I’m still trying to make a decision between Pitt and Penn State for BME major.
All of the discussions I can find are all recommending Pitt for bio-related majors but they are way too old, so I don’t think they’ll be very helpful to me. I also looked up their programs and found out that they both have specialized courses for a specific BME field, and the courses are pretty similar.
Is there any difference between these 2 schools? Which one should I choose?
btw, I am thinking about going to medical school after college, but can’t be certain yet, still just an idea
Both are great programs… cost? Same? Do you prefer a city life or college town? My son accepted Penn state for the research opportunity but expect the same at Pitt…
Thanks for answering. I’m not from Pennsylvania, so for me, the out-of-state tuition is pretty much the same (Pitt costs about 2000 less than Penn). I don’t really care about environments. I also heard rumors that Pitt engineering offers more co-op opportunities so it’s easier for their students to find a job after graduation, don’t know if that’s true.
@helloworld10111 Research for bioengineering comes from two main sources, NIH and NSF. Look up the NIH funding for both. Pitt is #4 in the country among higher education for funding from NIH. There are also multiple hospitals on/around campus to be involved in those research institutes. BioE majors typically need to go onto grad school and Pitt grads place into top programs like CMU, Harvard Med School, JHU, UCSF/Cal - that’s where my bioE is doing her phd. Doing research at Pitt allowed her to get published - which is a factor for grad admissions as well. NIH funding is published on internet just search for it.
Thank you so much. This is very helpful. I’ll definitely consider that.
I did look up the NIH and NSF ranking for universities. Pitt ranked #3 for NIH funding much higher than Penn. But Penn has a #8 for NSF funding.which is better than Pitt (I couldn’t find the exact amount). I also tried to look up the differences between these two fundings and found that although NIH has way more budget than NSF, NSF has a higher proposal success rate.
for anyone who wants to know more about these two, this should be helpful.
https://uwm.edu/socialwelfare/wp-content/uploads/sites/56/2017/06/NSF-vs-NIH-FINAL-5-19-17.pdf
My daughter is at Pitt for Bioengineering right now (they don’t call it Biomedical for some reason, but it’s really the same thing). She is loving everything about Pitt. The city itself plays a huge role in her happiness: she and her friends love being able to hop on the bus and head to new neighborhoods, new restaurants, see shows, etc. She had been hoping to find a co-op for the summer, but did not have any luck with it. Her friends in other engineering fields all found them. I believe that, at least in part, this had to do with her major being bioE. People say that the opportunities are a little scarcer and they do like you to have some research under your belt. She did recently get a research position at a lab that she is loving, and will stay in Pittsburgh for the summer working at that job. She’s hoping it will beef up her resume enough to secure a co-op next year. Pitt has a number of hospitals and labs within walking distance, so there are great opportunities for research close by.
My niece is graduating from Penn State this year and has absolutely loved her experience as well. She’s a business major, so I can’t speak to the BME program at all. She joined a sorority freshman year and has a plethora of friends. She loves the games, loves the school spirit, and loves the beautiful campus. It’s definitely a different experience than Pitt - city vs small town kind of feel (even though the school itself is massive). PSU students are absolutely crazy about their school, so I have to imagine you receive a lot of support for alumni once you’re out in the world.
I know our general advice (at school) is for everything human medical, choose Pitt over Penn St. Pitt has multiple hospitals right there - literally - walk to them. Research opportunities abound. For everything critter medical choose Penn St. They have the large animals nearby (smaller ones too, undoubtedly).
This is advice given when the choices are between those two schools. There are plenty of others that are good for one or the other, of course, but that choice comes up often here in PA.
FWIW, for other types of engineering, it’s Penn St over Pitt, but not for medical types of engineering.
FWIW2, some students still prefer the “other” one and that’s usually due to preferring location (city vs not), a certain sport, or finances. I haven’t heard anyone yet say their life was ruined by their choice.
FWIW3, I have heard a fair number come back after picking the “correct” one saying they agreed with the advice.
YMMV
Pitt had $537MM and Penn St had $73MM. Univ of Penn is #5 after Pitt. Are you deciding between Penn or Penn State?
It’s Penn State, sorry about the typo.
Final update. My decision is made, I’ll go to Pitt next fall. Thanks for everyone’s help!