Biomed vs. Chem Engineering

<p>I really want to go to BU, love Boston and everything about it. But my first preference for majors is Chem E with a minor in Biology. I know BU doesn’t have a Chem E major. What are my options at BU in say, perhaps, Biomed E.
I’m afraid it will be too narrow in scope vs. Chem E. Should I just look elsewhere?</p>

<p>Bump this post from my daughter, using my screen name. Just finishing junior year and is really trying to focus on her options over the summer.
Thanks everyone.</p>

<p>Based on previous BME posts it is really an up and coming field with the BU BME program being very well regarded. Seems like during Sr year they presents projects and top employers come and attend and make job offers. Best bet is to go on the Bunite site on livejournal and ask for specifics from current BME students. Also check the archives of this board and LJ for this topic.</p>

<p>hey, this is my first time posting, so please excuse me if i am being vague. i believe the biomedical engineering major is one of the hardest majors(i'm a ME), if not the hardest, at BU. i think it is rewarding to graduate with such a degree if you are able. biomed will expose you to a bunch of bio/chem and the dreaded engineering curriculum. it is a mixture of engineer/biologist/chemist. if you are REALLY diligent (which i can assume you are for you wanna do eng) I urge you to look into the BME department at BU. i know some of my friends have been scared away from BME because of the almost certain requirement of grad school . all this knowledge is from my BME friends. hope this helps.</p>

<p>Yes, the majority of BME students go on to grad school, but a lot of those students, if not most of them, have grad school paid for by a company they are working for.</p>

<p>Biomedical Engineering is a very new major and therefore isn't offered by that many schools. BU's BME program is ranked 7th and 8th for graduate and undergraduate programs. BU is also an excellent place for BME since Boston is filled with Biomed and Biotech companies and is essentially the Biotechnology center of the U.S., if not the world.</p>

<p>Biomedical Engineering has a wide scope of uses, and 40% of the College of Engineering is Biomed students, so I really don't think that it will have a narrower scope than chemical engineering. When I went to the open house at BU they showed us 4 biomed labs that included studying how neurons network and how that applies to seizures and other neurological problems, producing artificial capillaries and other blood vessels that can be used instead of live animals in testing drugs, and finally we did a hands on activity in the cochlear lab and learned about cochlear implants. I found all of the labs extremely interesting, especially the neuron lab where we could see how they kept brain cells alive outside of the rat for up to 8 hours, and we got to actually see neurons fire through a laser microscope that the grad student running the lab had actually built. Amazing stuff.</p>

<p>Anyways, I found the whole experience quite impressive, but I've always been interested in Biotechnology. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Also, please excuse my spelling, I've been out of school for about 3 weeks and it tends to deteriorate quite quickly.</p>