I got accepted into Johns Hopkins, but not into their BME program. I also got into Boston U, where I’m confident I can declare BME. I need to pick a school.
SUMMARY: JHU has prestige + overall quality education + excellent academics + better research. BU has “fit” + location + major I want + cheaper cost.
Here are the factors:
- Prestige: Hopkins is obviously a great name to have on a resume or diploma. BU seems to be highly regarded by people in the East Coast/around the area, but here I don't know if it's considered anything special.
- Programs: Johns Hopkins is very well regarded for biomed/bio-related things in general. I didn't get BME there, but I've heard that it's better to do a "typical" engineering degree (like ME) and take on projects, classes, etc. in bio-related stuff than go straight into BME for undergrad. BU is very good specifically for BME, but it's missing a few of the other majors I'm interested in (no environmental or chemical engineering)
- Future goals: I think BU seems more hands-on (they had a really cool engineering innovation center), and would prepare me suitably for careers in industry. JHU seems more lab-research focused, which would be better if I want to go to grad school (I can publish papers, present findings, etc.)
- Finances: My parents are capable of paying my tuition in full; however, I have the Presidential Scholarship ($20k) at BU, which is obviously very nice and saves me up some money for grad school.
- Location: Boston > Baltimore in my opinion. It's also a hot spot for biotech companies. However, it's COLD and I'm from the West coast, idk if I can handle Boston winters. Also, I like the "campus" feel of Hopkins more than the randomly scattered feel of BU.
- FIT: I visited both schools and generally, Johns Hopkins seems to be lots of smart but very serious students. BU seems to be more lighthearted, to the point where it's almost too casual for me. At the same time, it's important to me that I have time to be social. To give an example: the JHU Admitted Students page is almost entirely students posting about their majors/college choices. The BU Admitted Students page had people mostly posting their interests/activities outside of school. (As well as a file with all the tracks from the Drake album)
Essentially: prestige + overall quality education + excellent academics + better research vs. “fit” + location + major I want + cost.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to make my college decision based on what some people say on College Confidential. However, I would like to know if anyone has had similar dilemmas, experiences, etc. and what you did/wish you had done in that scenario.