user12616

haha fair point, you're right, nothing is guaranteed. good luck to you!

Hi, As someone that did a Master's in biotech at another program (only to decide to do a PhD in BME/ChemE/MSE), never ever take the less funded option unless you can truly justify it. I was also accepted to Northwestern biotech (but decided to go to Brown because it was a considerably cheaper and had a thesis component, ideal for me because I wanted to do a PhD after). If it helps I was accepted to Northwestern for PhD and was just there a few weeks ago, and was told by grad students that Northwestern's biotech placement isn't great because there's not really much industry in the Chicago area. Look for programs in either the bay area or Cambridge, MA for placement. Most of Northwestern's strong BME faculty have opened their own startups and that is where a lot of their students place. I don't know that this is helpful for you though since I remember the Northwestern biotech master's doesn't have a thesis component... Also-- why on earth would you want to pay money to do a master's at a marginally better school when you are fully funded for a PhD in ChemE? Take the funded offer! Case is a great school, and you're guaranteed to earn a 6 figure salary after! Biotech masters? Maybe 50k, if you're lucky. It's not really considered engineering. You can always do research in bio and work in biotech industry post grad, or absolute worst case scenario leave your program with a Master's if you need to work right away. Good luck!

I'm in applied science, but I did this! Best decision I ever made. Check with your acceptances to make sure that you're all set, but my decision to quit my Master's had ZERO implications on any of my acceptances, including fellowships that I was offered! (!) My advisor was even nice enough to hire me as staff in the meantime, so instead of writing a thesis this semester and paying for independent research credits, I'm getting paid as an RA to finish my research anyway. Just ask. It's never an issue unless for some odd reason your master's credits are absolutely critical to your PhD, which I doubt. I'm surprised more people don't do this... Good luck!

Hi, Don't be discouraged that you haven't heard back. The Biotech PhD program has literally *zero* funding. It takes people as needed, typically when they are Master's students in Biotechnology that wish to stay on for PhD because of the success of their research work (meaning that their Master's advisors want to sponsor them) but do not meet the requirements for the BME PhD. In these cases, the Biotech PhD program creates spots as needed, specifically for those students. It does not accept students externally otherwise. The last few years have seen only 2 new Biotech PhD students or fewer (sometimes none); however, all of them the special case of Masters to PhD matriculation. Bottom line: apply to better (legitimate) programs! Best of luck!

I am trying to hopefully inspire some of you students looking to spend tons of money on a Master's degree to take your money and run (far) away. Save yourselves. You are better than this program. The program coordinators will not listen to you, and they will certainly try to make your life miserable. They also pander towards specific students (their own research students) that play nicely. If you are interested in industry experience, many students are able to get a decent internships through the co-op program that allow them to help pay for school. The catch: good look convincing your research advisor to let you take time off research to work. While seemingly "flexible", this degree is designed to allow you to create your own curriculum (like the Brown ideology), although this program is nothing of the sort. There is little/no infrastructure for this program (i.e. pay your way $$), and it is essentially designed as a means to bringing in money to fund the PhD program in BME, which has become considerably more reputable over the past few years, even declining students into the BME Master's program, which is virtually identical to the Biotechnology program except that it has an explicit number of Engineering/Biology credit requirements. Do not even think about trying to switch into the BME Master's program. You are not good enough. At one point the coordinator even insinuated that the Biotech program accepts everyone and has no selectivity whatsoever (Basically: you're paying to be here. Deal with it) If you are between Brown and UPenn, Columbia, even Northwestern for your Biotech Master's-- go elsewhere! I thought I would save money going here. You are better than this school. As for me, I'm off to a more reputable school (sorry, just had to throw that out there) for my PhD. I simply couldn't stand the department any longer. Best of luck to everyone!