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Monday, June 24, 2013

Blog Challenge #1

Throughout my whole life I have always been interested in science. When I was younger, I wanted to be an entomologist and work in the biology field. More recently though, I've been interested in the engineering field and I think that's what I want to study in college.  To be more specific, when I say "engineering", I'm talking about biomedical engineering. I chose BME because I want to improve the health of people around me and improve the health field altogether. I want to design devices that could potentially solve health problems in people all around the world and between you and me, the pay isn't that bad either. 

Three universities that I am interested in attending that offer programs in biomedical engineering are the University of Pittsburgh, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Rochester. 

The University of Pittsburgh located right here in Pittsburgh, does not have a GPA/QPA requirement since there is a wide variety of grading scales from school to school but 60% of their admitted students graduated within the top 10% of their class. High school record, class rank, test scores, and activities are considered during the admission process. Their biomedical program offers hands-on experience and the chance to utilize their state-of-the-art facilities on campus. There are 30+ undergraduate courses offered at Pitt and they award bachelors degrees in science after 4 years. 

Johns Hopkins University located in Baltimore, Maryland, is very picky with their freshman admittance. They admit those who are in the top 3-5% of their graduating class and they only admit 18% of all students who apply. 75% of that 18% have GPA's that are between 3.5 and 4.0. For SAT scores, they look for scores between 2100 and 2400. 4 years of a foreign language is recommended and it is helpful to take the most advanced classes that your high school has to offer. Their biomedical engineering program was ranked #1 for it's specialization in BME/BE in 2011. http://universityreport.net/us-biomedical-bio-engineering-ranking-2011 JHU's BME website didn't give me very much insight into their program but after reviewing the personal blogs and forums of some JHU alumni, I've determined that though it's a lot of hard work, the program is worth the 4 years of long nights and longer days.

The University of Rochester located in Rochester, New York, is another very highly-respected university that I have thought about applying to. Though they don't have specific minimum requirements for admission, most  Rochester students graduated from their high schools with an unweighted GPA of 3.8 or higher. They graduated within the top 10% of their senior class and have taken between 2-7 advanced placement courses. SAT scores that are accepted by admissions are between 1900 and 2200 and ACT scores range between 29 and 33. Freshman that have been admitted display qualities like leadership, creativity, and enthusiasm. Setting up an on-campus interview is encouraged and might increase your chances of being accepted. I really like their BME program because they give students the opportunities to put their ideas right into the medical field. 

Though every college listed here is a long shot for most people, I believe that I have the potential to land myself into any one of these BME programs. I think I will be accepted due to the fact that I already have a high GPA, am first in my class as of right now, and plan on taking AP courses this year and my senior year. I might sound cocky, but with the competitiveness of today's job market, I can't afford not to be. 

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