Suggestions for colleges w/ great biomed programs (give good financial aid to OOS)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys, with parents making a decent salary (154kish), but a sibling at a university right now, a younger sibling on the way to college soon, and a business that isn't doing so well (lots of debt) I really can't afford a university that will require me to pay more than 30k a year. I love biomedical engineering, and I plan to go get a masters degree (also why I don't want an expensive undergrad) and possibly apply to med school! </p>

<p>I am wondering if anyone has some recommendations for universities (public and private) for an out of state student (I'm from NJ) that I have a good shot of paying around 20k-30k ideally per year judging from my stats! Thanks so much! I have considered Lehigh (great co-op program) and Georgia Tech.</p>

<h2>Here are my stats for you to get a general idea of where I'm at:</h2>

<p>GPA: 3.7 (rigorous curriculum, top 100 hs) - graduating from program focused on engineering
SAT: 2020 ....Math - 670 CR - 640 W -710 (retaking. aiming for 2150)
SAT 2: Math 2 790 , Chem 690 (retaking aiming for 750)</p>

<p>Transcript:
Freshman Yr 3.78 GPA</p>

<p>Amer Lit I A-
Ancient History A
Appl Math to Physics A (1 Trimester)
Art & Society A (1 Trimester)
Chemistry B+
Digital Electronics A
Early America A-
Espanol I & II B+
Exper Technology A
Intro Eng Design I A
Math Analysis I A
Physics A-
Financial Literacy P (1 Trimester)</p>

<p>Sophomore Yr 3.50 GPA (did bad sophomore year due to emergency & surgery, counselor addressing this in letter)</p>

<p>Amer Lit II B+
Biology A-
Espanol III B+
Inter Chemistry B+
Interm Physics A-
Intro Eng Design II A
Math Analysis II B+
Prin of Eng_Mat Sci A
World History B
Business News A (1 Trimester)
Driver's Education C+ (1 Trimester)
RADD (robotics) A- (1 Trimester)</p>

<p>Junior Yr 3.80 GPA</p>

<p>Adv Biology B
Adv Chemistry B-
Adv Physics A
AP Calculus AB A (3 on the exam, very odd)
AP Micro Economics A- (4 on the exam)
BioEngineering A (1 Trimester)
Civ Eng<em>Architecture A (1 Trimester)
Entrepreneurship A 1 (1 Trimester)
IB Espanol IV SL A
Intro Anat & Physio A (1 Trimester)
Intro to Mandarin I A (1 Trimester)
Manufac Process CIM A (1 Trimester)
Physio Control Sys A (1 Trimester)
U.S.Policy A (1 Trimester)
US History II A
World Lit I A
Alternative Energy A (1 Trimester)
Health</em>First Aid C+ (1 Trimester)
Sim-Man A 1 (1 Trimester)</p>

<p>Senior Year Course load: Linear Algebra & Differential Equations, AP Physics C, AP Chem, IB Spanish 5, World Lit II</p>

<p>E/C: Internship w/ Orthopedic Surgeon (Private Business), Hospital Volunteer(Radiology Department, Labratory Department), Teacher's Assistant for summer classes kids K-8, Camp volunteer for kids with mental illnesses, Battlebots board member & participant, President of club aimed to help autistic children, Freshman and Sophomore Soccer, National Honor Society, Internship at Private Pharmacy, Treasurer of SouthAsian Club and VP of World Hunger Club, Private Tutor of tutoring group created by friends, helped directed events including dance for school for kids with mental disabilities and an educational fair for inner-city kids</p>

<p>aimed major: 1. biomed eng 2. Chem Eng or Mechanical Eng.
no hook, NJ, middle class, nice essay, nice Math & Lit Recs, </p>

<p>CONS: asian (indian), C+ in drivers education and first aid, very competitive highschool (many kids with good stats).</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

2

<p>Cross off public colleges in California. You’re stats are weak for the competition here. California is broke and they are charging full fees to OOS.</p>

3

<p>The SUNYs are relatively affordable for OOS students, as is U Minnesota.</p>

4

<p>California is too far for me, I’m staying on the eastern half of the US. I considered the SUNY’s, but I feel like there are better colleges out there that I would receive better aid.</p>

5

<p>When you say “aid” do you mean merit or need based?</p>

<p>It doesn’t look like you’d qualify for much/any aid, so you need to look at merit.</p>

