Any thoughts/experience regarding these three schools for a BS in biomedical engineering? With scholarships, Drexel is least expensive but all reasonably close due to merit. Drexel is in commuting distance which is a potential cost savings during co-op vs a likely co-op in Boston area for NEU. Will stay onsite at all of these options during academic portion of school year. Thanks in advance!
I can’t comment on GW for engineering. Two of my kids also applied to Drexel and I myself am from the Philly area. A big difference is Drexel’s quarter format. Each semester is only 10 weeks which is really fast. Some students love that, others find it too quick. Northeastern’ s coop program has been around longer and has a stronger reputation across more majors. That said engineering at Drexel is very well known and doesn’t seem to struggle with coop placements like some majors. Drexel does charge a fee while on coop (less than $1000).
Northeastern coops are both across the nation and international, so don’t think you will be in Boston necessarily. My D is on her third coop-one in Boston, one in NYC, one in San Francisco. She has had friends go home to coop or stay as an RA-sweet gig. Paid coop and no R&B.
Go to accepted students day for specific program and coop information.
What are the exact costs of all three? How big are the price differences and what would each equate to in loans?
@PengsPhils No loans involved and 6K difference between Drexel and the other two with Drexel being the most affordable. This assumes that he wouldn’t be paying for room and board on co-ops at either location. No co-ops at GWU.
@bhmomma What tipped the advantage to Northeastern vs Drexel for your daughter? As a major soon to be ABET accredited at NEU, I wonder the extent to which it has established a solid biomedical engineering coop program outside (as well as inside) the Boston area. I’m sure that they are well established for other engineering majors. At Drexel, biomedical engineering is not in the engineering college but instead part of the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. We didn’t realize this until recently and not sure if it’s beneficial, negative or not impactful in any manner.
Even if he stays in Boston and pays room/board, co-op pay should cover those costs and keep you even, so the 6k difference is accurate I would say.
Some things to consider:
Boston has a great medical hub and there’s plenty of great co-ops and opportunities as a result.
Does he prefer to be closer to home or would he like the distance?
I’m a NEU student and absolutely love it here, but I’m CS so I don’t know too many details specifically on the biomed side - I know of many happy engineers working at amazing companies, though. My two MechE friends are working in the JPL in CA and the other is working for iRobot.
There is a good thread on the Northeastern Reddit discussing the undergrad biomed program at NEU.
@ctguy1002 Thanks - I’ve never looked at reddit for college info before
Depending on your financial situation, I generally advocate the cheapest option. To me, $6k isn’t much of a difference and I could justify paying that much extra, and it sounds like that’s not a huge obstacle to you financially either.
In my opinion, Northeastern is significantly stronger than Drexel academically, and the opportunities in biotech in Boston greatly outnumber those in Philly- this would justify the extra money for me. Both GWU and Northeastern are on another level than Drexel, so I’d choose out of those two more than likely, depending on whether or not you want co-op (which it seems like you’d want if you applied to NU and Drexel… leaving NU!)
@kennetsq-(nice name). I had a response typed earlier, but it didn’t post. Sorry. When my D was applying, Drexel charged tuition even for coop semesters, so in my mind, that was a significant financial difference. When we looked at both, Northeastern had the better network for coops across disciplines, making more sense if she decided to switch or combine majors. At the time, there were grumblings from Drexel students (outside of engineering) about the lack of coops and the low quality of some coops.
Northeastern has a signficantly better reputation and ranking academically.
If your plan is to remain in the Philly area, I think Drexel can meet your goals. I have friends who grad from Drexel in biomedical engineering, work in Philly hospitals, and sent their own son to Drexel. But if you have any interest in exploring other areas, Northeastern has a far wider (international even) network. In addition, Northeastern tries to make duel majors, study abroad/Dialogue of Civilization-summer sessions abroad, open to most majors. Not sure about Drexel, but in many U’s engineering is so structured that there aren’t nearly as many options.