So, I ended up getting into EECS at Berkely, CS at Carnegie Mellon, BME at Johns Hopkins, and Brown for engineering I think.
I’m hoping to pursue bioinformatics/molecular biology as my field of study, and would like to know the relative merits of each school with regards to the strength of the field at each, the research opportunities, and chances for various fellowships and outside internships.
Also, as sort of a separate note, how strong is each school (and program within the school) for pre-med?
Thanks.
Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering are less traditional routes to pursue molecular biology and premedical studies. Molecular Biology can stand alone without engineering or computer science. Bioinformatic techniques can be easily incorporated into a Molecular Biology curriculum without engineering. Engineering is somewhat relevant for bioinformatics just because they have programming in common. But as a field Bioinformatics is still young. I do not really see bioinformatics so much as a major, but more of a tool at this point. Engineering+Molecular Biology+Bioinformatics may become a unique multidisciplinary study, but they can be very different depending on what you study. With regards to fellowships, your chances should be the same at any of the institutions listed, as long as you are willing to work for them. Anecdotally, I think Berkeley and Johns Hopkins have some grade deflation, but they are also two of the best. Carnegie Mellon is great for engineering, not too familiar with its molecular biology. No comment on Brown. They should all have good opportunities.
@phospholipase Thanks a lot for the input. If I was considering pre-med, do you think that JHU or Berk would be poor choices then, as I believe that GPA is a big factor for applying to med school. Also, for applying to a MD PhD program, should I be trying to focus on more accomplishments that would be fitting for med school or for grad school or just do twice as many things to cover both of them? Thanks~
@sweetcornundrum I do not believe they would be poor choices. However, I think it may to harder or more stressful to maintain a high GPA, which is one of the top factors for medical school admissions.
An MD/PhD program will want you to have accomplishments that would make you strong for admissions to medical school and graduate school separately, meaning hospital volunteering and research experience as bare minimums. In other words, yes, kick it into overdrive and do twice as many things–but quality over quantity. Although MD/PhD programs are primarily medical school programs, the purpose of these dual degree programs is the train physician scientists, with emphasis on scientist. The goal is to generate researchers.