<p>Have you ASKED your parents how much they’ll pay? It doesn’t sound like they can pay $60k ($30k per child) for college each year. How much are THEY saying that they will pay for YOU (not counting your college-going sibling)? If you aren’t sure, ASK THEM.</p>

<p>It’s a good thing that you’re retesting since your current 1310 M+CR is not high enough for most schools that give great aid or large scholarships. Writing scores often mean little or nothing for admissions and for merit aid.</p>

<p>You need a careful strategy for making sure that you have affordable choices. </p>

<p>If you can get your Math + CR to at least a 1400, then you can get some large merit scholarships at a few schools. </p>

<p>Take the ACT as well…you may do better on that since the math is less tricky and you’re stronger in CR and W.</p>

6

<p>Yeah I plan to retest and take the SAT and possibly the ACT if I can find time in between taking subject tests. Actually, my strongest is Math. I just happen to make silly mistakes on SAT math on test day. It’s funny how I can get a 790 on Math 2 with little study, but not even break 700 in sat 1 math. I should score high in that. And you’re right I definitely plan to get at least a 2150 for my SAT. Say I get it that high, what schools what you recommend??</p>

7

<p>Why not consider Rutgers or TCNJ?</p>

8

<p>*Yeah I plan to retest and take the SAT and possibly the ACT if I can find time in between taking subject tests. Actually, my strongest is Math. I just happen to make silly mistakes on SAT math on test day. It’s funny how I can get a 790 on Math 2 with little study, but not even break 700 in sat 1 math. I should score high in that.
*</p>

<p>The ACT is offered on days that are different from the SAT and SAT II tests, so no interference there.</p>

<p>Georgia Tech will not be affordable. You’d get no aid there and no merit.</p>

<p>What are your PARENTS saying about how much they’ll pay for YOU each year? If the business is struggling and you have a sibling in college, then how likely is it that they can pay $30k per year for you, while also paying for your sibling??? That doesn’t make sense.</p>

<p>Unless your parents have a lot of money saved for college (which sounds unlikely if they have a lot of debt), then it sounds like they can’t pay a lot for college. How much are they paying each year for your sibling? Is that the most that they can pay? does that mean that whatever they’re paying for your sibling will now be split between the two kids? For instance, if they are struggling to pay $25k per year for your sibling’s tuition, does that mean that when you go to school, the most that they can pay is about $12k per child?</p>

<p>What do you love about Biomed eng’g as an undergrad? </p>

<p>Since that major is not necessary as an undergrad (it’s mostly a grad major), I wouldn’t limit myself to only schools that offer that as an undergrad major. Not necessary and with your financial concerns it’s not a good idea to have such a limit. If your goal is biomed grad school, then your undergrad degree can be in MechE, ChemE, BioE, etc. BioMedE grad schools do NOT require applicants to have their undergrads in biomedE since that major is rare and not needed for grad school admission. And, it’s certainly not needed for med school.</p>

<p>* And you’re right I definitely plan to get at least a 2150 for my SAT. Say I get it that high, what schools what you recommend??*</p>

<p>Well, it will depend on what your Math+ CR are. If it’s over a 1400, then you’ll have more choices for good sized merit.</p>

9

<p>Out of state colleges are generally too expensive for high income out of state applicants.
For 30,000 cost consider
Binghamton
Stony Brook
Minnesota
Alabama (if you bring your CR+M to 1400)
Rule out Georgia Tech
Lehigh is not known for merit aid and I don’t think you’ll qualify for much FA
Consider Rutgers,TCNJ and NJIT. You are instate and have to consider affordable schools</p>

<p>are you interested in Biomedical Engineering or Pre-Med?
Consider Pitt if you bring your SATs up, but you might be too late for merit which goes fast due to Rolling Admissions</p>

10

<p>To echo a point about BME as undergrad major, many BME’s find they have to go get a grad degree to be employable. You may be better off majoring in ChemE, EE, MechE instead and study BME in grad school if you don’t go to medical school.
Carnegie Mellon for example, does not offer a BS in BME because they feel it is not adequate. Instead you major in another engineering field and choose BioMed as a concentration. This topic has been debated at length before on CC.</p>

