I am going to visit in a week and check it out for myself. Right now I’m mainly speaking in terms of what I have seen in my limited research and what would provide me the best chances for med school or straight to jobs. In my opinion, GA Tech would be my ideal school given its appraised BME program as well as its location in a medical hub. What are your thoughts on my chances transferring here?
They aren’t that much different. The OP is welcome to message me and I would be happy to explain. Also, ABET accreditation is not needed for bioengineering.
@pr_sa have you considered other majors besides engineering ones?
Yes - I’m just saying they didn’t give Purdue a chance. But as we are all seeing none are good enough.
So it’s time to thumb are noses at schools that embrace us while selling our souls for schools that didn’t want us.
Very sad these kids are put in this position by their families.
It is quite a unique family situation in my case that I don’t expect anyone to understand completely. I can’t do anything about it but I am trying my best to navigate it in a way that will make everyone at ease. I believe I had a better chance at the harder schools before senior year started. However, as the year went by, there were some unexpected events that occurred which I believed affected my results greatly.
Plenty of biomed jobs require ABET. Pitt is accredited but in bio as they don’t offer the other is all I’m saying. If they are similar and it works for OP, then great but as OP will soon explain, Pitt doesn’t fit the family need.
The good news is you don’t have to decide now. Ultimately it is your life, and I hope if it became clear why transferring didn’t make sense, your family would accept that as well. But you don’t have to persuade them yet, you can get started, make the most of it, and then the natural progression tends to sort of just take over from there.
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Unless it is a better personal fit, I don’t think anybody these colleges are markedly superior to Purdue. I echo those saying to start Purdue with the intention of staying four years.
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I haven’t. BME and premed have been my two main paths, largely shaped by my academic interests and involvement throughout high school, which is why I’m currently considering them as my primary options.
Why? It’s an excellent college…and terrific for premed students. Plenty of places very nearby to shadow and volunteer. I’m not going to try to convince this student to go to Pitt, but it’s a great school for premeds.
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I completely agree with this, and I recognize that Pitt is a strong option for premed. That said, given my upbringing and external expectations, I’m hoping to prioritize schools that better align with those factors in addition to academic fit.
I understand that many of you are highlighting the strengths of these schools but I also want to prioritize future goals. I’m interested in learning more about the feasibility of transferring, especially to a school like GTech or WashU and what steps I should take during my first year to position myself as a strong transfer applicant.
Here is my free advice. Go to Purdue and knock it out of the park. Get superior grades. Develop some relationships with your professors. Do some of the little extras that relate to your interests. Excellent grades and references will go a long way.
The only thing is…as a transfer after one year, your high school record will be considered…so your SAT or ACT scores, GPA, and whatever else you did in high school. You need to remember that.
Did you apply to GA Tech or Wash U as a HS senior?
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I applied to both
Just remember, your high school record will be used when you apply to transfer. You will only have one semester of college grades when you apply.
At Ga Tech, it’s easiest to transfer from one of the other publics in the state. I’m not sure this is a realistic expectation for you…as you won’t be doing that.
Same with Wash U.
@Mwfan1921 do you have any suggestions here?
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The raw transfer acceptance rate is typically around 20% for Georgia Tech, 12% for WashU, give or take. But this is already mostly people who did very well at their first college, so that is very competitive to begin with. And then they use transfers to fill emerging gaps, there may be special pathways you wouldn’t qualify for, and so on.
All you can really do is start somewhere and do the best you can, and then apply to a range of transfer colleges that better suit your academic needs. If in fact your current college already suits your academic needs, and your only reason to want to transfer is trying to go somewhere more “prestigious”, well, the odds are typically against that working. They probably don’t need you, you don’t have a good case (in their eyes) for why you need them, and so they will probably use their available transfer slots for other applicants.
ETA: by the way, I truly don’t mean to sound unsympathetic, but being realistic about this is important right now, because you definitely want to choose the best college for you that is currently available to you. That’s not going to hurt you for transferring, so that is simply a prudent approach.
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100% agree - however, read what the student wrote - “I think even if I were to go to any of the schools I got into I would want to transfer. The reason is more of a personal family reason though.”
That’s why I said - it doesn’t fit the family need. I am not looking at our reality but the student’s reality.
@pr_sa There is a poster here whose child graduated from Tech in BME, couldn’t find a job and is doing contract work (after 10 months of looking). Tech’s transfer rates are artificially high because many residents get an assured path.
