I just successfully transfer to UVA’s school of engineering and might get off waitlist from Harvey Mudd soon.
Both are great schools, but people have been telling me that UVA’s BME is not reccemended(i dont see why)
UVA might be 10-20k cheaper than HMC, but the graduate salary of HMC is TOP
Is there a huge difference for the BME major in these two schools?
I do not think that you can expect to be accepted off a waitlist. However, it might make sense to be prepared and at least consider what you might do if you were to get accepted off the waitlist.
I do not think that I would pay attention to the average salary for graduates from various schools. One issue is that many (not all) recent graduates are more likely to get a job in the area near the university or college that they graduated from. Southern California, or at least LA, is an expensive area to live in. This impacts the average salaries of graduates. This does not mean that they live any better, they just get paid a bit more and then pay more for their rent and other expenses.
As an international student, you should not expect to be able to stay in the US after graduation. There is some possibility of staying short term, but there is a lot of uncertainty and being able to stay in the US long term is unlikely. As such you should pay attention to what your job opportunities are likely to be in your home country. If you already have either US citizenship or US permanent residence this concern of course would not apply, regardless of where you are living now.
These are both very good schools. Both programs will be academically demanding. I think of Harvey Mudd as particularly academically demanding (approximately on an MIT/Caltech level) but I am not sure whether this is true.
Congratulations on your acceptance to UVA. It is a very good university.
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Thank you so much for your advice! I just get accepted from waitlist by HMC! And I do think the engineering opportunities are better at HMC.
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You may benefit from considering a different basis for comparison, in that Mudd does not offer a major in biomedical engineering.
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Congratulations on your acceptances.
These schools are so different in about every way…which one has the vibe, location, and curriculum you like best? Will the extra cost of Mudd be difficult for your family to afford?
As for outcomes, Mudd’s salaries are higher, but it’s a small school. Additionally as an international student you will have three years max OPT to work in the US post-graduation. What are your career goals?
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These are exactly the reasons I am thinking about(but i never knew how to outline them so clearly), so thank you so much!
First of, I love Cali, especially LA. And my dream school was UCLA, which rejected me lol. But HMC and other 4 schools have the idea vibe I want: passionate people who are dedicaded for their love and excellent resources which International students can has less restrictions.
The fee for uva’s engineering school is 91k and hmc’s is 93k, so that is not a problem.
Plus, I love the humanities,as much as STEM, but I want to major in STEM. So, the STEM vibe of LAC is perfect fit for me. And the career resources in HMC is what attracts me the most, with the perfect location. But I was also accepted to Carleton, but there isnt any engineering path except for the 4+2 programs. So thats why HMC might be more fit for me.
Plus, I was interviewed by a senior of HMC, who was so nice and even wrote down about a topic I mentioned to do some research later.
Okay, now after answering these questions, I think I found my prefered school, lol.
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Another thing that you might want to do: For both schools, look at the majors that are available. For the major or majors that appeal to you, look at what specific courses are required to graduate. You might want to consider both general requirements (required for anyone who gets a bachelor’s degree) and major-specific requirements.
This might give you another way to decide between two very good schools.
However, you cannot go wrong between these two very good schools.
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thank u so much! Sometimes I just feel so nice about so much useful information people here gives. 
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