<p>check this out - <a href="http://web.mit.edu/be/education/ugrad-reqs.htm%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/be/education/ugrad-reqs.htm</a></p>
<p>Enrollment in the BE SB is initially limited to about 20 students per year. Students who complete BE.110 and the freshmen requirements described above are eligible to apply for admission during fall term of their sophomore year. If the number of applications exceeds the available slots, a lottery will be conducted at the end of fall term to select sophomores for the class and a wait list will be maintained. Students who are not admitted to the BE SB may still take most of the core subjects and earn a BME Minor degree.</p>
<p>Does this mean that those admitted to the class of '09 who wanna major in BE are VERY unlikely to get their first choice? Did I read wrongly or is the figure really "20"?</p>
<p>ye, u are right. so.....well a lot of people want to study BioE. so it got to be competitive.</p>
<p>ehh if I can't get into BE, there's always course 7 or 10.</p>
<p>oh you mean course 10XB in particular? It's pretty similar to BE right?</p>
<p>Wow! another thing to worry about</p>
<p>bahahaha "there's always course 10." That is like the hardest course in MIT.</p>
<p>oh dear... I think quite a few of us put the BE-SB major down in our MIT app. Since MIT can't admit so many freshmen to this program, will our choice of major hurt our chances of being admitted?</p>
<p>To bubloy_two: why's course 10 the Hardest course in MIT, and not any other engineering course?</p>
<p>I'm wondering the same thing as mit_hopeful. Will they still be major-blind in admission?</p>
<p>they dont look at majors. it's just for stats purposes. chances are you wont major in what you thought you were going to. the average undergrad changes majors 7 times.</p>
<p>only 20? how crazy...</p>
<p>maybe that's just for now, though, since the bioengineering major is just getting off the ground. maybe they'll expand the program when they see a lot of student enthusiasm toward studying that major?</p>
<p>I don't think major on your application matters.</p>
<p>You first declare your major at the end of your Freshman year. Many people completely change their minds after getting their butts kicked the first two terms. (For instance, I went from Brain and Cog (9) to Computer Science (6-3) w/ BME Minor) </p>
<p>The bioengineering major is brand new, but they've had a Minor and Master's program for a time, now. I wouldn't worry about whether they have enough room in it or not. I've never heard of a student not being able to declare a major because of space constraints.</p>
<p>Really? Then why this terrible competition and a "lottery"? This is so alarming=(</p>
<p>I went to an info session last fall about the BE major because I was considering it at the time, but since then have declared 10-B so I'm not completely up to date with what's going on.</p>
<p>From what I gather, because this year (class of 2008) is the first year it's being offered as a major, there's limited lab space, so they're limiting the number of people in the major. So, that's why there's a lottery. I assume that in the next few years, they'll be able to expand the facilities and department, and there will no longer need to be a cap. </p>
<p>As for the major question on the app, at an admissions talk by Marilee Jones, she said that what department you choose as absolutely no bearing whatsoever on your application. The question is only posed for statistical purposes, because professors are curious about what percentage of students end up majoring in the same field that they intend to when enterring MIT. that's it, just for statistical/research purposes. Putting down a less popular major will not make you a more desireable candidate. That being said, this is yet another chance for you to demonstrate in your app what your passions/interests in. If you can encapsulate, in a couple hundred words, what academic subject really fascinates you and why you think that MIT is a good fit for you, that's a plus.</p>
<p>How similar is course 10-B to BE? And how hard is it? Thanks=)</p>
<p>Since I'm a freshman, I really can't say how hard 10-B is, since this is the first semester I'm taking any classes specifically for my major (5.60 thermodynamics & kinetics and 5.12 organic chemistry)</p>
<p>10-B is very different from BE. 10-B is a track in the chemical engineering department, where, in place of some chemE electives, you take bio classes such as genetics (7.03), cell biology (7.06), and intro to experimental bio & communication (10.702 lab). Your advanced labs and electives will also have more of a bio flavor and focus.</p>
<p>Biological engineering (BE), on the other hand, is a completely new field, and this new degree is the first undergraduate program in the world. Many other schools offer biomedical engineering (BME) or bioengineering, but that is different from BE. A biomedical/bioengineering engineering program involves learning the principles and techniques of a more traditional engineering discipline, such as mechanical or electrical, and applying it to the biological field. For instance, someone could major in biomechanics, where you study mechanical engineering, and then take some classes on how to apply that to biology, to build artificial limbs, for instance. Because biomedical engineering is an applied field, MIT has resisted pressure to create a BME undergrad degree. Instead, there's a BME minor. Supposedly, majoring in a normal engineering discipline and minoring in BME is equivalent to a BME degree at any other school. </p>
<p>What BE is is engineering using biology as the foundation science, much like how physics/mechanics is the foundation science for mechanical engineering, and chemistry is for chemical engineering. For more information, check out the BE website: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/be/education/ugrad.htm%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/be/education/ugrad.htm</a> andd this issue of BioTECH: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/bmes/www/thebiotech_vol3no1.html%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/bmes/www/thebiotech_vol3no1.html</a></p>
<p>I was considering BE last semester, but have decided on 10-B instead. If any one is interested, I can post about why I decided to do 10-B instead of BE.</p>
<p>hey dainerussell, just out of curiosity, do you need anyone to do 5.60 and/or 5.12 with or have a group I can join up with? I'm always interested in meeting people who are also XB.</p>