MSc in Bioinformatics: Johns Hopkins or University of Edinburgh?

[bob_mcbobson]

Hey folks,

I was hoping you could give me some advice in choosing where I should pursue my Master's degree. I have recently been accepted to the University of Edinburgh as well as Johns Hopkins University to study bioinformatics, and I have found myself feeling very conflicted as to which university I should choose. A quick bit of background– I have no previous computer programming experience, and am moving into bioinformatics from a purely life science track (Bachelor's in biochemistry), as I decided somewhat recently to switch gears in my academic direction. Thankfully my background in the life sciences was solid enough to get me accepted by the universities, but given my current knowledge of bioinformatics, I'm not sure which university better fits my profile and offers a more thorough education, more networking possibilities, and more post-graduate opportunities from the Master's level.

There are many more financial and logistical advantages for me to attend the program at Edinburgh, and by all means it is considered by many to be a great university, but I am hesitant to choose this mainly because Johns Hopkins is such a highly ranked university in the life sciences (top ten in the world). That being said, rankings must always be taken with a few grains of salt, and additionally, rankings do not indicate the quality of a particular program. What's more, when I compare the structure and courses offered by the programs side by side, it seems (at least in my perspective) that University of Edinburgh's MSc program is better than Johns Hopkins.

 

So I am reaching out to as many people as I possibly can in order to find out whether it is worth it for me to make the extra effort to attend Johns Hopkins, or if the University of Edinburgh's Master's program is on par with Johns Hopkins.

Thanks so much for any help and advice you can provide.

 

[bsharpe269]

Is your goal an industry job? If so then bioinformatics skills are pretty in demand at the moment. If you put effort into your program, learn to program very well, and do an internship then I think you will be marketable with a degree from either school. My guess is that Hopkins is very expensive and I don't think its work the extra money.

[bob_mcbobson]

Is your goal an industry job? If so then bioinformatics skills are pretty in demand at the moment. If you put effort into your program, learn to program very well, and do an internship then I think you will be marketable with a degree from either school. My guess is that Hopkins is very expensive and I don't think its work the extra money.

Honestly, at ths point, I don't have any particular goal in mind. I personally am leaning more towards getting a job after the Master's, but I'm not excluding the possibility of pursuing a PhD quite yet. My main plan right now is to work as hard as possible, attend as many workshops and lectures as I can, and see in which direction I can take my education in.

[bob_mcbobson]

not trying to bump this topic, but i did also wanted to ask another question: does anybody have any advice to dispense as to what one should do in graduate school in order to make the most of it (apart from studying hard)? What are the best ways to make connections with the professors and/or peers?