<p>My son is deciding between UVA's Biomedical Engineering with an Engineering Business Minor (no Rodman honors) with out of state tuition (no scholarship) and UMD's Engineering where he has received the full-ride Banneker Key Scholarship and will be in the Honors and Gemstone program while majoring in Mechanical Engineering (bioengineering is new at UMD). I would like him to decide which school is best without taking the money into the decision. If the schools come out equal, then the money issue can be brought in to determine the outcome. At this point, he LOVES UVA after Days on the Lawn but is worried about the money. So I would like your opinion on the comparison between the 2 programs.</p>
<p>4boysmom, one factor to consider is that your son wil have to apply to UVA’s BME major at the end of his first year. To my understanding it is very competitive. How important is the BME major to him?</p>
<p>Sabaray - BME is definitely his preferred major. Yes, you are correct - there is a cap on the number of students that can go into BME each year. They were giving us hints about getting into the program yesterday. But it is not absoltely critical as he is probably doing mechanical is he goes to Maryland.</p>
<p>Well, I’ll put in my plug for UVA. I don’t know anything about UMD but one of the things D really liked about UVA were the multiple major options, so to speak. She just finished applying for her major and like your son, BME is her first choice. But, there are also multiple other majors that can accomodate her interests should she not be accepted into BME. </p>
<p>Good luck to your son in making his decision. The money factor is a hard one to ignore.</p>
<p>My son has also rec’d full Banneker Key. Also biomed engineering is his interest and was accepted at UVA. Have you looked at the bio e program at MD? Facilities are beautiful and classes are small. Research opportunities appear numerous. We have done several tours there. Going to UVA this week. Went to UNC this weekend but the lab facilities were incredibly disappointing. As much as we don’t want the money to be a factor, it is hard to ignoe Does your son figure he will be going on to grad school? Very difficult decision looming.</p>
<p>3mdboys - My son has been to UMD a couple of times. The tours of the Engineering were great but I found that a lot of what they showed us was for graduate students and that undergrads never have access to them. But there are still tons of opportunities at UMD, just not what they showed us on the tours. My son liked it but was not overyly excited about it like he was at UVA. He just loved the atmosphere at UVA. Unfortunately, UVA is the only school that did not put him in honors and give him a scholarship. If he had received a scholarship from UVA, it would be an easy decision. We will see how he likes UMD when he spends the night next week. I am anxious to hear your decision after your visit to UVA.</p>
<p>Unless you are extremely wealthy, I don’t (as a student) see how UVA could be worth 180K more than Maryland, which is also a good school.</p>
<p>I’ve been researching both engineering programs for my own son, and UMD’s is clearly higher ranked and the undergrads seem to be involved in, or at least exposed to, much more high-tech, cutting edge research. My own son is excited about UVA too, but in terms of mechanical engineering I think UMD is much better. I don’t know as much about the biomedical engineering comparison. </p>
<p>If mine had a full ride at UMD, that would certainly be the clear choice! 
(And I’m a UVA grad!)</p>
<p>I think it would be hard to turn down Maryland. I am also a BME hopeful and during my visit I found out the acceptance rate for the program is under 50%. If he plans on doing graduate work I don’t think 180k in debt is the best option. But he should pick the place he feels he can be most successful.</p>
<p>I would go to UMD and save the money for graduate school. Most BME graduate ends up is graduate school or med school. Job market for undergraduate is very limited and very regional based. S1 originally wanted to do BME. Was accepted into BME and Systems and decided to Systems instead, as he was to start working after graduation, Systems Eng has high job offers (graduated last year). A friend’s daughter did not get accepted after the 1st year. Reapplied the following and was accepted.</p>
<p>Cladbury: I though the acceptance rate was higher than 50%, maybe getting more competitive. S 1st yr gpa was 3.3. Also some would not apply if the do not have the gpa. The girl I mention above had ~3.0 gpa.</p>
<p>“Best” is a very subjective concept. I don’t think that UVA’s Engineering is going to give you a better education than Marland’s Clark School of Engineering. Even if it were slightly better there is no way that it is worth the difference in cost. Go UMD and give him a check for $180k upon graduation. He’ll thank you for the rest of his life.</p>
<p>Davh01 you may be right. Those were only numbers I got for
A few people I talked to. I can’t find any official statistics</p>
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<p>I got the numbers wrong. S 1st year gpa was slightly over 3.5, friend’s daughter was ~3.2. His year, >100 applied ~75 accepted. It is very competitive.</p>
<p>uh, the date of the OP was almost 2 years ago. Hope kid is enjoying his sophmore year wherever he decided to go.</p>
<p>Just as an update since I am the one who started this post 2 years ago. My son ended up picking UVA. He did get admitted to the Bioengineering program as he had a 3.96 GPA first year. He also got accepted into the Engineering Business minor which is also a capped program. The Business School is ranked 2nd in the countrty after Warton so this is a big plus. He is also doing research in the Motion Analysis and Motor Performance Laboratory. He loves UVA and couldn’t be happier. It turned out to be a prefect fit for him. Many of his friends who decided to go to Maryland are doing well but they tend to come home almost every weekend (we only live 40 minutes away). So from the social aspect, it worked out better also.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone with their decisions!</p>
<p>WOW! How often do we get an update after two years? Glad your son is doing well, 4boysmom!</p>