[MS BME: CMU vs Northwestern]

Hey all,

Need some help with this decision. I'm a Berkeley grad in BioE/BME, and I've been accepted to CMU and Northwestern for their MS BME programs.

For CMU, I got into the coursework + project based masters, while for Northwestern I get a choice of coursework or thesis.

I have a lot of research experience from Berkeley, and am leaning toward Northwestern for the thesis option.

I'm aiming for healthcare consulting type jobs and possibly getting an MBA in the future.

With all this in mind, which school would be a better fit for me? I like both schools a lot and am struggling to make this decision =\

[Carnegie Mellon 2013]

Ahh, I was all set to go to CMU for an MS in Biomedical Engineering, but I recently got into Northwestern's MS BME program as well =/

 

Anyone have any experience with the department and why they decided to go to CMU mind DM-ing me?

[Northwestern]

Hi rrphenix, I'm an incoming BME Master's student. Is your fb group only for PhD's? Just looking to meet and interact with other grad students from different majors.

 

Hey, not the person you replied to, but I was recently admitted to the MS BME program as well

 

Have you already been out there for a visit day?

[Changing decision - just got in]

No, didn't get funding at either school.

 

Thanks, I've been hearing pretty much the same response from all the profs and grad students I've talked to!

[Changing decision - just got in]

Hi,

 

I applied to ~14 schools for an MS in BME and was only accepted to one, which I happily accepted by April 15th.

 

Today I found out I got into a research-based MS at a higher-ranked (meaningless, I know) school. My original (accepted) offer is a coursework-based MS.

 

It's a little nuts right now. I'm still in the process of deciding where to go, but I'm just wondering what the protocol is for letting School A know I can't matriculate (if I decide not to do so)?

 

I didn't have to submit a deposit - I'm just hoping I'm not "locked in" or anything. How would I let School A know? Just write something like, "my circumstances have changed and thus I will be unable to matriculate to School A for the Fall term"?

 

Thanks...

[BME MS/PhD Fall '13]

Just got into the Carnegie Mellon MS BME program this morning

 

Does anyone have any tales to tell about the practicum option MS in BME @ CMU? I didn't get accepted to the research option, but was accepted to the practicum option (which I'm assuming is mostly coursework based?)

 

And this may be a little devious, but is there a way I can let other schools I've applied to and not heard anything from know about my acceptance?

[BME MS/PhD Fall '13]

Hey does anyone here has received interview invitation from Duke? How was the interview with your POIs?

 

 A guy in my lab didn't hear from the University itself, but is in the process of  scheduling a phone interview with a POI there. 

[BME MS/PhD Fall '13]

I sent an email to Columbia BME department regarding my application, and they told me they haven't reviewed it yet. (I applied for MS/leading to/Ph.D which was due on Dec).

I guess it will be some while before they make decisions.

 

One of the faculty members at UCLA told me that he reviewed my application, but he doesn't know yet which students were admitted. I wonder what this means...... 

 

Anyways, not a word from JHU.

 

Let's keep in touch =]

 

Definitely! I haven't heard anything personally from UCLA - any news is good news? I guess.

 

Hey I also applied to the MS leading to PhD program at Columbia - I just got the interview invite and they are holding open house around the end of February..

 

Congrats, man I applied to just the MS program (not pre-PhD) - I'm assuming/hoping based on what you just wrote that the only MS program doesn't do interviews. Guess they'll start reviewing ASAP

[BME MS/PhD Fall '13]

Did anyone who applied to MS program in BME at UCLA, JHU or Columbia hear back from them? Anyone knows if they made their decisions yet? I'm talking about MS in BME, not Ph.D.

 

I applied to the MS BME/BioE programs at UCLA, JHU, and Columbia. Columbia I just turned in yesterday.

 

Haven't heard anything yet =/

[Plan B for the 2nd time]

I never really expected to hear anything from MIT or UCSD (people can dream though, right?). I merely posted just in case. But I'm not expecting much love from CA schools at this point either with their abysmal funding situation and all. Fellow Cal Bear huh? Berk engineering is like a black hole for good grades.

 

Yeah...I totally hear you. Especially with awful study skills from years of not needing to study, I basically got slapped in the face repeatedly until very recently -__-

 

Best of luck, man!

[Plan B for the 2nd time]

It's also possible that you'll get an interview at some of your other schools. MIT and UCSD are among the very highest tier for BME - I'd be shocked if you didn't get into at least one of the schools in your list (especially with names like UCI/UCLA/USC on there).