11

<p>Check out University of Utah. They have very good merit aid for out of state students, up to full tuition, and have an excellent biomedical engineering program. Beautiful place, as well. Scholarship applications have to be in early though, I think by December 1.</p>

12

<p>*For 30,000 cost consider</p>

<p>Alabama (if you bring your CR+M to 1400)
*</p>

<p>Actually, he wouldn’t need a 1400 Math + CR to get costs down to $30k at Bama. If he has a 1330 M+CR, then he’d get a 2/3 tuition scholarship from the University, BUT…he’d get another 1/3 tuition scholarship from the College of Eng’g …AND…he’d get $2500 per year.</p>

<p>So, he’d get a scholarship worth about $100,000 from Bama if his M+CR is at least a 1330 and he majors in Eng’g. </p>

<p>He could major in:</p>

<p>MechE with add’l biomedE classes (such as Tissue Engineering, etc)</p>

<p>Biological & Chemical Engineering (my son is majoring in that. He’s now a senior and applying to med schools). </p>

<p>Either way, his remaining costs would be about $11k per year…which sounds like a very affordable option for a family with business debt issues.</p>

13

<p>I’m appreciating all the feedback. To @Momw2collegekids About the debt thing, I"ve talked to my parents as we are improving monthly. My parents have said they are willing to pay around 30k per year for me for the OOS colleges I’m applying to. My sibling is getting half tuition at a Tier A university. Also please keep in mind that my highschool is well-known to many nearby colleges and its rigorous curriculum (Record-breaking 17 Princeton acceptances last yr, 60ish kids going to ivies). I’m not saying I fall into those categories but I will have good rep. NYU Poly, Fordham, and WPI have sent me letters saying they will waive my application fee and suggesting good merit aid. And of course I’m considering TCNJ and Rutgers, but I’m also hopeful for an affordable OOS experience! </p>

<p>And wow, I didn’t know that you can go to BME grad school with a BS in those majors. Because I want med school to be an open option, I dont want to limit myself with Mech E. ChemE seems like a much less riskier option, but if I plan for sure to go to medschool or BME grad school, isn’t it best to study BME for undergrad if schools offer it? I don’t want to do PreMed because if I’m rejected from Med School, I’m pretty much stuck with a useless degree. I’ve been fascinated with BME from the aspect of making artificial parts for humans etc. (Also great salaries :P). Btw keep in mind the field will definitely expand in 4-6 years when I’m done with all my studies!</p>

<p>About the ACT thing, yes it’s offered in different months but studying can’t be done in just a couple weeks and will overlap. Studying for all these standardized tests while going to school and doing other extra curricular activities will definitely be a challenge, but I’ll see if i can manage my time well. </p>

<p>University of Alabama seems like a good suggestion for financial concerns, but I rather go to Rutgers and TCNJ which I’m sure I’'ll be admitted with tuition probably under 25k a year. </p>

<p>To Marymac, I’m appreciating the great suggestions, but for OOS I’m hoping for well-known schools, such as Northeastern, that would probably offer me good merit-aid. Otherwise, I will go to TCNJ/Rutgers. Thanks for all the feedback everyone.</p>

14

<p>Pre-med is NOT a degree.</p>

<p>And, YES, you can go to med school with a MechE degree as well as with ANY OTHER MAJOR…bio, chem, English, History…whatever!!! </p>

<p>NO, you do not need a BioMedE degree for biomedE grad school…not at all.<br>
MechE as an undergrad is going to be an effective undergrad major for someone interested in artificial limbs, etc. </p>

<p>No, majoring in BiomedE is not “better” for med school…not at all. </p>

<p>Before ruling out Bama, you should retest and visit. Bama has a brand new mega-sized Science and Engineering Complex. The Bama campus is gorgeous (unlike Rutgers…ugh), the academics are strong, and the people are friendly. </p>

<p>Also…Bama has a very good Pre-med advising team and does write Committee Letters for med school admission, which are a big help. Bama has a high US MD med school admittance rate…about 85%. </p>

<p><a href=“http://premed.ua.edu/[/url]”>http://premed.ua.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>With free tuition plus 2500 per year, the cost would be about $12k per year…very inexpensive. Save your money for grad/med school.</p>

<p>Bama is already processing applications for next Fall…
<a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama;

