Hopkins BME vs Yale BME

[studentparasiempre]

Hey all!

I am in dire need of some objective insight into a decision between Hopkins BME and Yale BME. I know that Hopkins is the top BME graduate school, but I also happen to be a current student there and am not quite settled on the idea of being there another 5-6 years. Ideally, I would like to start somewhere different, which Yale would give me the opportunity to do so. Additionally, I got an additional fellowship (Gruber) at Yale that would be helpful with paying off student loans. 

The tough thing is, is that I didn't really get to visit Yale in person due to the Corona virus, but the virtual visitation was nice and I enjoyed talking with everyone. With Hopkins, I was already a little familiar and had a great time interviewing also. Hopkins is also the closest program to my top choice (HST MEMP which I unfortunately didn't get...)

My interests are leaning towards molecular imaging applied to psychiatric disorders and am trying to discern which program is better because there are some cases to make on both ends. But I am also thinking about life outside of my time as a student, living in Baltimore for going on a decade. It isn't my favorite city to be honest but not the worse place.

Just want to know others' thoughts on this predicament, don't know if I'm overthinking too much...

[isk20]

Are you an undergrad at Hopkins? In STEM, it’s generally better to do UG and grad at different schools since it shows that you’re branching out your skills. 

Don't worry about prestige at this point. The closer you get to the top, the less rankings matter. Yale is also a world-renowned school and won’t hold you back in your career. The fact that you seem to be dreading another 5-6 years in Baltimore suggests that you would probably benefit from a change of scenery and pace. After all, you need to enjoy the location to be happy and productive in your program.