<p>That's the choice we are facing.
If you look at rankings, GT wins, but RPi may be a better fit for my son. Any advice, especially from people who are in school, have recently graduated, or have students at RPI. Likely major will be Biomedical engineering, and GT is second in the nation according to US News. I'd like to know about internship opportunities and mad school acceptances, in addition to general information. How many people are taking advantage of the scholarship for the 5th year masters?
We are in Maryland, so they are both a plane ride away, and he will have the same loan amount with either choice.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>You will get better and more responses if you post this in the [Parents</a> Forum - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/]Parents”>Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums) or the [Engineering</a> Majors - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/]Engineering”>Engineering Majors - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>I’m a HS senior deciding between carnegie Mellon and RPI so I can’t comment too much but I know both institutions are HIGHLY respected in engineering circles and I think the cost difference is almost negligible.</p>
<p>From my limited experience this year with reading through posts etc… I’ve come to the realization that a student can go to a top notch school but if they don’t take advantage of opportunities there then they can only get so far - maybe on the name of the school. I also now believe that a student going to a not so top of the rankings (& smaller) school can do amazing things if they take advantage of some of the opportunities. </p>
<p>But if the student is a go getter anyway, they are going to do amazing things anywhere they go.</p>
<p>But if the student is quiet and shy, (like my 16 year old S) I would suggest a smaller school. I’m not saying choose a school you have never heard of but one that has a good reputation and will give the quiet student a chance to shine.</p>
<p>As for BME my readings are making me think that BME is a better graduate major rather than an UG major unless you can supplement it with other skills. Many people have suggested doing a different engineering discipline and switching to BME in graduate school. Others are posting that employers with BME positions hire EE and Mech E with some emphasis in biology. The job options would be wider. So the school you choose should give you the option of easily switching between eng majors.</p>
<p>Cortana431 - Thanks for the suggestion. Something for you to think about when comparing RPI and CMU is that at RPI you can easily change majors, where at CMU it’s not nearly as easy.</p>
<p>I’m a senior biochemistry/biophysics major at RPI but I have limited experiences with CMU. I had one friend go there Pre-Med but she transferred after a semester to Hobart and William Smith Colleges. I will say that RPI was an amazing reputation with employers and in the engineering field. BME at RPI is a pretty big major and we partner with Albany Medical School for many of our upperclassman courses/ labs. I think that the undergraduate major is actually a really good idea because to get the same education you would need to dual major in Biology and Engineering which is nearly impossible to do in four years. </p>
<p>It can be harder to find BME co-ops/ internships because it is more specialized but RPI does an amazing job at getting you prepared for them and bringing the recruiters to campus. I have lots of close friends who are BME so I may be able to get you in contact with one of them if you want.</p>
<p>Thanks for your offer to help us get in touch with someone. I will let my son know. Right now he doesn’t want to talk much about colleges… He’s kind of burning out. It will all be over soon… Thanks to all for helping with this important decision.</p>
<p>I know I’m too late with this comment for this year’s applicants, but for anyone in the future, I have one daughter currently going to GaTech and the other will be attending RPI in the fall. One thing we didn’t think about was the 4 year graduation rate. My daughter has found it very difficult to graduate in 4 years from GaTech, they expect at least 5 classes every semester, some she was expected to take 6 (she’s a mech eng’g major). I think their 4 year graduation rate is very low, I think RPI’s is higher. I’m not knocking the school, but financially, it’s cost us more than we thought, as she took some summer courses so she could spend a semester abroad and will hopefully graduate a year from now, 4 years after she graduated from high school.</p>
<p>My son finally chose RPI and I am really relieved. All contacts we have had with RPI have been outstanding, and I have called and e-mailed several times. Most, of the contacts with Georgia Tech were frustrating, although there were a few very helpful people. I think the smaller classes, studio learning, and lack of a sports influence will all be good for him. It seems like RPI is mostly comprised of the students that primarily took many AP classes in high school, and are more focused on their studies, which suits him well.</p>