<p>*NYU Poly, Fordham, and WPI have sent me letters saying they will waive my application fee and suggesting good merit aid. And of course I’m considering TCNJ and Rutgers, but I’m also hopeful for an affordable OOS experience! *</p>

<p>I can almost assure that if you don’t get your scores up a lot higher, Fordham won’t give you much or anything. Fordham is great with NMFs and others with VERY high test scores, but not with what you currently have. I would think NYU_Poly would also require higher scores for decent merit. Don’t know about WPI.</p>

<p>While it’s great that your school sends a good number to ivies, that doesn’t mean a whole lot for you unless your scores and ranking are much higher. I suspect that those accepted kids either had high scores/high rank…or they had strong stats and were URMS. They likely were not non-hooked students with your stats.</p>

15

<p>Yeah I see that UA was listed as the top 50 public schools in the nation. I’ll talk to my counselors. I went on my schools site, which breaks down average gpas and number of acceptances to basically every college, and none from my school ever applied/went there so I couldn’t get an idea. I’m a little skeptical from the fact that it’s so far away from home. And you’re right about the ivies stats thing. Most kids who make the ivies have 3.85 from here as well as 2200.</p>

<p>Anymore suggestions for schools?!</p>

16

<p>Yes, Bama is a distance from NJ, but Bama students come from all 50 states…including Alaska and Hawai’i. 60% of this fall’s frosh class is from OOS. Bama has over 600 NMFs on campus, and every year enrolls about 500 frosh with free tuition merit scholarships …something most schools cannot afford to do. </p>

<p>And, yes, while Tuscaloosa is good distance away, a good number of kids come from the Tri-state area. The Midwest sends many kids as well. Over the last 3 years, Illinois has emerged as a state that sends a lot of kids to Bama. Calif ranks #8 in sending kids to Bama. So, students are coming from quite a distance. </p>

<p>Bama’s ranking continues to rise. It rose over 20 steps in the last 2 years. And, now, with its acceptance rate dropping to about 45% and other improvements, its ranking will continue to rise. </p>

<p>It would be great if you could visit the campus…it really sells itself. The new Science and Engineering Complex consists of about 800,000 sq ft of new STEM space…bringing the science and eng’g academic space total to about 1.5 million square feet. </p>

<p>Unlike other schools, Bama does not have financial problems. Unlike other schools that are eliminating depts and classes and decreasing faculty/staff, Bama is growing and hiring…often cherry-picking some of the best profs at other universities that have stagnate salaries.</p>

17

<p>It’s worth taking a look at WPI. It’s hard to tell how much merit aid you would get, but you might get some, perhaps more if your test scores go up. If you are a female, that would really work to your advantage for both admissions and merit aid!!!
I think they have a lot of what you are looking for: BME including a 5-year Masters Degree, BME specializations in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Biomechanics and Mechanobiology, and Bioinstrumentation and Biosignal Processing; biology and biotechnology (including industry parternships,research, internships), Pre-med advising, the UMass Medical School and hospital are in the same city…Check out some of these pages:
[Biomedical</a> Engineering: About the Department - WPI](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/academics/bme/about.html]Biomedical”>http://www.wpi.edu/academics/bme/about.html)
[Bioengineering</a> Institute](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/academics/Research/BEI/index.html]Bioengineering”>http://www.wpi.edu/academics/Research/BEI/index.html)
[Life</a> Sciences & Bioengineering Center](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/LSBC/index.html]Life”>Life Sciences & Bioengineering Center | Worcester Polytechnic Institute)</p>

18

<p>You’re really selling University of Alabama to me haha! You definitely have children who’ve went there and seem to be happy. I’m a guy btw. And I’m also a little skeptical on the diversity aspect. As an Indian, I’m not sure if I’ll be comfortable cause I’ll probably be a huge minority there. But again, I’ll talk to my counselor!</p>

<p>And although the 5 year BME program sounds great, I’m hoping after 4 years to get into a phenomenal BME school for grad like JHU, Duke, GTech etc. It’s all about the last degree you get! But again thanks for the suggestion.</p>

19

<p>Keep Case Western on your list. A couple from our area have done well there (financially) with stats similar to yours. I don’t know exactly how much was merit and how much was need however, but I believe they are considered a great school for BME.</p>

20

<p>maybe University of Pittsburgh. Merit $ is available if you test higher on your retakes.</p>