My son has been admitted to several colleges into their Biomed Eng programs.
Marquette University
Saint Louis University
Purdue University
Colorado State University
Ohio University (Chemical Eng- Biological track)
Gannon University
Ohio State University (not admitted yet but very positive about it)
Drexel University (not admitted yet but very positive about it)
Rensselaer (wait list)
among others but into different majors.
We’re still waiting on the big names to answer:
Johns Hopkins
Duke
Penn State
Harvard
Rice
Our expectations for him to get into any of this last five are not really high, I mean, they are extremely competitive and my son isn’t exactly top tier. He is 3.3 and 1950 SAT, so we are being realistic. Even though we applied to them because some (like Harvard) extended a letter to him around August 2014, and others (like Hopkins) he’s been part of their summer and online programs for years.
Among the colleges that have already admitted him we are more inclined towards Marquette, Purdue and Saint Louis, but not yet decided and tables could still turn. Purdue has the highest ranking but it is also the biggest among the three. Marquette and Saint Louis are both Jesuit Colleges, and my son graduating from a Jesuit School, gets and extra monetary incentive. Still Purdue sounds tempting not because of financial aid and scholarships but because of it’s well earned place in the scholars community.
We have visited only Marquette and were blown away by it’s Engineering School facilities. We loved the urban campus and it’s surroundings, other than the -17F it was great. I know Purdue because I have a cousin who is an alumni, but this was ages ago.
Another aspect we are very interested are the co-op and internship programs, which Marquette and Purdue claim to have excellent ones, not too familiar with Saint Louis’ program. I know for Drexel it is mandatory so it is an assured co-op.
We are also worried about safety within each school and their surroundings. My son is a very quiet boy with no interest what so ever in wild partying. He’s merely 5’-1" and wights 105 pounds, not into sports at all and a bit nerdy. He does enjoy choral and classical music, jazz, and blues, also loves stand up comedy.
We are looking for objective opinions on what school may be a better fit personally and academically, and provide him with higher opportunities of landing a good job after graduation.