<p>Hello, I'm a high school senior currently looking to major in biomedical engineering. Basically I have a little over a week to decide between Washington University in St. Louis, Boston University, and Northwestern. I have visited all three schools and reflected upon location, culture, etc. What I need now is a somewhat comprehensive comparison of their biomedical programs. If it helps at all I'm aiming at working with the brain and neurons. Hope this isn't too much to ask and thanks for reading this post.</p>
<p>WashU will finish building a brand new building dedicated fully to BME this year (i think, could be next fall). WashU also has the #3 medical school in research, and with students encouraged to participate in research, doing incredible work on brains and neurons as an undergraduate is very much possible.</p>
<p>WashU or NU for BmE, not BU.</p>
<p>Go on to the WashU or NU boards. There is a lot of debate on this topic already but I would suggest WashU haha…</p>
<p>for BME, wustl gets my vote</p>
<p>WashU has better facilities and is stronger in the life sciences than NU. Both are better than BU.</p>
<p>I would go with the best aid between WUSTL and Northwestern. All things being equal, I would opt for Chicago. You can’t go wrong either way.</p>
<p>NU is in Evanston, a suburb of Chicago and I don’t think it’s convenient to get into the city from campus. That being said, Evanston, is a fun town. The weather is also brutal at NU if you are adverse to snowy winters.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. One thing I’m still confused about is the high ranking of BU’s Biomedical Engineering program in US News World Report, it’s slightly higher than WUSTL and Northwestern but I haven’t been able to find the rationale behind the decision. Since most people here seem to view BU as the weakest could you give any reasons for your opinions?</p>
<p>Seriously, USNWR ranking does not matter in undergraduate level. At least that’s what I’ve heard. UChicago’s famous economics department would not teach you something you cannot learn at Emory’s Economics department. (Not saying that Emory’s better than UChicago, but anyway.) In undergraduate level, it’s all about school’s overall reputation and which school would be good ‘fit’ for you.
The ranking you’re seeing is graduate school’s, not undergraduate’s.</p>
<p>I mean, for example, University of Minnesota’s economics ranking is higher than cornell, brown, or duke’s, but that does not mean one would choose UMinnesota over Cornell, Brown, or Duke.</p>