MIT, Duke, or Hopkins BME

bsa
Sat, 15 Apr 2006 23:58:17 +0000

I am trying to decide between MIT, Duke, and Hopkins BME (biomedical engineering). I want to study biological/biomedical engineering, with a biomolecular focus, so having a good chemical engineering department would be a plus. I want to do premed, specifically MD/PhD, but as everyone knows, that can change. Here are the pros and cons of each university as I see it. Any advice or help in making the decision would be greatly appreciated.

MIT:

Pros: It’s MIT, very good financial aid package, #1 Chem Eng department, #4 Biological Eng dept, advanced Nanotech institutes, can cross-register at Harvard, great business programs

Cons: Biological Eng dept is young and enrollment is limited to 40 (there is a BME minor that everyone can take), premed acceptance to at least 1 med school is ~75% (I know statistics can be misleading, but still), cold weather

Duke:

Pros: Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship (full-tuition, summer at Oxford Univ., opportunities to get research grants), #2 Biomedical Eng. dept, #6 Medical School, medical school adjacent to undergrad campus, good weather, more relaxed atmosphere, good business programs

Cons: No independent chemical engineering department (I’m pretty sure they cover it in BME, though)

Hopkins:

Pros: Hodson Trust Scholarship (partial-tuition), Westgate Scholarship finalist (I’m waiting to hear the results), #1 BME dept, #1 Hospital, #2 Medical School (also near the campus), more students in the Hopkins MD/PhD program came from Hopkins undergrad than from any other institution, has a Chem. Eng. department, minor in Entrepreneurship program, close to home

Cons: BME major seems less flexible here than at other places, few if any BME majors have a second major at Hopkins