mikechendong

I got into UNC-chapel hill (Biomedical Engineering) and UCSD (Bioengineering) as a Junior transfer. I think I am going to either graduate school or med school (if I can make it), but definitely a medical related field. Also, I am out of state for both schools.

Could anyone give me any clues? Perhaps just the first idea you came out with would help me a lot? Thanks a ton in advance!!!

itsme123

ucsd handsdown.

bluebayou

UCSD has one of the top BioEng programs in the nation, so academically it is much stronger. That being said, what kinda undergraduate experience would you like?

UNC offers a great social life, including D1 sports, and school spirit. It is located in an awesome college town, and nearby Duke and NCState; I believe you can cross-register at Duke. UCSD is lacking in all of these categories, IMO. And, I'm guessing that UNC is $10k cheaper, even OOS (or it was last time I looked).

bluedog

UNC doesn't even have an engineering school. You also don't technically major in biomedical engineering, but rather "Applied Science" with a concentration in BME. It's not accredited by ABET. So, having said all that, UCSD is an easy choice if you want a career in engineering. If you'd rather simply want a broad based liberal arts curriculum with a particular focus in applied science and engineering with perhaps an interest in going into business or the like, then I think UNC could be a reasonable choice. Personally, I see UNC as a whole as a better school, but you're comparing one of UCSD's huge strengths with UNC's weakness. (It's not that you won't get a good education at UNC in the program, it just won't be seen as a traditional engineering degree by employers, which is a negative for engineering firms, of course. Might not matter for some business-type jobs.)

mikechendong

Thank you bluebayou! My friend at UCSD told me that the bioengineering there is very tough, many ppl actually spent more than 4 yrs to graduate, so I doubt that I am capable of it. I need a high GPA for graduate school, but I don't want to study all the time.

Also, you were right about the 10k and I should take that into account. Thanks a lot!

mikechendong

Thank you bluedog! I understood that bme at UNC is not accredited by ABET. I believe I have to have a career in engineering in the future. But since I am going to graduate school in engineering, would the employers concern about my bachelor degree?

mikechendong

Thank you itsme123! So how do you like UCSD besides its strong academic in bioengineering?