Hello all! newbie here and did not find this topic in my quick search in this group. looking for your valuable insights comparing these colleges+courses
UIUC Bioengineering vs Case Western Biomedical Engineering vs Northeastern Biomedical Engineering
All three are great options! Are they all affordable? Do you have a location preference?
Northeastern has the co-op component. How do you feel about that for your intended career path?
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thank you for your reply! actually it’s for my daughter and I’m still learning the process and all the terminologies (I had to look up co-op) 
. all 3 are going to be out of state and do not yet know the full cost of attendance for NU and CWRU.
My S23 has admit from CWRU Bio-Med (grad major rank #18) with decent scholarship. He somehow applied to Biochemistry in UIUC (grad major rank #11) and got it even though I recommended BME (grad rank #22).
Assuming your cost spread is same across these choices,
- CWRU will give you great Academic Life (Flex majors, class sizes, courses you need, research/coops, teacher/TA support systems)
- UIUC will give you better Student Life (sports, large schools, clubs etc) but academic life will have big school issues unless they are in Honors College.
We intend to visit CaseWestern in Apr to decide as we have in-state UC Irvine (BioMed) & UMDCP (BioMed) admits as well.
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What is your daughter’s intended career path? Is she using BME with pre-med intentions or looking to go into engineering? If she’s leaning towards pre-med, I think CWRU needs a really close look. There are a number of major medical centers, including the Cleveland Clinic, very close to campus, but also MetroHealth, University Hospital and the VA. Lots of opportunities for volunteering, shadowing, etc…
If engineering is the goal, then I think UIUC and Northeastern get the edge. Both are great but in very different locations and the co-op program at NU makes it a different experience. My D did a co-op at a different school and loved it, but it’s not for everyone.
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When I hear Research/Co-Op is great in school X, I have been trying to figure out quality vs quantity. Many public universities have great quality research but the number of UGs that get to do it is low.
In CWRU, almost anyone in BME who wants to research or Co-Op gets to do it because of tie-ups large hospitals & companies nearby I hear.
NE is a great Co-Op school, do not know much about research as we didn’t apply.
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NEU is co-op required and has one of the oldest and most established co-op programs in the country. It wasn’t on my D’s list because she wanted to have more flexibility but the co-op program at NEU is something that sets it apart from other universities.
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Have you visited Northeastern? People tend to love or hate the campus. No in-between. That said, not sure there’s a better college city than Boston. We liked the campus.
Case has numerous medical opportunities if med school is on the table.
No bad choices.
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thank you so much! yes she is keen on pursuing medicine and she chose BioE or BME as pre-med. we have to plan for the college visits soon. we are based out of KS.
Enjoy your visits!
Since pre-med is the goal, it would be good to meet with pre-health advising to ask about the resources for volunteering, shadowing, etc. It is also important to understand the ease of changing majors as many kids pivot from med school plans or, like my D, pivot to a major that will more easily allow a semester abroad (she is still on the premed track). I know it is no problem at Case so that is another point in its favor. 
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thank you!
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