<p>I have just a few days to decide on what college I will be attending next year. Cost is not an issue for me, but I will tell you that I would be paying in-state tuition for UCLA. Please do not tell me to consider other schools, because these are the schools that I was accepted at. I know I would like to do some type of engineering for sure, but am currently considering biomedical engineering. I may also have some interest in Chemical Engineering or Computer Science. I was wondering which schools have the best biomedical engineering programs. Also, please comment on opportunities for undergrad research, internships and recruiting, as well as class sizes. Which school should I go to if I want to go to medical school? What about graduate school?</p>
<p>I also got into Dartmouth, which I know is not very strong in engineering, but I will consider it if it significantly increases my chances at a top graduate or medical school. Thanks for answering!</p>
<p>Out of the four schools, Michigan and Georgia Tech are on a completely different level. The programs at UCLA and Cornell are not as strong. With that being said, Umich and GT both have excellent all around engineering departments and biomedical engineering programs. Umich and Georgia Tech should have similar class sizes. However, looking at the data from both schools it appears that Umich has slightly smaller classes. Both schools would offer you plenty of research opportunities. However, Michigan does spend over double what GT does on research and is 2nd in the nation to John Hopkins for research spending. Also, Michigan undergraduates have access to a ton research opportunities in medicine due to having a top medical school and top hospital system on campus. If you want to do medical research during the summer while you are there, I know that their are several paid opportunities for students to work with leading doctors on cardiovascular, cancer, and other medical areas. Georgia Tech does not have a med school or hospital system, so research on medicine would be limited. </p>
<p>For preparing med/grad school, all four of the options are fine. Given your situation, I would highly recommend Michigan or GT. Be aware that maintaining a high GPA needed to get into a good med school may be hard with biomedical engineering. But the degree does give you a better backup route if you choose not to go into medicine.</p>
<p>Have you been able to visit any of the colleges in person? These schools are really different from each other…Cornell obviously has cachet…Ga Tech has the co-op program that leads to great jobs…UCLA has both a name and strong academics…Michigan (though I don’t know much about it) is strong as well.</p>
<p>You must be very smart. So congratulations no matter what college you choose. </p>
<p>Just for your reference:
These are from American Society for Engineering Education. You can change university name to see information of other universities. I am listing from highest to lowest Math SAT and ACT of these four:</p>
<p>I don’t see how selectivity/test scores are relevant in this case though. Michigan and GT’s engineering programs are much better than UCLA’s program, but they are not as selective.</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters either, but 2Daswell is just providing information for reference. What is more important is the BME program instead of the whole engineering school anyway as it is what the OP is interested in. UMich’s BME is ranked #7 while GT is slightly ahead. They are basically tied as ranking varies with emphasis in different criteria.</p>
<p>UMich and GeorgiaTech have great engineering programs. I wouldn’t pay OOS for either if in-state UCLA was an option, but that’s a personal decision. FWIW, all will be able to get you into top programs. I’d choose for fit.</p>