers a lot of research opportunities for undergraduates -which is a real plus for me.
Size - UCSD has a freshmen class size almost 5 times that of JHU. This will make it difficult for your son to sign up for all of his GE requirements at UCSD (unless he’s a regents scholar) - especially the first Chemistry and Biology classes.
Personally I’m leaning towards JHU, but both schools have their positives and negatives. You’re son really can’t make a “wrong” choice here since both schools are great.</p>
<p>What should be made of the fact that UCSD’s Bioengineering: Biosystems is not accredited, at this time?
He would be going in to UCSD with about 70 hours of credit, from APs he’s taken/taking.</p>
<p>Well Bioengineering and Bioengineering-Biosystems aren’t really the same thing, so unless your son really wants to major in Biosystems I wouldn’t really worry about that.
The AP credit is definitely something to consider though I wouldn’t make a decision based solely on AP credit.</p>