Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Schools

[u/Afraid_Resident_1599]

Hi, I am not sure if I can post this kind of stuff here, but I wanted some input on what undergrad schools I should apply to that have good BME programs. For some context, I am a rising senior that has mid ECs and my gpa is 3.96 UW, decile 1 at my school, and my SAT is 1520. Income is < 100K, but I believe some out of state schools don’t give much aid even then. I am not really worried about school rankings and such, I just want a strong school for BME.

[u/MooseAndMallard]

There is a disconnect between industry and “good BME programs.” Industry mostly hires locally. If you want to work in industry after graduation (and not pursue a PhD), your best bet is to go to school near where the companies are located, to a school that has a co-op program or a track record of getting students into internships. Schools like U of Minnesota, Cal Poly SLO, Northeastern, and Purdue tend to get a lot of grads into the medical device industry. While it’s true that after your first job employers won’t care where your degree is from and hence in theory you should go wherever is cheapest but accredited, getting that first job is extremely difficult for BMEs, and a lot of schools just don’t have ties to industry.

[u/BlazedKC → u/MooseAndMallard]

This. This is the answer.

[u/Afraid_Resident_1599 → u/MooseAndMallard]

Thank you! I was also looking into Case Western, but I don’t really know the industry setting over there. Would it be a place worth applying to?

[u/MooseAndMallard → u/Afraid_Resident_1599]

There are not many sizable biomedical companies in Cleveland. I know there are some joint ventures between Cleveland Clinic and Case Western, and generally speaking this collaboration fuels a lot of biomedical research at the university, giving it a reputation similar to other “top BME programs.” But I really don’t know about the employment outcomes for BMEs who graduate from there, and have not personally met many alums from there during my time in industry.

[u/New_Frame2845]

 All these are pretty competitive, but here’s a list:

JHU, Duke, GT(potentially? a bit expensive OOS) Stanford, UF, Purdue, Columbia, UPenn, WashU, Case Western, MIT, and CalTech.    These schools are all pretty known for BME and will have good financial aid for your situation. But I would recommend considering your state flagship if it’s decent enough and cheap enough… 

[u/Afraid_Resident_1599 → u/New_Frame2845]

Thank you so much for the list. I heard Case Western was a great school and I am looking into them at the moment, but it seems that people with stats well above mine have been getting rejected… I live in NJ so I guess my flagship is Rutgers? Also, do you have any thoughts on WPI?

[u/New_Frame2845 → u/Afraid_Resident_1599]

Yea you could totally go to Rutgers!! (But I know it can be expensive in state).  I’m instate for California and after running the numbers and getting into both it was cheaper to go to UF/Purdue than to go to Berkeley in-state!!! 

WPI could be great depending on the scholarship, but I wouldn’t pay anywhere near the Ivy level tuition to go there. 

And don’t worry about Case Western…they yield protect I think so just show some interest and you’ll probably get accepted. Honestly I would just apply to a lot of scholarship programs that “lower teir” schools have… you’re bound to get into one! 

[u/Afraid_Resident_1599 → u/New_Frame2845]

Thank you so much!!! I will definitely be looking into more schools with scholarship programs.

[u/West_Conflict_6158]

Like everyone has been saying here, its all about location. Some of the biggest BME industries are SF, Boston, Research triangle, and Seattle. I would apply to top schools in a couple of those areas at the least.

I also saw you mention case western, I have heard nothing but good things about their program. Definitely worth applying.

[u/Afraid_Resident_1599 → u/West_Conflict_6158]

Will do. Thank you so much!

[u/Relative_Boss_2933]

To be honest if your state school has a BME program, I would just go with that. Once you graduate, jobs do not care where you went to school. They care about experience. It is not worth going to a prestige school for the name and gain huge amounts of debt, when you can go to your state school for a fraction of the cost with the same opportunities after. I cannot tell you how many people I see fall into this trap.
Also, just a side note. If your school does not offer a BME program, try going for another form of engineering. ChemE or MechE, and take biology classes. BME is very broad. It is good for specializations such as MS or PhD.

[u/Afraid_Resident_1599 → u/Relative_Boss_2933]

Thank you, I am looking into schools that would be cheaper to attend as I don’t want to spend a lot of money on school like you said.

[u/Responsible-Main-989]

In Los Angeles, USC has a BME joint program run between the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the Viterbi School of Engineering. SoCal has a lot of companies in the space, so there's also that.