<p>If you could, please rank the following schools in terms of (1) the strength of their undergraduate mathematics programs and (2) in terms of their undergraduate biomedical engineering programs.</p>
<p>Ohio State University - Columbus
Case Western Reserve University
Vanderbilt University
Johns Hopkins University
Duke University</p>
<p>Oh, and if you can think of any other schools that would have strong undergraduate programs in both areas, please list them.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>1)
Tier I: Duke, JHU, Vanderbilt
Tier II: Case Western
Tier II.5: OSU</p>
<p>2)
JHU
Duke
Vanderbilt
.
.
Case Western/OSU</p>
<p>Look at Northwestern.</p>
<p>Advantage Duke if you are a Putnam level competition math type scholar. Duke is ranked among the top for Putnam top 3 finishes alongside Hahvahd.</p>
<p>Other than that:</p>
<p>JHU/Duke (both uber excellent for BME and excellent for mathematics)
Vanderbilt/Case Western
OSU</p>
<p>If you’re into the applied math side, Brown would also be a strong choice. Not so sure about the pure math side at Brown.</p>
<p>I would also strongly suggest that you look into Rice University in Houston, TX. If you have not heard of it before, it is in the same league as Johns Hopkins, Duke, Vanderbilt, Emory, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, and Washington University in St. Louis.</p>
<p>Before I give my argument for Rice, let me give a disclaimer: I don’t believe in rankings. Just because a school or program is ranked higher does not mean it is a better school or program, especially when it comes to all the top universities you listed. However, unfortunately, on College Confidential, it is one of the few ways to convince people that a school is good. Therefore, I will only be using them as a frame of reference for you.</p>
<p>Overally, Rice University is ranked #17 in the nation according to US News, right below Brown (#16) and right ahead of Emory, Vandy, and Norte Dame (#18).</p>
<p>Rice’s undergraduate BME program was ranked #10 in the nation, according to this link: [Top</a> 10 Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Universities - Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate - Education-Portal.com](<a href=“http://education-portal.com/top_10_biomedical_engineering_undergraduate_universities.html]Top”>http://education-portal.com/top_10_biomedical_engineering_undergraduate_universities.html). Sure, it was ranked below Duke, JHU, and Case, but, when it comes to the top ten programs, there really isn’t major differences in quality of the programs. The differences are negligible between the #1 spot and the #10 spot, so you shouldn’t be choosing between Duke, JHU, Case, or Rice based on rankings. </p>
<p>Rice’s BME graduate program is ranked #7 in the nation, tied with UPenn and ahead of schools such as Stanford and WashU. Many of the faculty members at Rice that teach grad students will also teach some undergraduate courses since it is a small research university.</p>
<p>Besides that, Rice’s mathematics department is also phenomenal. I don’t have rankings, but Rice is a heavily math/science/engineering focused school, so I think Rice will be a perfect place for you to apply and possibly enroll in if you get in. The campus is very beautiful as well; there is supposedly a “tree for every student.” Rice is also next to the world’s largest biomedical center, so there will be plenty of opportunities to conduct research there.</p>
<p>On top of all this, Rice is known for a balanced work/play college life… it was ranked #2 in the 2009 Princeton Review Best 369 Colleges for quality of life, right behind WashU and above all the other schools you mentioned on this list. Rice also has phenomenal financial aid/merit aid (although very hard to get, they gave merit aid to 30 percent of the incoming freshmen for the 2009-2010 school year). I was also told that 70 percent of Rice students that apply for grad school get into their FIRST CHOICE grad school. Again, I realize stats don’t always give the full picture, but they do show that Rice is an AWESOME university and rivals all the other universities you listed.</p>
<p>BTW, I turned down Duke for Rice :)</p>
<p>Could you offer a bit more about what you want in a school, along with your stats?</p>
<p>JHU BME’s are selected into the major when they first apply to the University. They undergo a separate and uber rigorous admission process all together in order to be offered a seat in the BME program.</p>
<p>The Johns Hopkins BME program is the premier program in the nation. Students more often than not give up Stanford, Harvard, MIT, UPenn, and other really top notch schools in order to come to Hopkins for BME. It’s ranked #1 for a reason. :rolleyes: </p>
<p>Duke BME is good, but Hopkins BME is a very big deal. You get special treatment and research opportunities with leading researchers in the field. Ppl turn down MIT for opportunities like this because the research opportunities are amazing. (As high as 90% of Hopkins BME conduct research, there are 400+ undergraduate BME’s which is by far the largest and most popular major on campus) </p>
