<p>So I recently got accepted to UNC (WOOO!!) and now I'm dreaded with the decision to either go to NC State or UNC for biomedical engineering. UNC is my dream school and I always saw myself attending there, but NC State is known purely on engineering. </p>
<p>I know that UNC is not ABET accredited, but are there any former/current Biomedical Engineering students that would like to share their experience @ UNC? Did you continue on to grad school? Were you successful in finding any career opportunities? Are there companies out there taking biomedical engineer graduates from UNC?</p>
<p>I plan on going to grad school. I do not know what kind of grad school yet, whether it be med school, PA program, etc, but I know I want to continue my education after undergrad.</p>
<p>It sounds like you are more interested in the bio-medical aspect than the engineering component. If you are interested in medical (bio/chem) research, then it’s a no brainer to go to UNC. State has a strong engineering program but UNC is a medical (bio/chem) powerhouse. Though the pre-med classes at UNC present pretty stiff competition. </p>
<p>UNC-CH RANKINGS</p>
<p>• #36 Physics (NCSU RANKED 52)
• #2 Best Medical Schools: Primary Care
• #20 Best Medical Schools: Research
• #10 AIDS
• #2 Family medicine
• #13 Geriatrics
• #22 Internal medicine
• #20 Pediatrics
• #6 Rural medicine
• #13 Women’s Health
• #4 Nursing
• #4 Clinical Nurse Specialist: Community / Public Health
• #4 Clinical Nurse Specialist: Psychiatric / Mental Health
• #12 Nurse Practitioner: Adult
• #11 Nurse Practitioner: Family
• #10 Nurse Practitioner: Pediatric
• #6 Nursing Service Administration
• #24 Biological Sciences (NCSU RANKED 82)
• #13 Chemistry (NCSU RANKED 60)
• #1 Analytical
• #8 Inorganic
• #18 Organic
• #20 Computer Science (NCSU RANKED 47)</p>
<p>Thanks John Black for those rankings. Clearly UNC beats NCSU in many different aspects. But I’m pretty attached to Biomedical Engineering as my major. Would it look bad if I major it in UNC when I had the opportunity to take it in NCSU?</p>
<p>Do you know any students in the Biomedical Engineering, or any engineering field for that matter, that are content with their choice?</p>
<p>I know a number of biomedical engineering majors and it seems like a respected major. I usually think of NC State as non-science engineering majors like electrical, mechanical, civil, industrial, etc.</p>
<p>The BME major is done in conjunction with State as far as I know. So you would still be taking some classes there in the later years, I think. For any other type of engineering, I would definitely say State, but I know a few BME majors here who are happy with it. Like JohnBlack said, UNC all the way for a more medical focus. And overall, UNC is a better school and you would get a better education here and a more nationally respected degree.</p>
I hate to say it, but if you’re OOS (not sure if you are), I’d recommend Duke for BME. Their Pratt School of Engineering has the second best Biomedical Engineering program, with Johns Hopkins in the #1 spot. I’m a Tar Heel alumnus, though sometimes academics override other factors.
@cocodude I’ve done some research on biomed accreditation and I don’t think it’s a big deal that it’s not accredited. Apparently engineering accreditation is important if you want to become a professional engineer, so it is almost mandatory for professions like civil engineers. But, since biomedical is such a new field and not really a traditional kind of engineering, accreditation is not as important. Even Stanford and MIT do not have accredited biomedical programs. That being said, if one is looking to do another kind of engineering in conjunction with biomedical, or is looking to do another kind of engineering in grad school, state would probably be the better option. I saw in another post that you’re looking to do med school, and in that case I would think UNC would be the better option due to the medical facilities they have on campus. It also seems that if you do biomed and UNC then you can take any classes or use any facilities that you need at state while you are an undergrad. One thing I haven’t been able to find are any rankings of biomedical programs with UNC in them. I’m not sure how highly ranked the program is and if it would hurt any career/grad school options coming out of that program.
Does anyone know the logistics regarding the joint program? Are certain classes taken at State and others at UNC? I’m confused as to what parts of the program are joint. Thanks!
@warriorsoccer
From the research I’ve done, although it is a joint department, you can take all classes that you want at UNC. I believe that if you wanted to, you could take a particular class at state, or use their labs for research or something, but there is no required travel between the two campuses as an undergrad
As a current student at NC State in the Biomedical Engineering program that had to choose between the two schools, I have a lot of advice for this situation. Most importantly, tour the departments at both locations. My heart was set on going to UNC, but when I toured the departments and compared it to the program at NC State, I changed my mind quickly. In the most unbiased way possible, the program at NC State is a much better option. As of now, the program at UNC has very limited facilities and is not accredited (which matters a lot more than others have been suggesting) and honestly seems unorganized. Also, itt just recently became an actual degree at UNC, beforehand it was just a concentration in applied sciences. In addition, you have to remember that this is an ENGINEERING degree, NC State has much more resources than UNC for engineering. If you are wanting to do pre-med along with BME, which I am also doing, it isn’t going to make a difference that you did it at NC State instead of UNC.
In all, if you have the grades and the ability to go, I would recommend Duke for BME. If not, NC State is a fantastic choice. In the next few years, the BME departments at UNC and NC State will be actually joining at the undergraduate level so this decision will not be as much as an issue.
The issue I have is what if you decide that BME is not for you but engineering is? At UNC that means transferring to a new school. At NC State, it means a trip to the advisor’s office. Just something to consider.
I highly recommend that you don’t choose BME. There are very few BME jobs. According to the BLS, there are 270,700 mechanical engineering jobs, but only 20,080 BME jobs. If want to do engineering, I’d suggest transferring to an engineering college and choose mechanical engineering.
Source:
[1] http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172031.htm
[2] http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172141.htm