<p>Would it be accurate to say that MIT's BioE department focuses on bioengineering at the molecular level (eg. drug delivery, tissue engineering molecular therapeutics) more than it does on the design of medical devices? I know that many schools focus primarily on designing devices and that's not really my interest. I am attracted to MIT's department because I have this notion--is it accurate or is it a misconception. I think the reason is that the head of the department, Douglass Lauffenburger is a cell biologist by training.</p>
<p>So,</p>
<p>Your intersted in manipulating the organic chemistry of the human body... are you?</p>
<p>if that's what molecular therapeutics, drug delivery, and tissue engineering is then i guess.</p>
<p>You are correct. At MIT traditional biomedical engineering is not a separate department but is a field of application of many different engineering departments ranging from electrical, mechanical, chemical engineering and materials and computer science. So, in effect, any engineer at MIT can be involved in biomedical applications and MIT has by far the largest concentration of biomedical engineering research programs of any university in the US despite not having a formal biomedical engineering department. It has always viewed biomedical engineering as a multi-disciplinary field not a separate field of engineering.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Biological Engineering is a very new type of engineering department grounded in the biological sciences. It is the first new department created at MIT in the past two decades and a unique program in the US. It acknowledges that advances in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, in design of novel materials and drug delivery systems, devices, and processes could not be achieved without a strong understanding of molecular and cell biology. In the same way that most traditional engineering departments are grounded in physics or chemistry, biological engineering is grounded in biology. The field is simply too complex to expect engineers without a strong background in the field to solve these new challenges. Not surprisingly, the department has been hugely popular since its inception and majoring in the program typically involves a selection by lottery because of the great number of interested candidates.</p>
<p>lol good b/c thats what i put on my app. Is there a lottery for prospective students who list that as their potential field of interest, or only once you get there-i.e. to declare it? Like it won't make it harder for me to get in because i listed it right?</p>
<p>The lottery is only after you get in and declare a major. Expressing interest in the BE program does not affect admission as many students are undecided or decide well after admission. If anything it will show that you are seriously interested in MIT and have done your homework. MIT does take the "match" between student and the institute very seriously.</p>
<p>The lottery, though, should only be a temporary thing while the department is ramping up its facilities. The lottery was not held as planned in 2006, since the number of students who applied for the lottery was within the limits of the department's resources. I'm not sure if it was held in 2007.</p>
<p>As far as I am aware, the lottery process will probably not exist when the class of 2012 declares majors.</p>
<p>Phew, that was my understanding about the lottery. If I should get the opportunity that is where I am directly headed to.</p>
<p>If you want to see what classes you have to take for course 20:</p>
<p>MIT</a> Course Catalogue: Course 20</p>
<p>(And yes, as you can tell by following the link, your notion is accurate)</p>