I posted this thread on another place but I really need help now…
I will know two more college decisions this week… but now these are the choices I have and it is really troubling me-
Purdue
University of Washington
and
UCSD (wait-listed)
I’m an asian female that wants to study engineering (bio/biomedical).
Even though I have always leaned towards going to Purdue, my father thinks that I should go to University of Washington and my mother thinks I should try to pursue UCSD…
The reason I want to go to Purdue is…
strong and famous engineering program
strong community (no matter which website i visit, there are always comments about how great the school is)
environment seems really academically challenging
The reason my father wants me to go to University of Washington is
-the cherry blossoms in UW campus
-the liberal culture
-the nature: Mt. Rainier, Puget Sound, islands, lakes, etc.
-many companies in the US started in Seattle.
basically he thinks that Purdue is a good school and UW is a good school in a good city… he thinks that both are equally strong academically wise, but he personally thinks that the environment in UW is more friendly. He also said that Purdue students don’t have much to do other than staying on campus so there is a lot of competition between students.
I am naturally an introvert but I would love to challenge myself and meet new people in college…
so if there is anyone that can help me here… if you had the choice, which school would you go and why? what are the pros and cons? how about the atmosphere of the students (friendly, competitive… etc)
Thank you so much… any suggestions and options are appreciated.
One thing you should check out is how you will be admitted to the Engineering School at each of the different schools you are looking at. I know that the University of Washington only admits 40% of those students who apply to their Engineering school and the process is very stringent. You begin by entering UW as a pre-engineering student and then at the end of our sophomore year you begin the process to apply to the upper level courses. If you are not accepted into the program as a junior you will have to begin a new major and many of the classes you took your first two years, many of them preengineering, will just be a waste of time. The process is very political and more difficult than it has to be. Good Luck!!
If you’re still looking for input, I would say it depends on how set you are on your major. The most highly regarded departments at UW are selective, and there is no guarantee of being admitted to them. I’m pretty sure the fields you’re interested in fall in those categories (don’t quote me on that though). In terms of engineering, both are considered to be very strong, so you can’t really go wrong. I’m actually in a very similar situation to you, but I’m set on Computer Science as a major. My final decision will likely be to attend UW for a shot at their CSE department, then to transfer to Purdue if that doesn’t work out. As for UCSD, there’s no reason you can’t express interest to them while deciding between the other two.
Rankings are imprecise and only one factor to consider, but Washington has US News top 10 biomedical engineering undergraduate and graduate programs and the #1 ranked medical school for primary care (#10 for research, and the only school in the top 10 of both US News categories) right on campus.
I would choose Washington over Purdue based on personal preference and breadth and quality of opportunities, but Purdue is without question a fine university.
Regarding UW’s competitive admission into certain majors, if your GPA, SAT and/or ACT are in the top third to top quarter of the entering class and you are prepared to focus on your studies, your prospects should be good.
I accepted UW’s waitlist offer, and then I paid my enrollment deposit to Purdue just in case because UW gets back to the waitlisted after the May 1st deadline. I think the comments above are school based, so i will discuss the cities instead. Seattle, as you mentioned, was the birthplace of many companies in the US. However, these companies are very elite, like Microsoft and Amazon, and only employ the best of the best graduates in the US. UW has a very good engineering school in its own right, the best in the state in my opinion, but these companies like Microsoft and Amazon have Ivy and MIT grads knocking on their doorsteps. In fact, when I visited the Microsoft headquarters in Seattle not too long ago, a lot of its employees were expats - mostly Indians and Asians. Many of whom spoke in their native languages amongst each other lol (this does not mean they cannot speak english fluently). So clearly if you want to be employed by one of those elite companies in Seattle after graduating from UW, you would have to graduate from the engineering school, which is a pain in itself to join, and then prosper there by graduating with a 3.8+ GPA with a lot of work experience on your resume to even have a chance.
On the other hand, Purdue has by far the best engineering school in the entire state of Indiana. All the big companies in Indiana recruit grads from Purdue. Yes, the campus is in a town, but that only makes these recruiters come to you, rather than you reaching out to them. And even then, Purdue’s engineering school is renowned in the country and the world, so it still helps just in case you don’t want to work in Indiana.
So, in a way, if you’re looking at your future job prospects, being a Purdue grad would land you a much higher chance of being recruited by a good firm, rather than being a UW grad where you’re competing with the best in the country and around the world.