UCLA vs Columbia. MSc in Biomedical Engineering

<p>Hi everyone,
Ive been admitted to the MS in Biomedical Engineering at UCLA and Columbia University. I know they are not the best schools in that field of study, but they are where I got admitted.</p>

<p>After looking deeply into their programs, curriculums, rankings and other general info, I would really appreciate any further opinion you may guys have regarding these schools and the BMENG program. After all Ive read, I like UCLA's student services and campus life. Also, the program has 7 different specialization areas, but the number of courses available is not that high. In addition, LA doesn't seem like the nicest city to live and UCLA's recognition among employers is not that high.
On the other hand, Columbia's program has only 3 areas of specialization and the resources available and faculty-alumni ratio are worse than in UCLA. However, the Bioimaging area is quite successful and New York City looks like a great place to live.</p>

<p>Im from Europe and I did not even have the chance to visit the campuses so, as I said before, any opinion regarding the program, research facilities, campus life or even the cities would be really appreciated.</p>

<p>I also got the admission in Oxford and Imperial College London but, despite the fact they are better positioned in rankings, I would prefer to study at the US.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>UCLA is located in Westwood, which is right across the street from BelAir, and is adjacent to Brentwood, Holmby Hills and Beverly Hills. And Columbia is located in Harlem…</p>

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<p>have you been to Columbia in the last decade? it borders harlem and is in one of the nicer areas in Manhattan (morningside heights). Harlem is also much safer, cleaner and vibrant than it used to be, high rent prices and low crime have changed demographics. NYC is the safest big city in the US and Columbia is in one of the safest precincts in NYC.</p>

<p>confiendtialcoll, I guess you haven’t been to the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side, SOHO and Greenwich Village.</p>

<p>to say that Morningside Heights is one of the nicer areas in Manhattan is to say that you have never been to Manhattan</p>

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<p>Thank you people for your replies!
Obviuosly, Im not gonna based such an important decision just on the location of the schools. Above all, because due to the expected workload I guess I will spend 6 days a week at the university.</p>

<p>I mentioned the location issue because I think I have covered all the important matters and I think both choices are even. So, any other opinion apart from the cities themselves would be more than welcome.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

<p>jjramos, why don’t you try asking people that attend Columbia whether they feel safe walking around at night in the early evening in the areas immediately surrounding Columbia. We are not talking midnight, we are talking 8:00 pm.</p>

<p>Well, to be honest, security is not in my things-to-consider list for these two places. Im pretty sure both cities have an acceptable level of security, so I dont worry about that at all. I didt want a NYC-LA confrontation either.</p>

<p>Does anyone have info about the Master Degrees, career programs, relationship with the industry, research facilities or any other information about these two schools?</p>

<p>Cheers.</p>

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<p>no I would definitely prefer to live in MSH over the UES and UWS. There’s more to do and its cheaper. greenwich village > MSH, but again soho is extremely expensive. Rating neighborhoods comes down to personal preference, but when I said “nicer” it was my feeling and my point was that crime is low is MSH.</p>

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<p>I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but I highly doubt they attended columbia in the last 10 years. I just graduated and walked around at absolutely any time by myself, even 4am, and never felt unsafe. It was the same with most of my classmates. You’d hear about muggings or pick pockets frequently, but statistically crime was very low.</p>

<p>to the OP, I don’t people on the forum have curriculum specific information to compare UCLA and Columbia for an MS in BME. This is an undergrad forum so you might want to try going elsewhere.</p>

<p>confidentialcoll, so now you are defining “nicer neighborhoods in Manhattan” as one that has a low crime rate?</p>

<p>ok, thanks</p>

<p>confidentialcoll, thanks for the info. So a student can safely walk in the streets near Columbia University at 123rd street and Amsterdam and feel very safe at midnight?</p>

<p>how about Mornignside Park and around 121st street at midnight?</p>

<p>you still feel the same?</p>

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<p>So a student can safely walk at 75th and lex and at bleecker and 7th and feel very safe at midnight? - ya don’t say!</p>

<p>morningside park is not really part of the campus area, but morningside drive and 121st at midnight and 123rd and amsterdam at or past midnight is definitely pretty safe. I’ve done it on multiple occasions and never felt unsafe, I’ve done with scantily dressed college girls as well, no one really felt unsafe. </p>

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<p>no they were two separate thoughts, nicer = based on a feeling, low crime = based on statistics. MSH is both nice and low crime in my mind, my larger point was low crime, because columbia is considered to be in a bad neighborhood because of the high crime rates in the 80s and early 90s. </p>

<p>Finally, most of the dorms and bars are located to the south and west of main campus, so even if you think 123rd and Amsterdam is a bad location (which you should not) there is hardly any pull to go there in the nights, same with 121st and morningside.</p>

<p>Until you find some actual statistics saying MSH is a dangerous neighborhood, your fear mongering is completely baseless.</p>

<p>Confidentialcoll, Morngingside Heights IS in the UWS. So, it is a safe area according you and everyone else. Morningside Heights is the safest NYC precint after Central Park (which has no residents).</p>

<p>Sorry, I meant to address the boats to JohnAdams12</p>

<p>I’m a high schooler and I felt alright walking outside of Columbia past 8 o’clock.</p>

<p>I met some of the professors in the biomedical engineering department, Dr. Hung is the main one conducting research, but also a Dr. Kyle who teaches undergraduate BME students. My overall impression was that the BME was very friendly. I only met a few of the other professors in the department, but they seemed nice enough. I don’t know a lot about their master’s program because I was there for a high school one.</p>

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<p>You’re actually very wrong about Morningside Heights being extremely unsafe. Truthfully, you can’t expect to be safe walking anywhere in a big city alone at midnight. The fact is that New York is one of the safest big cities in the country, and Morningside Heights is the safest precinct that has residents.</p>

<p>Its not ridiculous that you thought it would be unsafe, my dad is a Columbia graduate and was surprised about how much nicer it had gotten when I visited as a prospective student. It used to be an extremely dangerous place, now as far as I know if you stay out of Morningside Park and take the right route on the Subway, its as safe as you’ll get in a big city.</p>

<p>As for the original question, I don’t know about Biomedical Engineering, but I was under the impression Columbia had one of the nicest Med Schools in the country. Maybe someone else knows more, but I’d think the resources at Columbia would be better as well.</p>