Lots of good choices of Universities

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1

My son was accepted to a number of good universities and would like to get opinions. We live in Oregon so we will be subject to out-of-state tuition for many of these. He wants to major in Biomedical or Mechanical Engineering. Any input on these would be welcome. He does intend on going to graduate school. Thank you!

They are:
Cal Poly-Bio Medical Engineering
UCLA- Bioengineering
Loyola Marymount- Mechanical Engineerng
Gonzaga-Bio Medical Engineering
University of San Diego- Mechanical Engineering
Santa Clara University- Mechanical Engineering
Oregon State University-Honors College- Mechanical Engineering

Still waiting to hear from:
USC
Vanderbilt

2

Great choices - can you tell us his stats and EC’s so as to help others?

3

Wanted to also mention he has gotten merit scholarships from Gonzaga, USD, Oregon State, Santa Clara and small one from Cal Poly. Still waiting to hear from UCLA and Loyola Marymount on merit money.

4

He has a 4.0 GPA, 34 ACT, 1420 SAT, Student Government, (ASB Treasurer), Swim Team, Volunteer internships
Lots of AP classes should help be close to sophomore status

5

He did not apply to UW? It’s cheaper than UCs, great engineering programs, and he’d likely to get the $5000 OOS scholarship.

6

I’m not sure why ECs and stats are germane to picking among accepted schools. He’s in.

My advice, as a fellow Oregonian, with a son in ME at Cal Poly is to go visit. His experiences will be VERY different at those schools. All it took for my son to rule out even applying to UCLA, USC or Harvey Mudd, was to visit. He knew he didn’t want to be in LA or the surrounds. What resonates with your son might be different, but a visit is very helpful.

I’m not certain that the engineering quality of LMU, USD or Gonzaga rise to the level of the rest.

OSU’s honors program is great. Students can take small, meaningful classes taught by good instructors well into their curriculum. Additionally, he’ll probably be invited into MECOP as a direct admit. It’s a cool program. The problem with OSU, setting aside the rain, is that it’s a classic engineering program where students take general classes and don’t do major specific courses until third year and,

Lastly, I’d have him put some serious thought into what he wants to do with his degree. BME is not as useful as an ME degree. MEs can do most BME jobs, but the reverse is often not true. In order to do “real” biomedical engineering, something where the sub-specialization is necessary and useful, an advanced degree is usually required.

If he falls in love with any of the schools where he was admitted for BME, he could switch if he felt ME was the better fit.

Good luck.