Which college? WPI vs Biola vs Santa Clara vs Case Western

College Search & Selection
1

Looking to major in biomedical engineering, especially looking to work in some prosthetics field. Got waitlisted to SCU and CWRU, but got accepted yesterday. Didnt get any merit aid to either and very little financial aid.

WPI Pros: great program (bme with biomechanics emphasis), funny teachers, nice campus. Main thing i love is the project based - exactly what im looking forward to doing in my career. I really like hands on work and think that this would be great experience. Offered me 20k per year (paying about 30-35 per year)
Cons: cold weather, culture shock, homesickness (im Asian from hawaii). Long plane rides to travel to/from home. Probably not the most well known name where i live either

Biola Pros: Im Christian so i love the environment there. Studying for the Bible minor is really interesting, all the people are really nice and the campus/weather is great. Got into Torrey Honors, and would try out for the 3-2 engineering program with USC. Then could stay another year for masters.
Cons: A little skeptical about the program, i dont know about 3 years of only pre reqs and then 2 years of straight engineering classes. Also would have to apply to get into USC (but theyre supposed to have a “gentlemans agreement”, as long as u have the requirements). Biola offered me 12k/year, but i doubt USC will give me anything.

Santa Clara - great campus, originally my first choice, i love that area and have family there. Great engineering program and reputable name.
Cons: No aid, will be expensive. Also i got accepted in the Arts and Sciences program, so id have to appeal and transfer over to engineering sophomore year. My sister (an alum) said that a lot of students do that though.

Case Western Pros: Also great engineering and health programs, great music, reputable. Good asian population (is this true?) and cleveland seems like a cool city
Cons: Honestly i dont know a whole lot about it, because i didnt visit, because i was waitlisted. Never saw the campus or city. No aid either.

Money isnt a huge issue because our EFC is pretty high, but i would feel really guilty making them pay full. But SCU and CWRU were originally my first choices based on prestige. I dont know which to choose!!
Any help is greatly appreciated, and sorry for the long post! Thanks everyone!

2

3/2 programs generally don’t work out. I wouldn’t encourage it.
WPI is the best choice for you, but I do think it would be hard to adjust to being far away from your family. Do you think you could handle seeing them at only summer and Christmas? The merit aid makes up for the plane fare IMO. You will adjust more quickly that you expect to the weather.
If you really think that it would be too hard to be that far from home, I would go with Santa Clara.

3

@Qwerty568 thanks!! Im not too sure… i do have a brother near that area, but home would be far away.
Do you know the reputation WPI has around the west coast area? I dont think id work in east coast (or not planning to atm) and would like to stay in hawaii to work, or go to west coast. Is it as well known as santa clara?

4

I’m from New England, so I can’t really say. WPI is very well regarded here and I would assume that employers would have heard of it, even if they don’t know it very well

5

Can’t say about West coast reputation but I know that WPI is well-known on the East Coast. (Mid-Atlantic over here). Biola is a good school but 3+2 engineering programs usually don’t work out and are very difficult to stay in. Cross off SCU and CWRU – they are way too much money.

6

I don’t think you need to worry about WPI reputation. They will know it. I like it because you are directly into engineering and a really sizable financial award. Can you use the funds to come home. But likely only time is summer winter break and maybe spring break. Can you handle homesickness or will you be miserable? As you get older you will not have as much issue with it, but only you know your tolerance/stamina. My first choice academically and cost for you.

SCU sounds like the best comfort level for you but not directly admitted to eng doesn’t seem great. Otherwise great all around school and right in SV.

Case you didn’t mention if you are in engineering. But no aid, so WPI wins if you are going farther away.

Biola I would take off the table because it is not in the same league, and having to transfer.

7

@Qwerty568 thanks for your input! I’m glad to hear that! and @TheDidactic why do you both say that 3-2 engineering programs do not usually work out? Is it not a very safe or viable path towards engineering?
@BrownParent I did apply Case for engineering, but I agree since I’ve never visited Case that is going off my list. For homesickness… I know I would be homesick to an extent, but I don’t know how well I’m gonna handle it. I’m excited about going away, but I’d leave my family and friends and everyone I know back here at hawaii. I’m a little on the shy side, so i’m also kind of nervous about making friends there.
Also, do you know any information about changing schools at SCU? Is it hard to transfer from A&S to Eng?

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It’s just a very difficult path. Engineering is tough on your GPA as it is…3+2 programs don’t help matters and don’t really give you that guarantee that one would think. It’s better to be guaranteed in a school of engineering or similarly named program.

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@pinkisking : What did you decide and how did you make your decision?

