UCLA vs. Northwestern (vs. Carnegie Mellon vs. Case Western)

<p>I'm accepted to all four colleges, and quite frankly, I don't know where to go. I plan to major in biomedical engineering and take premed courses on the side (eventually I want to join Doctors Without Borders or Engineers Without Borders). This way, when I graduate, I have a choice of whether to apply to med school or continue with my BME education. Here's what I know/think of each college. I'm mainly debating between UCLA and NU.</p>

<p>UCLA (pros):
- high med school acceptance (supposedly, I found an 84% stat, but I think that's a little high)
- California (good weather and everything)
- near extended family
- beautiful campus (love love looove it)
- Vietnamese community! (or at least more than OH)
UCLA (cons):
- engineering/BME anyone?
- a lot of premeds
- rumored to be cutthroat</p>

<p>Northwestern (pros):
- Chicago love
- ranked 12 for BME a couple years ago (I can't find more recent stats)
- relatively close to home
- beeeeautiful campus
Northwestern (cons):
- not sure about med school acceptances
- midwest = cold >.<</p>

<p>Case Western (pros):
- top 10 for BME
- received a $23K scholarship
Case Western (cons):
- Cleveland >.< (cold, too close to home, in-state)
- I haven't found anything about med school acceptance rates</p>

<p>CMU (pros):
- top 10 for engineering
- kind of on the east coast? not really
- graduates are very successful with jobs
- a LOT of money for research
CMU (cons):
- no BME major (but they have a track)
- small campus (one block?!)
- $54K!!!</p>

<p>Which school would have the best balance between BME and premed? I am also waitlisted at Johns Hopkins, Columbia SEAS, and Cornell. JHU is #1 for BME and premed, but from what I've heard about the culture, I don't think I'd enjoy it at all (and I plan on having fun). I also don't have much interest in Cornell--environmentally, it's too far away from anything. Columbia, however, I fell in love with the campus and the research opportunities and the location and everything. But they also almost never pull people off their waitlist (though I might be right on the bubble, as a friend of mine who is very similar in stats was accepted). Any thoughts? advice? stats I can't seem to find?</p>

<p>Thank you for reading!</p>

<p>(If it matters any, I definitely want to do undergraduate research and possibly study abroad. Money isn't too much of an issue, but cheaper is better. I also would like to be within distance of a big city.)</p>

<p>Med school admit rate:
Northwestern: 84%
UCLA: 55%</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/pdf/viewbook.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/pdf/viewbook.pdf&lt;/a&gt; (page 59)
[UCLA</a> Career Center](<a href=“http://career.ucla.edu/Students/GradProfSchCounseling/MedicalSchoolStatisticsForUCLAGraduates.aspx]UCLA”>http://career.ucla.edu/Students/GradProfSchCounseling/MedicalSchoolStatisticsForUCLAGraduates.aspx)</p>

<p>You sorta have it backward and you got the 84%, just for the wrong school.</p>