Bioengineering @ COE vs CALS

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hi all ^^"</p>

<p>I am a prospective Cornell applicant for the class of 2015 and I am thinking about majoring in biological engineering. </p>

<p>Problem is, the major is offered at both CALS and COE. Just have a few quick questions about applying...</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Ok, whats the difference? lol
(Yes, i know in COE you remain undecided until sophomore year)</p></li>
<li><p>What's the difference in the application process? Is there an advantage in applying to one over the other? Higher acceptance rate? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Does one college look for specific things over the other college? Specifically, how does "fit" "interest" + "academic stats" weigh in at each college's decision -- is there a difference?</p>

<p>ie. applying to biological engineering, CALS looks for "fit" and "interest" in an application more so than COE. COE cares about gpa and test scores more so than CALS? Anything like that? (even if its subtle)</p>

<ol>
<li>Are the opportunities and required classes different if you are in COE or CALS for the same major?</li>
</ol>

<p><b>Note: I am a new york state resident, but for the sake of argument, tuition is not a factor </b></p>

<p>thanks!</p>

2

<p>Hi :slight_smile:
I’m a bioengineering major at Cornell CALS. </p>

<p>The CoE and CALS Bioeng. students go through the EXACT same course loads. However, graduation requirements are based on those of CoE, not CALS. However, there’s no real difference being in one college over the other for bioengineering. It’s just that if you’e in bioeng, you’re more of a COE student than a CALS student. </p>

<p>As for applying, I’m not sure. If you apply to CALS, the admissions group will be looking primarily at your life sci interest instead of your math / physical science ability (although math / science are still very important). If you apply to COE, they’ll probably emphasize your math / physical science ability and care a lot less about your life sciences experience / ability. </p>

<p>Overall, both colleges are still very selective. Both are pretty technical / specific colleges, so an interest in science / math is significant for both colleges. CALS looks more for life sci interest while engineering looks more at math / physical sciences interest. </p>

<p>Lastly, CALS offers a very significant tuition decrease for NY students if you want to take that into account. </p>

<p>Also, as a bioeng student, you should have equal access to opportunities - you have access to BOTH advising / library / misc. services offered by both CALS and COE. </p>

<p>Lastly, another factor to consider is if you’ll be switching majors - CALS doesn’t have that many engineering majors, and is focused mainly on life sci / social sciences. So if you don’t like bioengineering and you’re in CALS, you won’t have many other engineering major choices, or else you’ll have to transfer colleges. COE is heavily math / science based, and offers majors in those areas instead, but offers very little life sci. majors. </p>

<p>Hope it helped :slight_smile: good luck!</p>

3

<p>I was an ABEN (Agricultural Biological and Environmental Engineering) major as an undergrad. This major became BEE (Biological and Environmental Engineering) the year I graduated. When I was at Cornell, regardless of what school you were in the curriculum and requirements for a BEE degree were exactly the same. If you were a NYS resident you started in CALS and paid the discounted tuition for two years. Then as a junior you were transfered to CoE (this happened automatically, you didn’t have to do anything) for your last two years. If you started in CoE you remained registered in CoE the entire time. </p>

<p>The application process was the same regardless of what school you started in. You had to apply to, and be accepted by, both schools (this may be different now that Cornell uses the Common App). My diploma was issued jointly by both colleges. Both colleges appear as the degree granting institution on my transcript.</p>

<p>I would image some things have changed since I was in Ithaca, but I would still not expect that it makes any difference which school you chose to complete you BEE degree in.</p>

4

<p>Wow, thanks so much Equilibrium and B-Schooler for the great insight! Just another question: Does bioengineering in CALS tend to focus more on </p>

<p>a) applying engineering to curing diseases – ie. nanotechnology in living organisms
OR
b) more of an agricultural perspective such as engineering on a bio system level rather than a single organism</p>

<p>if that makes any sense haha</p>

<p>Thanks again though for answer my other questions! Anyone else have anything to add?</p>

5

<p>the CALS and COE students basically have the same curriculum. You CAN definitely do either “applying engineering to cure diseases” OR “engineering on a bio system level” - it’s a VERY broad field and you can do either and that doesn’t matter if you’re CALS or COE. </p>

<p>The biggest factor I’d take into account if you apply to CALS is your overall academic interests. If you truly enjoy the life sciences a lot more than like math / engineering, then do bioeng at CALS because you’ll then have access to other life sci. majors. If you are more of an engineer type, apply to COE because at COE, you’ll be able to switch to another engineering major if you don’t like bioeng. </p>

<p>Sadly, money also makes the issue very very complicated here - CALS for a NYS resident is A LOT cheaper. <em>one possible compromise: spend your first 1-2 years at CALS to save money and then transfer to engineering</em>… i wouldn’t recommend on doing that but that’s definitely an option.</p>

<p>good luck :)</p>

6

<p>haha i guess i kinda repeated myself there</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

7

<p>They are the same exact program, except you apply to different colleges with different admissions committees. Applying to engineering, you don’t need to declare a major & are in the admissions pool with all engineering applicants. Applying to CALS, you apply specifically to the BEE major, which is relatively small. However, you never know how many apply & how many they accept. If applying to CALS, it’s probably important to have ECs, etc in biological sciences. </p>

<p>Regarding tuition: If NY state resident, you pay CALS tuition for 3 years & then are automatically transferred to engineering & pay their tuition. Diploma is signed by both Engineering & CALS.</p>

8

<p>so is it 2 years reduced tuition or 3? lol…would a current student enlighten us? </p>

<p>btw i also heard that CALS grant’s more AP CREDITS than COE as far as your liberal arts/distribution requirements…</p>

<p>so if u have ap credit you might want to get into CALS</p>

9

<p>Hi! I’m in CALS majoring in Environmental Engineering.</p>

<p>Here’s what I was told by my advisor (who happens to be the EnvEng Program Director in CALS):

  • All BEE students in CALS spend their first 2 years in CALS, and then are automatically co-registered in CALS and COE for their junior and senior years.
  • However, this doesn’t mean you end up paying COE tuition for the last two years; if you are a NYS resident you’ll pay the decreased tuition all four years.
  • Transfer credits for AP scores are granted by COE so that’s not really a factor in choosing which college to apply to.
  • Technically, as a BEE student you have to meet the same general requirements as all of the engineering students in COE. However, we have a couple of BEE courses that are different, but fulfill the COE requirements. For example, all engineering students are required to take an Intro to Engineering course as well as an Intro to Computer Programming course. But for BEE students, taking one course (BEE 1510) satisfies both those requirements. COE students have to take two classes to fulfill both those requirements. I think that’s probably the only difference though, to be honest.</p>

<p>Anyhoo, that’s what my faculty advisor told me. ^^;;</p>

10

<p>Out of curiosity, by the time you get to Jr. Year, are there more BEE students who were from CALS than from COE? or is it spilt roughly down the middle</p>

<p>I cant wait; I’m a CALS EnvE this upcoming year :)</p>