BME at Columbia vs. UNC

[profoundquiet]

I'm sure there have already been a million topics on something like this, but I'm a bit conflicted...

So I got into the Ph.D. program in the joint Biomedical Engineering department at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

I also got into the M.S. program in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, mostly due to the fact that my GPA was too low for a Ph.D. I'm still thankful to get an M.S. offer.

So right now I'm leaning towards Columbia just cause I've always wanted to live in New York and also cause it's more prestigious and a better BioE program overall.

However, I'm getting no funding at Columbia, whereas my Ph.D. offer at UNC-NCSU is fully funded + stipend.

My goal is to work in the biomedical devices industry, but I'm still not sure whether I want just an M.S. or a full on Ph.D. Some people say a Ph.D. would be good while others say that an M.S. is better cause a lot of times Ph.D.s are overqualified and it's harder to get a job these days.

Any opinions/suggestions?

p.s. I'm still waiting on 5 schools for Ph.D.

[fibonacci]

I'm sure there have already been a million topics on something like this, but I'm a bit conflicted...

So I got into the Ph.D. program in the joint Biomedical Engineering department at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

I also got into the M.S. program in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, mostly due to the fact that my GPA was too low for a Ph.D. I'm still thankful to get an M.S. offer.

So right now I'm leaning towards Columbia just cause I've always wanted to live in New York and also cause it's more prestigious and a better BioE program overall.

However, I'm getting no funding at Columbia, whereas my Ph.D. offer at UNC-NCSU is fully funded + stipend.

My goal is to work in the biomedical devices industry, but I'm still not sure whether I want just an M.S. or a full on Ph.D. Some people say a Ph.D. would be good while others say that an M.S. is better cause a lot of times Ph.D.s are overqualified and it's harder to get a job these days.

Any opinions/suggestions?

p.s. I'm still waiting on 5 schools for Ph.D.

Forget Columbia, you are going to be saddled witth huge amounts of debt after you graduate. You are nothing more than a big cash cow. Also factor in the extremely high cost of living in NYC and you can be talking about in excess of $50k in loans after you are done. Most students who have never had a real job or have never entered the job market before erroneously assume that they'll be able to payoff such debt afterwards because there should be a job out there for them. The real world doesn't work that way. Many students have trouble finding jobs or even holding them. I can not stress enough how much of a massive headache student loans are for you when you lose your job and have to choose either being behind on rent or your student loans. I've seen it happen to some of my friends with $60k in loans after they lost their job. In reality with a MS degree you could probably expect to make around $55-60k (only about $35k after tax, health care, 401k contribution) to start off w/ no experience. Would you be prepared for $500+ student loans per month? Don't believe the propaganda, student loan debt is not good debt because you are investing in yourself, it is burdensome debt. I don't think I will even be able to own a house until I'm close to 50 and may never start a family because of student loans.

Make the wise decision and go to school completely free on someone elses dime. NYC will always be there and you can move there afterwards debt free. Also, when it comes to industry, your pedigree doesn't even matter all that much. After 5 years in industry you probably won't even be listing where you got your degrees from anymore on your resume but will rather be focusing on your job experience. Employers will care more about your experience with instrumentation/computers/software much more than the school you went to. You can get that experience at any school and through a COOP/internship. Why would you saddle yourself with debt that is going to take 20 years to payoff for a degree that noone in industry will care about anymore after you work 5 years?

Edited March 24, 2011 by fibonacci

[profoundquiet]

I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but what if I can pay for it through a combination of my parents' savings and working as a TA (no loans)?

[HassE]

I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but what if I can pay for it through a combination of my parents' savings and working as a TA (no loans)?

this is the way i've been thinking about it on my own end.

IF your absolutly near positive you wouldnt be able to get a research/teaching assistantship second semester in at Columbia, meaning you have to pay the whole way, get the degree from UNC.

Think about it like this as well, say Columbia is definitely where you want to go. Have UNC pay for you to go to school, get your MS from there on their dime, drop out and apply to columbia to get your PhD. Some might not think its the most ethical, but for all you know you might love UNC and go the full way, if not, then theres nothing unethical about being unhappy somewhere and transferring else where.

Bottom line, go to who gives you money and decide after what you want.