A US News rank doesn’t necessarily = success. Ga Tech reports of 64 BME grads, only 60.9% who wanted a job found a job. So this does not include those continuing education. It does not show when the data was captured or the overall knowledge rate (what % submitted) but if you didn’t submit, it’s likely lower. This is the 2024/5 report. But near 4/10 (that reported) couldn’t find employment.
Now compare to others:
Purdue in 2024 - 7 of 101 BMEs couldn’t find jobs. This is 2024 and also doesn’t show a knowledge rate - what % submitted. They do not show the last time data was captured. But 7% is a lot lower than 40%.
Looking at others not on your list:
UCONN - 3.3% of 2025 grads not employed (no knowledge rate provided)
U of Iowa shows an 85% knowledge rate - so they know what 85% of grads were up to. 3% were seeking for 24/25. Perhaps the salaries were lower - but that’s 1/13 of the amount of kids that can’t find jobs - and they are showing you they know most everyone’s outcomes.
UC Berkeley doesn’t have BME but bio engineering. Class of 25 - 17% not employed. So nearly 1/6.
The point is - no school is a panacea. That’s why I showed you others not even on your list - they provided easy access to data and you wouldn’t put them in the same category - and yet, their kids are employed.
My kid interned with two Ga Tech kids (different engineering discipline) from a school lower ranked than most/all on your list. He was invited back. They weren’t.
YOU - not your school - will make your success. And just because US News says it’s best doesn’t mean it’s the best for kids looking for jobs. The data shows it’s not - best I can tell. Did you ever see how US News rates a college major? It’s a popularity contest. They ask other deans and academics which school is best. That’s it. No job data, no admit data - nothing. Ga Tech is a fine school but the ranking is earned in a popularity contest.
Your family is clearly seeking “prestige” - or as they see it. You can get to the same place from most anywhere - but more importantly, many schools have invited you in. So why aren’t they good enough vs. the schools that didn’t.
Going to Ga Tech DOES NOT give you the best chance to find a job. It does give you a very good chance, as do any of the other schools you listed. It GIVES you the best chance of impressing third parties.
Best of luck.
That student has a degree in mechanical engineering, I believe. But yes, hs had difficulty finding a permanent job.
GA Tech is an excellent college…but it’s not a ticket to the future.
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The poster here daughter had a degree in BME. I speak with her regularly. Her daughter finally found a contract job and is hoping it goes full time after the contract is up. It took ten months.
The point is - OP is basing things on “prestige”. They haven’t said it but none of the schools are good enough for the family - so while everyone says Pitt is fabulous (i’m sure it is) they missed what OP said.
And the truth is - many schools, if you go by % hired, do much better than Ga Tech. OP thinks Ga Tech gives them the best access to jobs - and I don’t believe that’s the case. The data shows that isn’t the case anyway…is the point.
But OP is battling family prestige demons - which is too bad.
For OP to see, this is what you are basing best on - a popularity contest that data in and of itself - doesn’t necessarily match up to. That’s what your family is pushing you on vs. tangible and actual data. You are literally using rankings from other academics (not industry professionals) who say - this is the prettiest school vs. they are doing the most for their kids.
“In spring and summer of 2025, deans and senior faculty rated the academic quality of peer programs they were familiar with on a 5-point scale: outstanding (5), strong (4), good (3), adequate (2) or marginal (1). Individuals who were unfamiliar with a particular program were asked to select “don’t know.”
Each qualifying school or program was sent two peer assessment surveys.
An average peer assessment score was calculated for each program using a trimmed mean, which removes the two highest and two lowest scores to reduce the impact of outliers. Programs with at least 10 ratings after trimming were then ranked in descending order based on this score.”
The steps you should take - get to school, do well, join a club and make friends.
If you start with I want to leave, you’ll be miserable and do badly. If you applied and were turned down last year, then you are unlikely this year so you’ll need two years.
And you said you were on a better path before Senior year. Truth is, you don’t know why schools turned you down - but you’re in a FANTASTIC situation and take advantage from one of the strong schools on your list.
Are you a full pay student? That could also help.
My apologies…@Tsbna44 was right. The other student was a GA Tech grad in biomedical engineering.
But this OP wants to major in that and then apply to medical school, I believe. So a slightly different bend.
Still…I would agree…the student will need to have the drive to apply to and get accepted to medical school regardless of where they go to undergrad school. GA Tech is not a ticket to a med school acceptance. Actually medical schools don’t really care much about where you go to undergrad except in some very specific situations.
So…for a premed…you can major in anything. It’s nice to have shadowing and volunteer opportunities nearby. Important to choose a major that you love and will do well in.
I’m not sure transferring schools is a good plan.