<p>Hi! Im a junior and Im debating where I should apply ED next year Im specifically torn between Brown, UPenn, and Yale.<br>
I have three main problems:</p>
<pre><code>1. Im going to go in for biomedical engineering but im not sure if thats what I want to do. While Im good at (and love) math and science, Ive been on that track for my entire life and havent really experienced other areas, like economics or philosophy. Ive also heard that its really hard to switch majors from engineering and you have to have a certain GPA to do so. I also LOVEEE to read and might consider minoring in English or something.
2. Im also concerned with the reputation of the school after I graduate. I know that Brown would probably enable me to learn the most about many areas, but I dont think its engineering program is as strong as the other two schools, nor is its job placement. But, I also dont know if I want to go into engineering for sure. As far as UPenn, I know that it has an amazing biomedical engineering program, but as Im not sure I want to go into engineering for sure I dont know how difficult it would be to switch majors.
3. While I want to explore many different subject areas right now, I am also used to working very hard and really dont mind it, so a core curriculum wouldnt be so bad because Im pretty well-rounded and enjoy math/science and English/history almost equally. Therefore, I feel like a pre-professional route wouldnt be so bad, and may even help me out financially later
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<p>Could someone help to answer my questions???</p>
<p>I don’t really think any of the three really fit number two if all you care about is the school you graduate from.</p>
<p>MIT, Duke, Hopkins, etc. all have Biomedical Engineering programs that are much, much better than anything you’ll find at Brown, Yale, or Quakerville.</p>
<p>To be honest, I really don’t think it’s going to make that much of a difference of the three in terms of where you graduate some; in that field you’ll probably be on a level playing field.</p>
<p>Brown would clearly be the most accepting of your whole exploratory goals, and Quakerville probably the least accepting.</p>
<p>And I really can’t imagine switching majors being a problem for anyone anywhere before something is formally declared. </p>
<p>All I can go on is my Brown experience, but if I were to switch from Classics (lots of HS experience) to East Asian Studies (I went to a Chinese restaurant once…) tomorrow it wouldn’t be much of a deal at all.</p>
<p>How Quakerville could be “the least accepting” of explatory goals when it not only gives a student in any undergraduate school free reign through the university (including in schools other universities don’t even have), I’d love to hear.</p>
<p>You have more than ONE YEAR to decide this! Your mind could change a million times in the next 12+ months. Concentrate now on building a really balance list of colleges to apply to (safety, match, reach), and then decide a year from now if you have a first choice.</p>
<p>thanks, everyone, for your help…i’ll continue to weigh the positives and negatives of each. right now, i’m leaning heavily towards Brown because of the whole Open Curriculum and the flexibility that comes with it.</p>
<p>the main reason that i’m not trying for more…i guess “strong” biomedical engineering schools is because i got a 3 on the ap bio and ap chem exams, and although i have many other achievements in the sciences and mathematics that i feel would help to outweigh this, i dont think i would have a very good chance with those ap scores (even though i did very well in the actual classes)</p>
<p>At Penn, it’s no problem to transfer to the College of Arts and Sciences from Engineering. Changing schools would only be difficult if you wanted to transfer into Wharton.</p>
<p>Not sure about the details of how Penn does distribution/core, but at Brown, outside of 21 (within which there is choice) all the remaining 11 classes are up to you. In general, however, someone with “exploratory” goals may want to steer clear of engineering because ABET requirements pack your schedule tight in any certificate granting program.</p>
<p>That being said, I don’t think it’s fair to say that Brown is weak in BME, depending on what your goals are for engineering. Brown engineering in general is like that, however, and we take a unique approach on certain fronts which is very attractive for some people who want to study engineering sciences and less for others.</p>
<p>We do offer a non-ABET certified engineering A.B. that may be of interest to someone who wants to study engineering as a discipline but doesn’t expect to be doing work that requires you be a card-carrying member of the club, so to speak, and wants lots of space for a broader education or additional focuses.</p>
Yes, you’re quite right. How silly of me. Why use data points when it’s so much more fun to make sweeping generalizations about other schools? </p>
<p>(Answer: You wouldn’t. Especially when those pesky rankings disprove groundless claims or make us look bad.)</p>
<p>
I don’t agree with that point of view. I’m not saying Brown is weak in engineering, because personally I have no experience with that particular department, but I find that line of reasoning suspect. </p>
<p>If you’re referencing the fact that most Brown engineering students don’t go into engineering as a career, that is certainly true. At most top schools (even MIT), the vast majority of engineering students don’t. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, a program’s strength can and should be measured independently of its students’ plans after graduation. Put another way, Brown engineering students may place well at Goldman Sachs, but that says diddly-squat about the strength of the BME program.</p>
<p>If you’re going to be straight-edge on data you might want to at least have the data correct before you post it. That way you won’t look like a fool.</p>
I always check my data before posting. I prefer to be correct, particularly around people who get overly defensive or make sweeping claims. The “well, I’m a student at X school” defense tends to fall flat when refuted with facts.</p>
<p>If you’re attempting to reference my “mistake” about the number of courses Brown and Penn require, it is modestmelody who needed to look more closely at the requirements.</p>
<p>Penn’s prerequisites (namely 2 semesters of introductory calculus, 2 semesters of physics, and 2 semesters of general chemistry) are included in its total. Brown does not include these prerequisites in its total of 21 courses despite also requiring them.</p>
<p>Well, the US News engineering rankings are based solely on peer assessment, surveying people from other schools who claim they know how good different programs are and supposedly can sum it up by ranking them either 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. It’s completely arbitrary! </p>
<p>Something like the overall USNWR rankings is at least a formula taking into account a lot of things. These tell you absolutely nothing about the actual engineering programs. Just a bunch of professors saying “oh, yeah, X School Engineering, of course, 5, this one 4” or that’s what it seems like to me. What’s a 4, though, even if they have a rubric? </p>
<p>Now I’m sure Penn has put more into its BME program than the other two; that’s why it has the kind of recognition to get that ranking. But it’s too bad there’s not more hard data than these sweeping-generalization-type PAs. And we can’t really discriminate between two programs if they’re even maybe 20 ranks apart (except for the top few). It’s just too close and too arbitrary.</p>
<p>hmmm… Brown, Yale, and Penn are 3 completely different schools in many areas:</p>
<p>-Brown: Allows you to explore your academic interests. It allows you to “check out” areas of study COMPLETELY different from your concentration. </p>
<p>-Yale: Yale it just Yale. Good undergrad programs in every area of study, but it doesn’t really strike me as the engineering type of school.</p>
<p>-Penn: Pre-professional school. I think I should point out that penn’s engineering department has this program with Wharton(don’t remember the name). So yeah, engineering at Penn is good.</p>
<p>That said, I think that you should go ED for Hopkins or Duke instead of any of these. Best BME programs in the country and would definitely land you great jobs. And if you decide to switch majors, Hopkins and Duke would still provide great opportunities. Still, places like Brown, Penn, Yale, Princeton, and Harvard would prove to be great schools in all areas of study.</p>