<p>Hi folks,</p>
<p>I need some advises on getting into graduate studies. I go to Purdue University (biomed engineering) and will be a senior next fall. As of right now, my gpa is ~3.6, I have 2 conference papers with me as a second author, I have been involved in research since my sophomore year and I'm still continuing it right now. The gre will be taken this summer and I pretty much secure my recommendation letters. I would like to try some prestigious schools like berkeley, stnford, cornell, etc (maybe not mit). Would you guys think I have a chance to get admission on those prestigious schools? If I dont, which schools should I apply?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone,
Cheers.</p>
<p>Based on what you've said, yes, you have a chance.</p>
<p>Since you are biomed, you might try looking at Johns Hopkins, Duke, BU, Rice, U of Washington...for biomed, these schools are more prestigious than some of the more generally prestigious schools you mentioned.</p>
<p>But what schools you want really depends on what you want to do within your field. Someone who wants to design prosthetic limbs may not want to apply to the same places as someone who wants to develop pharmaceuticals, for instance.</p>
<p>It depends on what field of BME you want to go to. Some of the hotter fields such as nanobio and tissue are very hard to get into for grad programs. I'd say you have a chance but not a good one for BME. its just ridiculously competitive right now. All my friends this year were rejected with high stats for BME except for one that is paying for his masters at Penn. These were kids coming out of JHU, and Duke with 3.6-3.7/3.8s with publications. Nonetheless, make sure you apply to the best schools but have ample backups. Also hone your interviewing skills as these schools sometimes grill their candidates during visitation dates.</p>
<p>Also: see Duke's admissions statistics for BME:</p>
<p>Duke</a> University Graduate School Admissions and Enrollment Statistics (PhD Only)</p>
<p>Those stats are for phD admissions so masters are slightly easier.</p>
<p>So should I apply to other department (ME for example)? I dont mind doing other majors, but my research from sophomore is BME based. I am on nanobio and microfluids. What do you think?</p>
<p>Lets get this out of the way first:
There seems to be an unhealthy obsession with prestige on these forums. Fit is so much more important. Otherwise you might end up at a place you will hate for 2 years and come out broke with bad grades, potentially bad job prospects, and alot of regret. Only go for Mech E if there is research you are interested in. </p>
<p>But in response:
If you're coursework was in BME, you need to demonstrate proficiency and interest in mech e in order to be successful. So if mech e is indeed what you might want to do, take advanced mech e courses to prove to yourself that you are interested, to show you have the capacity to excel, and to demonstrate motivation to professors. I know you can tailor some BME research to related fields in mech e as there is some nano research going on in mech e. Beyond these forums, speak to your profs. They, and not people on this forum will be more candid than anyone else you will ever speak to and are the ones that are best able to gauge which grad schools you are most likely to succeed and fit in to. Afterall, they were students at one point, and most likely conducted research similar to what you are doing now if they are your research advisors.</p>