Some background:
0. international student, not offered any scholarship anywhere
coming from a tiny little school, graduation class ~50 students, located in Los Angeles
for sure going into STEM, did a lot of research especially in the field of synthetic biology during high school. But I also like physics, biomedical, mathematics, computer science etc.
hobbies are music, reading, and psychology
don’t care much for partying, I think I’m gonna decide based on academic records (e.g. professors’ care for undergrads, research opportunities, course flexibility and selections) and chances of getting into a great grad school
currently admitted to biomedical engineering or biology, depending on the schools.
I have been getting very concerned about my decision, which I have been thinking about for the past month and still haven’t made up my mind.
Thanks to everyone!!
Any preferences for physical environment? I know some students who simply couldn’t handle Rochester weather and transferred.
What are your goals after undergrad? Getting a job with only a Bachelor degree is much easier in Engineering from an ABET school vs a biology degree.
Do you have any family or close friends in CA? How comfortable will you be on the East Coast if you do not know anyone?
Personally, I love W & M. Not too big, but enough so that you can always meet new people. Walkable town.
GA Tech - I do not have a first hand account, but my friend lives in GA and her kids didn’t want to apply there because they believe it is difficult to get into the courses you want. I have not seen the facts of that. but would certainly inquire into it more before deciding to attend.
If finances aren’t a concern, look at profs in your desired field to see what their specific expertise and research is and select the school that has more you like. Students I know have loved being able to do research in their favored areas rather than what a school happens to have.
Pull up the school’s department page, then specific professors. It’s almost always detailed out.
Any of your schools might be the right choice for you.
Environment is a minor concern, like if Rochester excels in undegrad-professor interaction and undegrad research, I can ignore the weather for four or five years. My family isn’t with me in LA anyway, and although I prefer closer friendships I’m fine with meeting new people.
As of now my “true passion” isn’t very clear to me, all I know is it’s somewhere in STEM, possibly medical-related. So for now the goal is to go to a school that will allow me good chances of getting into great STEM graduate schools.
Love W&M as well, beautiful town and feel like I could make friends with people there. I haven’t gone campus visit, but given the intensity of April, I won’t get to visit any except the ones in California. My concern with W&M is that it does have limited resources?
I have exactly the same concern for Tech, but it seems to me that their resources are just too great for me to leave it out of consideration…100+ labs in biomedical fields! although it also seems to me that nine out of ten students in the lab are graduates, and a very tiny group of undergrads actually get to the labs and hospitals and NIH.
@Creekland I am trying to contact professors at this point, but I don’t really know what I will love in the future and hence hard to decide what areas I need to look at…
@Longhaul Environment is a minor concern, like if Rochester excels in undegrad-professor interaction and undegrad research, I can ignore the weather for four or five years. My family isn’t with me in LA anyway, and although I prefer closer friendships I’m fine with meeting new people.
As of now my “true passion” isn’t very clear to me, all I know is it’s somewhere in STEM, possibly medical-related. So for now the goal is to go to a school that will allow me good chances of getting into great STEM graduate schools.
Love W&M as well, beautiful town and feel like I could make friends with people there. I haven’t gone campus visit, but given the intensity of April, I won’t get to visit any except the ones in California. My concern with W&M is that it does have limited resources? And not known for STEM but for politics?
I have exactly the same concern for Tech, but it seems to me that their resources are just too great for me to leave it out of consideration…100+ labs in biomedical fields! although it also seems to me that nine out of ten students in the lab are graduates, and a very tiny group of undergrads actually get to the labs and hospitals and NIH.
W&M sounds like a good fit. Very focused on academics (though they have fun too!) . All classes taught by Profs (not TAs) and very collaborative environment. Know for close working Professor / student relationships, UG research, etc.
I wasn’t actually meaning you should contact professors. Students I know can see what they specialize in just by looking at their web pages/biographies. Many don’t exactly know what they are looking for when they start browsing, they just end up finding themselves drawn to certain things they see over others once it’s all laid out and their brain thinks about it.
It’s once they are in college that they make actual contacts.
Haven’t seen a lot of UCSD mentioned in this thread, but as one of the top schools for STEM and research and (in my experience) a place that heavily emphasizes undergrad research, it should definitely be in consideration as well
Edit: as a bioengineering major, if you’re in either UCSD or GA Tech’s bme programs, go there