Thanks for the advice ssk2! I'm actually a medical student taking some time off to pursue this degree. Afterwards, my plan is to finish medical school and residency, and then conduct academic research and/or start a medical informatics business. Lofty long-term goals : )
Both UCSD and Harvard are big medical research institutions (Harvard Medical School is #1 and UCSD is #3 for Biomedical engineering).
I'm aware of the stark weather difference as I was born and raised in Southern California and I'm currently living on the East Coast. As a California resident I get in-state tuition, which makes UCSD roughly 3.5x cheaper than Harvard! Also, I'm not guaranteed admission into the two-year degree at Harvard, but I may have an increased chance of being admitted after completing the first year. The major benefits of the Harvard program are 1) It's Harvard, 2) It's 1/2 applied math and 1/2 computer science, and 3) I *may* get an RAship. Interestingly my undergraduate advisor, who is an accomplished mathematician at a school comparable to UCSD, advised me to go to Harvard.
At this point I think if I secure the RAship, I'll go to Harvard, and if I don't, I *may* go to Harvard : )