<p>Son is interested in biomedical engineering, and would like to eventually settle in the Pacific Northwest. </p>
<p>How is the BME program up there? Are there internships or coops available to students?</p>
<p>We're OOS, so kind of scared to go to a state univ, with all the budget cuts that are happening with state unies right now, so wondering if there is a private/religious university up there that has BME as a major.</p>
<p>There is no BME major. The closest is bioengineering.</p>
<p>Hey, gut, what are you doing way out here in Seattle? Long way from Marquette and SLU! :)</p>
<p>The accredited BME programs are listed on the ABET website. There’s a school in Oregon - forgot which one - in Corvallis. Quite sure it’s public as well.</p>
<p>I don’t get what “bioengineering” is either. The website describes a program which looks pretty BME-ish to me, and ABET does call it accredited for BME.</p>
<p>UW is heavily in-state, for what that’s worth. Beautiful location.</p>
<p>Hi, Beastman! Just broadening our horizons!</p>
<p>Son interested in perhaps settling in the Pacific NW, so thought we’d check out schools there as well.</p>
<p>Lots of schools do offer bioengineering, and initially, I’ve glossed over them, because many of them deal with “green science” or agriculture, especially down here in the south.
Got to look at the curriculum.</p>
<p>Hoping to hear from some BME majors at UW that can give us some insight on class size, internships, coops, et cetera.</p>
<p>Good luck in your search!</p>
<p>I hear you. Any UW bioengineers, we’d love to hear from you.</p>
<p>I am not in a position to offer much, but there is a 21 min video on UW’s bioengineering website that I found quite informative (although of more interest to a grad student, I think). Based on this and my nickel’s worth of research in BME, I’d say BME and bioengineering are synonomous and are frequently used this way.</p>
<p>Off topic: I just read that 75% of Marquette’s BMEs coop. You probably know this.</p>
<p>Hi Montegut. I’m a UW bioengineer so I’ll try to answer what I can for you.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Although the program is called bioengineering I think it’s more accurate to call it biomedical engineering since our curriculum is heavily based on medical applications. We don’t really study agriculture, ect.</p></li>
<li><p>Internships and co-ops are available to students. There are a lot of research opportunities as well. Many of my friends are doing/have done research at the UW, Fred Hutchison, the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, ect. There’s also the capstone project requirement for graduation which forces all students to design their own year-long research project.</p></li>
<li><p>There have been huge budget cuts at the UW but I don’t think it will affect the BioE department too much. We get a lot of research funding and there was recently an article in the Daily (UW’s student-run newspaper) about how priority will be given to biomedical sciences (as well as energy) for funding. </p></li>
<li><p>The program recently got accreditation from ABET.</p></li>
<li><p>Class sizes are very nice. The BioE BS program is still new so the program is small - about 50-60 people in my year? For the two lab classes that I’ve taken, we’ve had a ratio of about 7:1 students to teacher (1 professor and 2 TAs for a class of >20 students). Also, since the class is small, classes are only offered once a year so everyone moves together in a cohort. This isn’t bad since everyone gets to know each other well.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks so much for the post. Really like the class size comments, since son is hesitant to apply to a state school because of size. I’m sure the campus wide enrollment is huge, but good to know classes in particular majors can be small.</p>
<p>Thanks to both you and beastman for the info. Will check out that video and the rest of the website to explore further. Maybe we’ll send some scores there and see if we get any interest.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Are there engineering dorms?</p>
<p>Do you have to apply specifically to the engineering school, or do you just get admitted in general, then declare a major?</p>
<p>Do you need to have a car on campus? </p>
<p>How is public transportation in Seattle?</p>
<p>Are there grocery stores near campus, within walking distance?</p>
<p>Is there an indoor pool on campus?</p>
<p>How is the weather in the winter? </p>
<p>Sorry for the hodgepodge of questions, but excited to learn more about the school.</p>
<p>Thanks for any info!</p>
<p>I noticed you hadn’t received a reply to your questions so here goes:</p>
<p>The engineering dorm is McCarty, located at the north end of the campus.</p>
<p>Freshmen can apply for direct admission to the BioE program or they can apply for admission to following their Freshman or Sophomore year.</p>
<p>Most undergraduate students do not require a car while at UW. The public transportation system in Seattle is excellent by all accounts. Students can get a “UPass” for $90 per quarter which includes unlimited use of the metro transit services. [UW</a> Commuter Services : Commuter Programs : U-Pass Program](<a href=“Citations | Transportation Services”>Citations | Transportation Services)</p>
<p>There are several grocery stores within walking distance from the campus. The closest to McCarty Hall is about six blocks away.</p>
<p>There are three indoor pools on campus: a 25 yd indoor pool at the Intramural Activities (IMA) building, a lap pool in the Edmundson Pavilion and another lap pool in Hutchinson Hall (about a block from McCarty Hall).</p>
<p>The weather in Seattle lacks extremes. The winters are mildly cold (typically in the mid to low 40’s) and rainy (Seattle gets about 36 inches of rain per year, almost all of it between November and April). Some folks complain that the skies are always grey in the Winter and I suppose that’s true for the most part. I personally think the remaining three seasons more than make up for it. Fall and Spring are absolutely fantastic, mild temps, sunny days and clear nights. Summer is the best of all, it seldom (if ever) rains and the temps are usually in the 70’s and low 80’s. Very comfortable indeed. I’ve lived all over this country of ours and I can honestly say, I’ve found my retirement home!</p>
<p>Hope that answers your questions. Let us know if you have any more.</p>
<p>Thank you so much, fly! That answers a lot of questions! Whether son goes to UW or not, we have decided that a trip to the Pacific Northwest will be our graduation gift to ourselves next summer. I really hope we can visit the college, though, before decision day next May, because we will definitely be applying!</p>