 

Chin up - Berkeley sucks for GPA (same here)

[BME MS/PhD Fall '13]

Haven't heard back from anyone (positively) so far (applying for Masters in BioE/BME)

 

Did receive rejections from UCSD and UW within the last week though =/

[BME MS/PhD Fall '13]

Are you guys who've heard back from schools applying for PhD programs? 

 

I'm primarily applying for MS BME/BioE positions, I don't think they have interviews, right?

[Chances in BME masters at a top 10]

Holy.....I wanna curl up into a little ball -__-

You're probably as set to get into a top grad school as one can possibly be.

[Third party LOR services or individual forms]

I'm utilizing a letter service my university offers through the career center. The letter provided by the professor is probably general, and I can send it out myself (sealed, of course) to any number of schools by paying some flat rate per letter. I think I'll do that for most programs, and have my strongest recommender send slightly more personalized letters for a few programs.

[I would appreciate any help/advice]

hmmm.. if am in your position i would try to continue in the same lab. If not then you would wanna ask ur PI a place he would suggest. Every dept has a min GPA to apply .. check the official req from the site and unofficial by talking to someone in the admisoin's in that school.

It sounds as though your best chance might be to stay on with your current PI, if his work fits your interests. He already knows you and most likely won't care much about your GPA. Many schools have a minimum GPA for admitted students, and to accept someone who does meet that cutoff means the department will have to ask for an exception. Someone who doesn't know you would be less willing to do this (I think), especially when the field you want to enter is so competitive that finding qualified students to accept is not a problem.

I am trying to work with my current PI, since her lab is a great fit for me. In addition, three of my potential LORs are written by professors in the biophysics group at Berkeley, which can only help. However, I doubt I can get an exception in any other school, even with great LORs and my research background, hence my query for MS/M.Eng suggestions.

Let me know, and thanks for the replies!

[Ph.D Biophysics; M.S./M.Eng. Bio(medical) Engineering: Profile Eval?]

TL;DR: Low GPA, Great Research/LORs + Publications, Co-Op Experience, SOP in-progress, List of programs needs-to-be-finalized.

Hi all,

Been lurking on GC for quite a while, a little in awe over all your guys' stats/success stories. Hopefully I can pick your collective brains for some help/advice for my situation.

Applying to: Still TBD; looking for a Ph.D in Biophysics or M.S./M.Eng. in Bio(medical) Engineering - any recommendations would be awesome! Currently considering: UT Austin, UT Southwest, UC Santa Barbara, Berkeley (Ph.D with current lab), Stanford, JHU, Utah, and CU Boulder

Education:

University of California, Berkeley:

Major: B.S. Bioengineering (2.65 cumulative GPA, ~2.8 major GPA) <-- Major deficiency in my application; too low to recover from?

GRE: 165V, 163Q, 5.5AW (translates to ~700V, 780Q, 5.5/6 AW) [is my Quant. score too low?]

Research Experience:

Lots of research experience since high school, not all in the same lab.

• High school internship at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA. Power systems/ChemE research for lunar/martian applications
  
• NSF internship at UC Riverside my frosh summer, biophysics/biomechanics research
  
• 1.5 years at a highly-regarded HHMI faculty member's lab at Berkeley - Biophysics/MCB/cellular mechanics research
  
• 1+ year at highly-regarded microfluidics/biophysics/mechanical engineering lab - 2 publications in submission in high/medium-high impact journals [Amazing PI loves me, inspired me to go into grad school, outstanding recommendation]
  

Work Experience:

Just finished up a 6-month co-op with a major (multi-billion $ revenue) biomedical device company in the LA area (wanted to get a feel for industry, since I am fairly certain I don't want to go into academia following graduate school). Picked up Six Sigma Lean and Mistake Proofing certifications, LOTS of first-hand engineering design and development experience. Great experience. Company policy prohibits individuals from providing recommendation letters, but I could possibly use a program manager and a senior engineer as references if necessary.

Extracurriculars: Strong leadership in nanotechnology club on campus

Letters of Recommendation: 2 or 3 excellent recommendations from past PIs/professor, 1 outstanding recommendation from my current PI

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My GPA does not really indicate any sort of trend, maybe slight upward? One cause I can think of for my performance is that until my junior year I tried to pursue both research + pre-med coursework on top of my normal engineering classes (no longer pre-med, obviously!). I don't have any excuses for my grades - I try pretty hard in my classes (could probably do a lot more, as is easily visible) but I think my interests (and bulk of dedication) are geared toward my research. My SOP will reflect the above statement, unless you guys feel it isn't relevant to mention?