<p>Duke BME’s research participation is around 2/3 or 60%. The administration just keeps pouring funds into the BME program like there is no tomorrow. A new building and a new quadrangle was basically built for the BME’s, it’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>**Nvm, Duke’s graduate program is ranked 4th, thanks slik nik.</p>
<p>@Phead128: I don’t know the ranking of Duke’s undergrad BME program, but I do know that Duke’s graduate BME ranking is #4 in the nation according to U.S. News and World Report. Here’s a link to the website: [Biomedical</a> / Bioengineering - Best Engineering Schools - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/biomedical]Biomedical”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/biomedical)</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.</p>
<p>@ slik nik Great recommendation. If what you say is true, I will definitely take a major interest in Rice.</p>
<p>@noimagination No problem.</p>
<p>I’m a white male and a rising senior at an Ohio high school. I may choose to pursue a career in the medical field so I guess “uber rigorous” programs like JHU’s might not be best on second thought. I would feel most comfortable in a large university with plenty of research opportunities. Not so much a deciding factor, I wouldn’t mind going somewhere with a more tolerable climate.</p>
<p>3.984 UW GPA</p>
<p>Top 5/~295</p>
<p>2210 SAT (680 CR, 800M, 730W)</p>
<p>35 ACT (34E, 35CR, 36M, 35S)</p>
<p>Trying desperately to improve so-so ECs</p>
<p>Should have a pretty good essay and very good recs</p>
<p>If you need anything else, just say so and I’ll post it.</p>
<p>As I said, I have my eye on medical school, but I would welcome a career in engineering if that did not pan out because of its emphasis on science and mathematics.</p>
<p>Might want to check out Georgia Tech if you don’t mind going that far south. #2 or 3 according to US News in BME and also has a decent math program that actively participates in such things as the Putnam competition (including problem-solving seminars and such).</p>
<p>A buddy of mine turned down JHU BME for a full scholarship at WashU.
He wants to become a doctor, so he reckoned not having to pay for college would be one less burden on his shoulders.</p>
<p>Funny how prestigious undergrad BME is in some circles and disregarded in others. My college’s engineering school considers BME to be too interdisciplinary to be properly covered in an undergrad curriculum so it doesn’t even offer a major in it. I wonder why the discrepancy.</p>
<p>Hope2getrice did you pull that second BME ranking out of your @ss? Case is one of the top schools for BME. That is actually one of their strongest area. Your ranking is basically a replica of the prestige of the universities, the OP did not ask for that, he simply asked for the strength of each dept. Case actually invented BME and is still known as a major school for it today.</p>
<p>It’s ranked #6 by USNEWS for it’s undergraduate program Duke and JHU are the only school on the OP list that ranks higher!</p>
<p>Biner_1, check out the the following schools while you are at it:</p>
<p>Northwestern University
Rice University
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor</p>
<p>
Why are you spreading your Rice propaganda around when the OP didn’t even mention that he had an interest in the school? It is not in the same league as Duke, Wash U, Cornell or Northwestern by the way.</p>
<p>Chill out ring<em>of</em>fire.</p>
<p>Oh, and you’re wrong.</p>
<p>Ring<em>of</em>fire, why is Slik Nik’s post considered propaganda? He stated mere facts about the university. He is providing information on his school, which happens to be one of the best in the US and certainly very strong in the fields the OP has indicated are of interest to him (top 10 in BME and top 25 in Mathematics). </p>
<p>Overall, Rice is in the same league as Cornell, Duke, NU and WUSTL. Your opinion is certainly in the minority among the educated elite. I am not sure what evidence you have that can prove that Rice is “not in the same league as Cornell, Duke, NU or WUSTL.” Rice is an incredibly well rounded university, it has a very well regarded faculty and reputation in the academic domain and its endowment of $4 billion is huge considering it has neither medical school, nor a student body exceeding 6,000 students (including graduate programs). Of course, to top it off, Rice has a very laid back, welcoming and friendly student body, which is always a plus. Rice would make my cut of top 20 universities anyday!</p>
<p>Duke is a solid top 10 school while Cornell, Northwestern and Wash U are clear top 15 programs. I think Rice is extremely regional in prestige. It is virtually UNHEARD of outside of Texas and most employers are unaware of the existence of the school.</p>
<p>Texas A&M is more prestigious, even in the South, than Rice Alex.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I forgot about the most important factor, prestige. Of course, how silly of me.</p>
<p>/sarcasm</p>