Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering

<p>Anyone have suggestions for undergraduate schools in the northeast offering biomedical engineering or bioengineering?</p>

<p>MIT (10 char)</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins</p>

<p>Harvard : )</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins
MIT
Case Western
UMichigan Ann Arbor
UPenn
Boston University
Northwestern
UWisconsin--Madison
Cornell
RPI
UIUC
University of Pittsburgh</p>

<p>whats the difference b/w the two majors?</p>

<p>I think they're pretty much the same thing, at the undergraduate level.</p>

<p>MIT, BU, Harvard (yes, I'm aware that these were already said, but I'm seconding/thirding them).</p>

<p>The Boston area is great for BE/BME. Not just in the sense of schools, but in the sense of jobs.</p>

<p>Just don't make the mistake of majoring solely in BME...</p>

<p>Just don't make the mistake of majoring solely in BME...</p>

<p>Can you expand on this?</p>

<p>While I can't speak for others, the problem with the BME undergrad major is that it isn't highly marketable, relative to other engineering majors. Nor do you need a BME degree to get a job in that field. Other engineering majors, such as ME or EECS, can work just as well. </p>

<p>The problem seems to be one of negotiating power. If you get a degree in EECS, you can legitimately obtain a relatively high paying job in that field, or at least you can claim that you have. A BME employer would know that, and hence would not try to screw you over when it comes to salary negotiation. However, if you have a BME degree, you have less flexibility, and the employers would know that and may then try to lowball you on pay. Negotiation power is all about options; the more options you have (or at least, that they think you have), the more power you have.</p>

<p>"and the employers would know that and may then try to lowball you on pay"</p>

<p>Not "may"...they do. I've spoken to quite a few people trying to enter the field and, while they originally went for the major because of the explosive growth of the biotech industry (some might call it a bubble), they're finding that job opportunities are limited. Companies engaged in biomed tech R&D existed way before the popularization of the major and used to form teams of engineers of varying backgrounds (e.g. ME, EE, CE, and ChE) to work on designs. If you think about it, BME is essentially the perverse offspring of these various majors. The fact of the matter is that BME is too specialized to offer recipients of the degree much viability in the job market, while the curriculum itself is but a sampling of the various aforementioned majors and far too broad-based to be of any use in R&D. This, however, may change in the next 10-20 years and that probably explains why people are willing to take the gamble on the major in rapidly increasing numbers. Since much of the curriculum of other majors is covered in BME (e.g. EE or ChE), it would be wise to double major.</p>

<p>^^^Then do many of BME majors become doctors due to the low pay?</p>