I have one semester remaining, so I'll be cracking down on the books and can hopefully raise my GPA a little bit (obviously will not hit a 3.0 overall though).

I know my prospect of a Ph.D is pretty much shot with that, I am hoping my strong research background and LORs will help get me into a good MS/M.Eng program. Eventually, I'm hoping to get an MBA and continue in industry.

With a Ph.D, I am aiming for perhaps working in startups where specific technical knowledge will be required (early R&D efforts, etc.). No academia, not a fan.

I realize my application is kind of perplexing...trust me, I know, welcome to my life! Any advice/help anyone could offer would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

- AquaBear

[I would appreciate any help/advice]

TL;DR: Low GPA, Great Research/LORs + Publications, Co-Op Experience, SOP in-progress, List of programs needs-to-be-finalized.

Hi all,

Been lurking on GC for quite a while, a little in awe over all your guys' stats/success stories. Hopefully I can pick your collective brains for some help/advice for my situation.

Applying to: Still TBD; looking for a Ph.D in Biophysics or M.S./M.Eng. in Bio(medical) Engineering - any recommendations would be awesome! Currently considering: UT Austin, UT Southwest, UC Santa Barbara, Berkeley (Ph.D with current lab), Stanford, JHU, Utah, and CU Boulder

Education:

University of California, Berkeley:

Major: B.S. Bioengineering (2.65 cumulative GPA, ~2.8 major GPA) <-- Major deficiency in my application; too low to recover from?

GRE: 165V, 163Q, 5.5AW (translates to ~700V, 780Q, 5.5/6 AW) [is my Quant. score too low?]

Research Experience:

Lots of research experience since high school, not all in the same lab.

• High school internship at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA. Power systems/ChemE research for lunar/martian applications
  
• NSF internship at UC Riverside my frosh summer, biophysics/biomechanics research
  
• 1.5 years at a highly-regarded HHMI faculty member's lab at Berkeley - Biophysics/MCB/cellular mechanics research
  
• 1+ year at highly-regarded microfluidics/biophysics/mechanical engineering lab - 2 publications in submission in high/medium-high impact journals [Amazing PI loves me, inspired me to go into grad school, outstanding recommendation]
  

Work Experience:

Just finished up a 6-month co-op with a major (multi-billion $ revenue) biomedical device company in the LA area (wanted to get a feel for industry, since I am fairly certain I don't want to go into academia following graduate school). Picked up Six Sigma Lean and Mistake Proofing certifications, LOTS of first-hand engineering design and development experience. Great experience. Company policy prohibits individuals from providing recommendation letters, but I could possibly use a program manager and a senior engineer as references if necessary.

Extracurriculars: Strong leadership in nanotechnology club on campus

Letters of Recommendation: 2 or 3 excellent recommendations from past PIs/professor, 1 outstanding recommendation from my current PI

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My GPA does not really indicate any sort of trend, maybe slight upward? One cause I can think of for my performance is that until my junior year I tried to pursue both research + pre-med coursework on top of my normal engineering classes (no longer pre-med, obviously!). I don't have any excuses for my grades - I try pretty hard in my classes (could probably do a lot more, as is easily visible) but I think my interests (and bulk of dedication) are geared toward my research. My SOP will reflect the above statement, unless you guys feel it isn't relevant to mention?

I have one semester remaining, so I'll be cracking down on the books and can hopefully raise my GPA a little bit (obviously will not hit a 3.0 overall though).

I know my prospect of a Ph.D is pretty much shot with that, I am hoping my strong research background and LORs will help get me into a good MS/M.Eng program. Eventually, I'm hoping to get an MBA and continue in industry.

With a Ph.D, I am aiming for perhaps working in startups where specific technical knowledge will be required (early R&D efforts, etc.). No academia, not a fan.

I realize my application is kind of perplexing...trust me, I know, welcome to my life! Any advice/help anyone could offer would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

- AquaBear

[The Best Microfluidics Lab in the Country..??]

Hi ppl, I'm a terminal masters student applying for PhD this fall. I'm in EE, but working on a microfluidics based thesis and would like to continue my work on microfluidics for my phd.

I'd like to know the best labs that do research in this topic. I'm looking for good PI's who actually care for their students and dont treat them like slaves. I've heard horrible stories from my seniors and don't want to be in a situation where I'll have to struggle for my survival.

I also prefer the east coast coz I'm from MA.

Hope someone would guide me.. Thanx..!!!

Not too familiar with East Coast programs - on the West (Best) Coast, Stephen Quake's group at Stanford is reputed to be the best microfluidics lab, heard he's kind of nuts though.