[Penn BE vs. BU BME vs. Cornell BME]

Hi everyone,

I recently visited all of the schools whose BME/BioE Ph.D. programs I was accepted to and have narrowed it down to Penn, BU, and Cornell. Here are the benefits and drawbacks of each school.

Penn

Benefits: Best fit with main POI, guaranteed funding/a spot in her lab, most prestigious, nice city, close to my girlfriend, grad students seemed happy/friendly

Drawbacks: No rotations, difficult to switch if advisor leaves/things don't work out, (relatively) far from my family

BU

Benefits: Close to home, in a nice city/great area for biomedical research, prestigious program, POI is probably my second favorite

Drawbacks: POI doesn't know if she will have funding for me, no other professors I am remotely interested in working with, far from girlfriend, didn't have much in common with current grad students

Cornell

Benefits: Several professors I could see myself working with, really happy, friendly students, cheap area to live in

Drawbacks: Not much going on in Ithaca, least prestigious program, no one professor I liked as much as the two mentioned before, far from family and girlfriend

Does anyone have any advice? I am currently leaning towards Penn and I know that ultimately I need to make my own decision based on my own values, but I am curious to hear opinions of people who may have faced a similar choice.

[How important is it to go to a school with multiple professors you would want to work for?]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am currently visiting grad schools and have visited the two that I am most likely to attend.  At School A, I really liked one of the professors and was very interested in her research.  She also emailed me after our interview and I got the impression that she would offer me a spot in her lab should I choose her school (I'll find out for sure before the decision deadline).  However, at this school, there is only one other professor I would be reasonably happy working for.  Meanwhile, at School B, there were 3-4 professors who I would be content with, but I didn't like any of them quite as much.  School A also has a slightly better reputation and is in a better location.  However, I have heard that it is important to go to a school with a few potential PI's in case your first lab doesn't work out for whatever reason.  Is this really an important consideration, or should I go to School A assuming that I am assured a spot in my first-choice lab?

 

Thanks!

[Who all are waiting for BME PhD Decisions?]

I got accepted at Maryland and Penn and am still waiting on Cornell, Michigan, and BU.  Are decisions sent out later if you sumbit the application at the deadline? All of mine were submitted at around 11:59 the day before haha.