<p>Hi, I'm a senior who got into UMD with full tuition and JHU, with $30,000/yr. The question I have is - is the education at JHU worth getting a $68000 loan by the time I graduate or is the undergrad education at UMD the better value? Right now, I'm a prospective biomedical engineering major, though that may change. </p>
<p>In your responses, I hope you can answer some of the questions I have about the bioengineering major at UMD. I know it is relatively new and I was wondering if anybody knows more about it - whether it gives a good education, has opportunities, about the professors, etc. Also, what I like about JHU is the wide amount of subjects it offers - both engineering and liberal arts. Does UMD also offer a wide variety of courses - courses that are well taught, not just offered? Furthermore, I'd like to hear more about the sciences at UMD, as I've heard many mixed reviews. I don't object to some self-study, but if I'm paying for college, I'd like to know that I'm getting at least something out of it that I couldn't have gotten otherwise. Do companies or grad school like those who come out of UMD sciences or do they have a bad rep?</p>
<p>Also, generally, I'd just like to hear more about the different engineering majors at UMD overall. For example, how is the chemical and biomolecular engineering? Is fire protection engineering interesting? What kind of courses and what were your favorite courses or experiences in electrical or mechanical engineering? What do you love about the major you picked?</p>
<p>In addition, I may or may not go to medical school, so in that respect, how is the preparation there?</p>
<p>Overall, I've heard alot about Hopkins but I don't think I've gathered enough data on UMD. Maybe no news is good news but I'd like to hear more about the experience and why you chose to go to UMD.</p>
<p>I would have to pay about $2000 a year at college park and about $6500 a year at Hopkins. For me, it’s very plain to see that Hopkins is worth the extra cost (both for the better education and the fact that about a quarter of my high school ends up at college park). Obviously, the gap in your costs is much greater, but you are also a prospective BME major, which I think makes the gap in educational quality greater as well. I can’t help when it comes to information about BME at Maryland, but I do know that even if the program is good, Hopkins’ is well-known and highly respected. Even though that shouldn’t matter as much as quality, it does. I think that if you’re seriously considering going to med school, Hopkins would be the better choice because it will greatly increase your chances of getting into good schools, which could determine your career.</p>
<p>not even a question. JHU. Coming from an inbound UMD student.</p>
<p>wow! you have a fantastic opportunity to go to JHU (especially as a BME major), something that I dream of, but I got rejected:( </p>
<p>There is no doubt that the BME department at JHU is far superior compared to almost any school in the country. UMDs Bioengineering program is new, but despite the short time, it is already ranked 35th in the country, which means it is also up and coming. one other advantage that UMD has to offer is it is close to companies like NIH and Medimmune, so it offers better off-campus research opportunities than hopkins. Hopkins is also more difficult than UMD, and since grad schools place heavy importance on GPA, that is something you might want to take into account. As for med school, whilst hopkins does have a high med school admit rate than UMD, UMD also has a higher med school admit rate than several ivies. </p>
<p>lastly a word of advice. If you want to go to grad school, then it doesn’t matter where you get your undergrad degree from. If you want to go to grad school, I would go to UMD (so you can get a higher GPA and pay less debt). If you aren’t planning to go to grad school, then I would go to hopkins.</p>
<p>Some interesting links to give you “data” on UMD…</p>
<p>Check out Wall Street Journal rankings of top recruiter choices - Maryland is overall #8 but the engineering department is #3 (see inset on left side of rank).
[Best</a> Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ.com](<a href=“Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ”>Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ)</p>
<p>UMD is always upgrading the engineering and sciences facilities, check out the upcoming new physical sciences complex.
[Physical</a> Sciences Complex | CMNS](<a href=“http://www.cmns.umd.edu/psc.htm]Physical”>http://www.cmns.umd.edu/psc.htm)</p>
<p>Have you seen the lab facilities in the Kim building?
[The</a> Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building: Laboratories | A. James Clark School of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.eng.umd.edu/facilities/kim-labs]The”>http://www.eng.umd.edu/facilities/kim-labs)</p>
<p>Not to mention, as a fun tip of the hat to UMD, check out Popular Science listing that includes UMD as having awesome college lab
[Gallery:</a> 30 Awesome College Labs | Popular Science](<a href=“http://www.popsci.com/science/gallery/2010-08/gallery-30-awesome-college-labs]Gallery:”>Popular Science Homepage | Popular Science)</p>
<p>Regarding fire protection, “the University of Maryland has the only Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) fire protection engineering program in the United States. The University also holds one of two graduate programs in the country, making us a very unique department.” see [UMD</a> SFPE](<a href=“http://www.sfpe.umd.edu/index.php]UMD”>Society of Fire Protection Engineers | Fire Protection Engineering | A. James Clark School of Engineering)</p>
<p>As for the prep for grad school? UMD students get into top graduate programs, including MIT, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Hopkins, etc. No worries there unless you don’t do your part. Remember, it is not where you go to school, but what you do once you get there that counts.</p>
<p>Why UMD? It’s all that and then some. There’s a lot of school pride for a reason.</p>
<p>And Mrphysics, as for rejection at JHU, it’s their loss, honestly. I truly believe things happen for a reason. You will do more and go further at UMD.</p>
<p>GO TERPS! :)</p>
<p>Mary, that was exactly our take 5 years ago when MIT made the foolish decision not to accept D1…THEIR loss! They didn’t even make the cut when she was applying to grad school, and is now happily and successfully finishing her 1st year in the Ph.D. program in Astrophysics at Harvard. (after a wonderfully awesome 4 yrs at UMD).</p>