Hi! I’ve recently been admitted to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and University of Rochester. I applied for biomedical engineering (BME) to both, possibly to go on the pre-med track. I am asking for any insight anyone may have on the differences between and similarities at these two schools. For reference, I got a $32k (per year) scholarship to WPI but nothing from UofR. Cost is not the biggest factor but of course it is a factor in my decision.
Also, to give you a little bit of a sense of the kind of person I am:
I’m not the partying type but I’m also not someone who doesn’t go out at all; I would say I’m an ambivert who is introverted around people I don’t know/people in public but kinda extroverted when I’m around my good friends. I’d like to have a balance of rigorous academics and relaxing free time with friends, or as much as is possible in college!
Any comments/suggestions about the two schools in general, the areas around them, and/or their BME and Pre-Med programs and opportunities would be extremely helpful to me! Thank you in advance!
I would give the edge to URoch. It has a very respected BME program and its own teaching hospital. It is, overall, a better respected and all-encompassing facility than WPI, which is a very fine school but has recently acquired increased cachet largely because of the popularity of STEM. URoch has always been a highly respected institution, known for an abundance of research opportunities.
Neither has fantastic immediate surroundings although both have natural beauty not too far away.
URoch is known to appeal to quirky intellectual types. The campus offers much to do. Also, if you have any interest in optics as a sub specialty of BME, nobody beats Rochester and its close connection to Bausch & Lomb.
In brief, the University of Rochester resides on a classically arranged (in Georgian Colonial and Greek Rival styles), riparian campus a few miles from downtown Rochester and Lake Ontario; invites geographical diversity through a notably high international presence; and receives winter snow suitable for the adventurous. Based on what you have posted about yourself, it would seem to make a great match for you.
You sound like you would fit well at either school. But I completely agree with @tsbna44. URoch is very expensive and not worth the extra $$. WPI has a very nice campus, and Worcester is a decent city. Plus Boston, beaches, and mountains are easy day trips. The school has a good reputation and will get you where you want to go. From what I’ve heard it’s also a more collaborative student body.