USC Biomedical Reputation

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Hello Trojans! (and prospective Trojans)</p>

<p>I have been accepted into USC like the most of you and would love some advice on choosing between USC and Rice University. Right now I liked both campuses pretty equally so it is coming down to whether the difference of cost is worth the extra money.</p>

<p>USC gave me a full tuition scholarship along with a research award and a university scholarship so USC will run around 6k a year for education! Rice University on the other hand is costing me around 22k a year.</p>

<p>Now my real question: Rice is, according to the usnews ranking, alot higher in biomedical engineering than USC (6 vs 20+). Since Rice overall is 17 and USC is 23, I don't feel like their overall educations will be drastically different.</p>

<p>I was just wondering if anyone knew how strong USC's biomedical engineering program is and what your opinions are about spending the extra 16k a year for a better program? I'm just not sure whether to follow the money, or to follow the rankings at this point.</p>

<p>Thanks for everything!</p>

2

<p>bump?..</p>

3

<p>Go to USC. It’s cheaper, and small rankings differences don’t matter at the undergrad level if you plan to attend grad school. And even if you don’t 17-23 isn’t a big gap.</p>

4

<p>I am currently a junior majoring in Biomedical Engineering, and was also fortunate to receive the Trustee scholarship and merit research award upon my acceptance to USC. While I never applied to Rice, I was considering many other highly ranked BME/Engineering universities when it came time to make my college decision. I knew I would ultimately receive a quality engineering education and degree at any one of those schools, but I don’t think I would’ve been able to have the same outside-the-classroom experiences that I’ve had at USC.</p>

<p>USC’s location within sunny Los Angeles is very appealing not only for the opportunities to students after graduation looking to work in the BME industry, but LA offers so many different fun things to do from restaurants and concerts, to sporting teams and the beach—there is really something for whatever your interests may be outside the classroom.</p>

<p>I was attracted to USC because of the school spirit and resources at the university level (I’ve been able to take classes in economics, accounting, kinesiology, and cinema), with the personalization and opportunities at Viterbi. Viterbi prepares and supports its undergraduates and many BME students choose to go into industry or go onto medical school, law school, get their MBA, or do a Masters in Engineering, which is what I’ve opted to do through Viterbi’s Progressive Degree.</p>

<p>Viterbi gives you a taste of Engineering your first semester with BME 101 (Intro to Biomedical Engineering) and the Freshman Academy program which teaches students the implications and applications of Engineering with hands-on experience, while two coaches (other undergraduate engineering mentors) show freshman the different resources available within Viterbi.</p>

<p>I knew I wanted to get involved with research, and with the merit research award I started working in a lab my first semester at USC—this is something you wont find at many other universities, and it also allows you to work (and get paid) in a lab where you are interested in the ongoing research conducted by that USC faculty member. Many of my friends who didn’t receive a merit research award are also currently researching as undergraduates.</p>

<p>Studying abroad was also something very important to me. I knew after talking to my Viterbi advisors that it was not only possible, but encouraged, and last summer I had the chance to travel to Paris through the Viterbi Summer Overseas Program, take classes and travel Europe. As a nice bonus, I was able to apply my Trustee Scholarship to my tuition costs overseas.</p>

<p>I’ve been fortunate to get involved in a variety of clubs and student organizations, within Viterbi, USC, and Greek Life, while taking advantage of everything that the greater Los Angeles has to offer. I hope this gives you a little more insight into USC Biomedical Engineering and why I chose both of these. I also wrote two short blog posts on both of these topics at: viterbivoices.usc.edu/clairec. Many of my other engineering friends have blogged about Viterbi too at viterbivoices.usc.edu. If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at <a href=“mailto:vstudent@usc.edu”>vstudent@usc.edu</a>. Best of luck with your decision—both are amazing schools! Fight On!</p>

<p>Claire</p>

5

<p>USC biomed is so awesome that a UCLA alum gave $100 MM to USC rather than his alma mater to establish a biomedical institute. :)</p>

<p>I do some venture finance work in the life sciences industry. Seems all the biomed companies in So Cal are in Orange County and San Diego. I take it UC Irvine and UC San Diego are already out of the running?</p>

6

<p>USC is one of only four universities with two National Science Foundation Engineering Research Centers. One of these is the Biomimetic Mircroelectroni Systems Center. The biomedical engineering students at Viterbi are able to participate in projects at the center.</p>

<p>Current projects there include developing a retinal prosthetic system to provide limited vision to the blind, a neuromuscular prosthetic system to help reanimate paralyzed limbs and systems to replace cortical brain regions lost due to damage or disease.</p>

<p>There are options available in the biomedical engineering major at Viterbi. They are:</p>

<ol>
<li> Biomedical (biochemical) Engineering</li>
<li> Biomedical (electrical) Engineering</li>
<li> Biomedical (mechanical) Engineering</li>
</ol>

<p>Viterbi offers an engineering honors program as well as overseas and exchange programs.
Summer programs as well as semester abroad programs provide a global outlook.</p>

7

<p>Wow! I didnt know about the NSF research buildings! It seems that the bioengineering program at USC is not one to be concerned about!</p>

<p>Now i have another concern. I am planning to go premed and want to make sure my college has ample opportunities for me. I know that finding research on campus should not be that difficult, however, I am a bit concerned for finding the hospital opportunities that most pre-meds generally should do such as hospital volunteering and shadowing. </p>

<p>I know that the LA medical center is great and i heard it is not hard to get opportunities there, however, I also realized that the shuttle service to the medical center is like a 30 minute drive and the shuttle does not even operate during the weekends.</p>

<p>Do you think that this lack of easy accessibility to the medical center will inhibit my hospital opportunities? I always assumed that the weekdays would be so filled with classwork and clubs that I would be spending my weekends doing hospital volunteering and such. But if there is no easy way to get there (i dont plan on having a car), will I just have to cram that into my normal weeks schedule?</p>

<p>Thanks for everything guys! I just really wanna make sure I wont regret my decisions!</p>

8

<p>Also does anyone know if there is a grading curve in BME or pre-med requirements? I mean like a bell curve where your grade can actually be deflated so only _<strong><em>% of people get A’s and _</em></strong>% get B and so on?</p>

9

<p>sdinnu,</p>

<p>Here is some information about two of the faculty members in the USC Dept. of Biomedical Engineering.</p>

<p>Michael Khoo-Ph.D.</p>

<p>Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics
B.S. from Univ. of London
M.S. Harvard University
Ph.D. Harvard University</p>

<p>Received the Research Career Development Award
Awarded the Career Investigator
Fellow of the AMIBE
Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society</p>

<p>Tzung Hsiai-Ph.D.</p>

<p>Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
B.S. Columbia University
M.D. Univ. of Chicago
Ph. D. UCLA</p>

<p>Fellow of the American College of Cardiology
Member of the American Society for Clinical Invest.
NIH Physician-Scientist Career Award
American Heart Association Simpson Outstanding Research Achievement Award</p>

<p>It might be a good idea to e-mail the current student about the grading process and transportation questions.</p>

10

<p>These are just some companies who have hired graduates from the biomedical engineering program at USC.</p>

<p>Abbott Vascular
Alcon Laboratories
Alfred Mann Institute
Amgen
Doheny Eye Institute
Lifescan Medical Data Electronics, Inc.
Medtronic
Neutrogena
Nike
Stryker Endoscopy</p>

11

<p>thanks to everyone for their support! i have deposited at USC and am coming for the fall!</p>

<p>see everyone in BME! FIGHT ON!</p>