<p>I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to Hopkins for their renowned BME program until I found out that i was accepted to the murphy scholars program at northwestern. can anyone tell me more about the program and whether it compares to BME at JHU. thanks.</p>
<p>no one knows anything about the murphy scholars program? here’s some details:
*15 undergrad murphy scholars from each class=45 students total
*20 murphy institute faculty fellows-advisers to murphy scholars
*freedom to design your own curriculum
*$4,000 stipend to do research project, internship, design project, etc
*seminars-small seminars taken with other murphy scholars</p>
<p>hopkins bme:
*research/design projects-required, easy access
*best bme faculty in the world
*easy access to medical school/hospital-research, volunteer
*multiple advisers-faculty & bme program advisers
*best pre-med advising in the country-med school bump of hopkins
*custom bme classes taken with other bme students and taught by leading professors in field
*freedom to design own specialty area</p>
<p>Well, you have 5 bullet points for NU but 7 for JHU. Looks like you already made your decision and don’t underestimate gut-feeling; it is a powerful thing.</p>
<p>thanks sam lee, yeah my gut has been telling me hopkins all along but i’ve been trying to convince myself to give northwestern a chance. if i’m completely honest with myself, i think i’d choose hopkins in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>The Murphy’s Program has a special first year design courses that puts all of the Murphy’s scholars together, allowing students in the program to work with each other and foster a sense of community.</p>
<p>The Murphy’s Program also does a lot to give students face time with professors, having meetings every week for professors to come and discuss their research. (The program also does a lot to help students find research positions)</p>
<p>I’m probably fighting an uphill battle here, but I would suggest that you come to Northwestern. I also was debating between Hopkins and NU, but in the end, the overly competitive environment at JHU really influenced my decision to come to NU. I suggest that you visit both schools and remember that an undergraduate degree is not that much different coming from either of the schools.</p>
<p>@jonthelin
see PM</p>
<p>i recognize that the murphy’s scholar program at nu is a great program and a great opportunity for many students; however, considering i want to study bme, anything other than hopkins is a step down.</p>
<p>I’m currently a sophomore Murphy Scholar in BME and chose Northwestern over Hopkins. Actually, I pretty much decided I wasn’t going to JHU almost immediately after I found out I got in and never even visited. I don’t think I’ve ever regretted my decision not to go to JHU, and my reasoning was largely along the lines of what jonthelin said: I felt that the cut-throat competition and crazy pre-med-ness would be stifling. Yeah, there might be competition to stay ahead of the curve at NU (particularly in pre-med staples like orgo/bio), but I’ve never felt that I was competing against people for grades… if that makes any sense. We help each other out, we do problem sets together, whatever. Also, Evanston is a pretty nice town and Chicago is always fun, while I’ve heard some sketch things about JHU’s surroundings.</p>
<p>Regarding the Murphy program in particular, I’ve definitely benefited from being a Murphy Scholar and gotten opportunities I don’t think I would have had otherwise. I began working in a lab at the end of my freshman year, staying over the summer to do research. Having had no prior lab experience other than in science classes and no upper-level courses, it would probably be fairly unusual to get into a research position so early on, but our Murphy advisor has really facilitated the process of identifying our interest areas and finding labs to suit those interests.</p>
<p>I think the most important thing to realize, though, is that your college experience is what you choose to make of it. Northwestern and Hopkins both have solid BME programs and are great schools in general. Whether your college ranks #1 or #10 is not going to make or break you in life. An undergraduate degree from Hopkins BME isn’t an automatic ticket to med/grad school, nor is anything less than Hopkins an automatic rejection. If you really want something and are willing to work for it, you’ll get there no matter where you went to undergrad.</p>
<p>P.S. I’d venture to say some of your Hopkins bullet points are equally applicable to Northwestern:
*research/design projects-required, easy access (2 quarters of Engineering Communication & Design as a freshman, 2 quarters of senior capstone design project; easy access to research as a Murphy Scholar)
*easy access to medical school/hospital-research, volunteer (Feinberg School of Medicine downtown, and lots of our professors actually work there most of the time)
*multiple advisers-faculty & bme program advisers
*freedom to design own specialty area (McCormick has the option of a Combined Studies ad-hoc major - I almost did one in BME/molecular biology but decided it would be suicidal)</p>
<p>In terms of undergraduate education, I think that most schools in the top 50 are pretty much nose to nose. Most of the things that you learn in any class (especially in science) come out of a textbook and there isn’t much that a professor can tell you other than what is in the textbook. If you really wanted to, you could probably learn the entirety of the core engineering classes in a public library. </p>
<p>Linear Algebra, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Differential Equations, Multivariable, Physics - these are all things that you can self teach.</p>
<p>Where the main difference lies is in opportunities for undergraduates. And comparing the opportunities offered to undergrads at NU versus undergrads at JHU, I don’t think there is much of a difference. As long as you are dedicated enough, you will find something to do.</p>
<p>obviously a lot of the basic math and science required for an engineering degree will be the same almost anywhere. it’s the special bme specific courses that make the difference. the faculty teaching the bme courses at hopkins are the best in the field and helped publish the research that all bme students read in their textbooks. to me, that’s pretty cool. also just in terms of research opportunities…hopkins is THE leading research university and research permeates the undergraduate and graduate student experience. plus Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial pale in comparison to JHU school of medicine and especially jhu hospital which are both tops in the country. that’s why i’m having a difficult time saying no to hopkins.</p>
<p>any last comments that will help me make my decision tomorrow? it’s really coming down to the wire…please help.</p>
<p>Your first year at JHU is gonna be packed with typical (if not boring) chemistry, physics, and math while your counterparts at NU will be having fun taking <em>engineering</em> analysis, doing <em>engineering</em> case studies, and building/design products for industry clients as teams in the huge workshop. ;)</p>
<p>Actually, some of the basic math (linear algebra/diff eqn) and sciences (general phyiscs I/engineerg mechanics/computer programming) would come to you in a very different way at NU. They’d be much more:
- integrated (e.g. your first case study may ask you to learn and apply a bit of linear algebra, programming, science, or even economics simultanteously)
- reinforced (4 quarters to practice/apply), and
- hands-on (how knowledge in math/basic sciences and skills in programming are actually applied in the context of engineering instead of just, say, doing physics 101 problems in the textbook)</p>