University of Maryland University College

I live in maryland and was looking for a Bioinformatics program that could be done either in the evening or online since I have a full time job. There are two that I am aware of in the area John Hopkins and UMUC. JHU has a very good MS Bioinformatics program and UMUC has a MS in Biotech w/ Bioinformatics specialization. I choose to go to UMUC mainly because of price for instate being more than half the cost of JHU and because of the strong military support for UMUC, which can be important in the DC area. Both schools are regionally accredited and neither is a "for-profit" or paper-mil. Though some people mistakingly think UMUC is a "for-profit" simply because it has significant distance learning options. But if you understood UMUC military connections this would all make sense. For the record JHU also has distance learning and you can earn your degree completely online from them also. Things to note some of the UMUC classes are actually taught by people who teach/research at JHU as well as Maryland and other schools. Secondly the UMUC program has a business element to it. In fact you can actually end up with both an MBA and MS with just 18 additional hours at UMUC. UMUC also and provides a molecular biology leveling course for non biology undergraduates. JHU is more hard core biology and requires far more leveling work. From looking at the catalogs both degrees seem to provide almost identical Computer Science elements (i.e BioPerl & BioJava) and statistical elements. If you want hardcore biology then JHU is probably your better choice but if you want a nice mix UMUC. Can't go wrong either way, but for the price and for working at the many government/military/NIH jobs in the DC region UMUC is probably a better value for MS level work. Either way be prepared to write and read extensively. Actually get 3 masters and go to both...then you would have it from every angle Biotech, Bioinformatics and MBA.

The program focused on a combination of business and technical issues that are unique to the biotechnology industry. The instructors require that students read the assigned course material and provide an analysis of what was studied or read in the WebTyco online format. Students received grades based upon class room participation, examinations provided and research papers submitted. Depending on the instructor, part of your grade depended on what your team members felt you contributed to an assigned group project. Grades were typically weight based - the larger percentage applied to research papers and exams. Secondly, for research papers proper footnotes were expected. Instructors deducted grade points for late assignments or poor footnoting. Third, while having a PhD does not make a teacher effective - all of the instructors had one (some were even patent holders). These instructors provided the theory as well as the real world practices contained within the biotechnology industry. Finally, the capstone course was challenging. The class was divided into teams, and each team worked with a biotechnology company. A lot research and analysis was devoted to the project and results were presented to the owner or CEO of the biotechnology firm. Each team produced a capstone research paper that was graded by the instructor concurrent with the biotechnology owner's input.

I have had very good experiences with this graduate program. The professors are true professionals and many teach only part-time. A number of professors work for the private or federal sector and are therefore able to convey the most up-to-date trends in biotech to their students. The interface for the online courses is called webtycho and is a great tool overall. I am very satisfied with this university and the degree in particular.