Hey Everyone!
I was wondering whether a Masters is easier to get accepted into than a PhD program for Bioengineering. I was intially applying for a Master's program until I talked to my research professor who told me that I should apply for a PhD. A master's was my initial goal because I recently became enamored with bioengineering this past year so I figured that I would need some extra preperation before undertaking a PhD program. So aside from getting funding, what type of degree program would be less competitive?
I'll list my stats below for any necessary information or thoughts regarding what program I should apply for.
Thanks!
Application Area: Bioengineering - Systems and Synthetic Biology (Fall 2015)
B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (The graduate program is Top 10 if that means anything...)
GPA: 3.76
Research Experience:
Civil Engineering related: 3 Years
Hydraulics Lab: Experimental work with fluid mechanics
Hydrology Lab: Computational work modeling and forecasting hydrological processes.
Bioengineering related: 1 Year
Systems Biology Lab: Modeling and elucidating the mechanisms of a biological reaction-diffusion system.
GRE: V:156, Q:170, AW: 4.5
Extra related courses: PDE's, Mathematical Biology, Biology (intro molecular bio).
Recommendations: 3 really good ones (hopefully haha)
My dream school is UCSD which offers both a masters and a PhD in bioengineering. Other schools that I am applying to include Boston University, Stanford, Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, and UMichigan.