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@MYOS1634 this might come as a surprise to everybody… but in the end i chose Biola. I didn’t know how I’d fare in the east coast, and even though i loved WPI as a school, i didn’t know if that environment was really “me”. I could see myself getting really homesick, and i’m not the best at adapting to change, soo even though the program was amazing, i opted out.
CWRU was out because never visited and too expensive.
I really wanted to go to SCU honestly. It was originally my top choice out of all 4, the campus is beautiful, location is amazing. i loved everything about SCU, except the cost. And even though my parents told me not to worry about it, i did. So i chose Biola over it because it is cheaper, and if im looking toward grad school, i’ll need even more money.
Small kind regret the decision because of the engineering there (Biola was actually originally my last option) but i know i’ll be happy in terms of environment and cost

11

Actually, unless you’re talking med school or law school, graduate school should be “funded”, meaning you get a fellowship or TAship and they pay for your tuition and even give you a modest stipend to live on. If you don’t get that, it means you’re not “grad school material” and shouldn’t attempt it until your profile has improved.
I’m typically the first to congratulate students on making a choice, because it’s difficult but I’m very conflicted about STEM students choosing Biola and going on the 3+2 plan, because as many have pointed out above, it’s really not in the same category as the others and it may derail your degree plans. (I dislike being negative here, because I typically love hearing about decisions and I feel like I’m pricking the colorful ballons, but I do worry, which is why I authorize myself expressing the above.)

12

@MYOS1634 Don’t worry, i’m not taking anything personally. And i do understand the points that everyone had made about the 3-2 program - I’ve researched it enough on CC and other websites to know the cons about it. If it’s any consolation, I had spoken to the Biola head of the engineering dept and he said, although the number is small in comparison to the overall number of students at Biola, there are students every year who successfully complete the program (meaning they get in to USC and don’t flunk out or whatever).
I didn’t realize that about grad school! That’s great to know haha then i can save the money for later use, or I can use it if i decide to go to med school (i’m really not sure about grad/med school yet). But thank you for the information.
As I said, I do kind of regret the decision at times. I would have definitely picked SCU if I had not gotten waitlisted, or if they had given me more money. However, what’s done is done and i had submit my deposit to Biola already. I believe it’ll work out and be a good fit for me for starting college, but next year I may plan to transfer to another school.

13

Transfers don’t get the aid offers like freshmen do. You may be a full pay student as a transfer. It is much better to take a gap year and make a new application list, crossing off schools you might get in but won’t attend like WPI, than to plan to transfer and lose the opportunity for aid.

14

For 3+2 programs with USC, you have to apply to USC using its transfer application process.

You should find out from USC whether it offers financial aid to 3+2 transfers on the same basis as for frosh, or if it offers worse financial aid. Either way, check its net price calculator to get an idea of what costs may be like for the last two years at USC if you do transfer there (of course, if USC’s financial aid for 3+2 transfers is worse, then you should expect worse than what the net price calculator says).

http://viterbi.usc.edu/admission/transfer/threetwo.htm

15

@BrownParent are you talking about financial aid or merit aid? I didnt get offered any substantial fin aid from any school, so that wont make a difference for me. But i got offered merit at some, which was really nice and i wouldnt want to lose that.
@ucbalumnus thank you! I will check that out! But i doubt usc will give me any fin aid, regardless of being a transfer student. Biola said they offered special 3-2 scholarships that i hope i may get (but not counting on it)

16

No merit aid (and very little financial aid even you qualified as a freshman) should be expected for transfers.

Would your parents be able to be full pay at USC?

Ask, concretely, how many students are, total, in the 3+2at Biola right now. Then ask how many transfered to USC last year.(ideally, the number would be25-30% of that total).

17

@MYOS1634 yeah they said they would find a way to pay for USC. And i was told about 60-70 students are in Biolas program (so about 15 per class) and, if i remember correctly, about half or so go on to USC? The others go to Cal Poly Pomona mainly or some UCs or other schools.

18

The program lasts 3 years, so that’s be 20-25 per class. Check to see how many get into USC and how many at each other college. This is important, because you should never enter a university with the idea you’re going to transfer - odds are, you won’t. So you need to know exactly what will happen if you stay at Biola for 3 years (which is likely).

19

@MYOS1634 thanks!! I’ll email the head of the dept now and ask for statistics. He did tell me that about 30 or so freshman enter planning on the 3-2 program, and about half stay and make it while half decide to pursue other majors. He also gave me a course plan out for Biola for each of the three years, and a list of classes I’d take at USC in the following two.