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I'm neutral towards research. I like it, but don't love it hence I'm not doing a PhD. I'm really only interested in the two-year thesis option because I've read/heard that a thesis is better for finding a job right out of school - and that job will be a BME job, not a business management job.

Yep, all of the master's programs are unfunded. Duke, UCSD, and Columbia are two-year, thesis programs. Yale and Cornell are one-year, coursework-only programs. The reason I'm considering Yale and Columbia even though they're not as well known for engineering, is because of my future MBA aspirations. I was thinking that an "ivy-brand" school might help my chances with the MBA application. Any thoughts on this?

I've been admitted to Duke, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, and UCSD for an MS in biomedical engineering. Which grad program would you guys recommend? I have no interest in obtaining a PhD or working in academia. I want to instead work in industry in an entrepreneurial/start-up environment in the future, focused on designing medical products. I have plans to apply for an MBA a few years down the road in the hopes of obtaining a management role. Thanks!

I just got my official GRE results back: 165Q (795 old scale), 160V (605), 3.5AW. I think my Q score is very slightly above average for the programs I'm looking at, and the V score is above average, but the AW score is below. I'm applying for admission to top tier MS BioE programs (Stanford, Duke, JHU, Berkeley, UCSD, Yale, etc.) Is my writing score too low? I got my BS in BioE from Berkeley with a 3.35 cumulative GPA and 3.6 in my last two years (all upper-div technical courses). I have strong LORs and research/work experience (2 pending papers, 1 patent, 1 national conference poster). I'm just worried that my AW score may not meet a hard cut-off for some of the top schools.

Is it just me or are the Manhattan Q sections in the online practice exams really hard? I'm got 750 on Manhattan but 800 on all of the ETS practice exams I've taken.

Hi Grad Cafe, I've read through a bunch of posts on this forum and other sites already but am still unsure of which schools to apply to. I am graduating this May 2012 with a B.S. in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley. I will have a cumulative GPA of 3.33 and an upper div technical GPA of 3.63. I would like to note that I had a 3.00 my first two years, but have been getting 3.8 my last 2.5 semesters. Also, I have not taken the GRE yet but am expecting something like a 780Q, 600V, 4.5W (convert this to new scale) just to be conservative. I have relevant research experience in one lab (2 years duration; submitting a paper of which I am the first author for publication; presenting my work at an annual bioengineering conference). I have had relevant and very strong industry experiences for two summers. I am seeking patent application for a medical device that I worked on stemming from a class project. I will have 2 very strong LORs and 1 good LOR. In the one year that I am taking off before grad school, I am doing research at UCSF with a very recognized PI (who is an MD, PhD surgeon) and hoping to submit/publish another paper from this. I am applying this coming fall 2012 to PhD programs and want to know if I should even be hopeful of getting into top bioengineering programs (Ie. Duke, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, UCSD, etc.). The main concern is GPA since all of the top schools post 3.8-3.9 averages and everyone says that a 3.5 cumulative is a bare minimum. Thanks!