BME: Cal Poly vs UCs

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Well, most of my decisions have come through and as of far I've been accepted to UCR,UCM,UCI, and Cal poly for biomedical engineering. I've been doing a bit of research on their programs and it seems that Cal poly had just been ABET-accredited making it one of two schools (besides UCSD) in california with an ABET BME program. Link to CP's BME page here: <a href="http://bmegene.calpoly.edu/programs/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://bmegene.calpoly.edu/programs/&lt;/a> It's a very attractive factor and one of the reasons Cal poly is a top choice for me</p>

<p>ABET's BME webpage is, however,only updated to Oct 2006. (<a href="http://www.abet.org/schoolareaeac.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.abet.org/schoolareaeac.asp&lt;/a&gt;) Have any other BME programs, especially those of the UCs, recieved accreditation since then?</p>

<p>I've also been hearing alot about how Cal poly and CSUs in general prepare you better for a job after 4 years while UCs better prepare you for grad school. I've also been told that a BME major needs a Masters degree or up to be competitive in the job market. In that case would it be better to go to the UC? I just need some help deciding here</p>

<p>thanks for your help and hopefully your answers will help others besides me, too</p>

2

<p>I recommend to anyone wanting to work in BME to get ME for undergrad and then BME for a masters. Cal Poly has a 4+1 (and many people do this).</p>

<p>There is virtually no advantage to hiring a BME undergrad over an ME undergrad.</p>

3

<p>It's true that there are few California schools with ABET-accredited BME programs. But the main reason for this is that ABET accreditation is not considered particularly important or necessary in BME. Many top engineering schools, like Stanford, Caltech, MIT, and Cornell, have never bothered to get ABET accreditation for their biomedical or bioengineering programs.</p>

<p>ABET accreditation is important in traditional engineering disciplines that are subject to state licensing laws (e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical). State engineering boards always require or prefer ABET degrees, and reputable degree programs in regulated disciplines are always ABET-accredited.</p>

<p>But BME is a different story. BMEs are basically unregulated; they are not licensed in any state. So legally, there is no real difference between ABET and non-ABET BME degrees. The only practical advantage to an ABET BME degree is that it might be helpful if you wanted to cross over from BME into a more regulated discipline, like ME or ChE. </p>

<p>The bottom line is that ABET accreditation in BME certainly doesn't hurt, and Cal Poly may be a perfectly good choice. But you probably shouldn't regard ABET accreditation as a major plus for a BME program.</p>

4

<p>I agree. Whether a school has ABET or not is rarely a good indicator of the strength of the program. However, I still maintain that BME is only gives value added over an ME at the graduate level.</p>

5

<p>Thanks alot for the tips. I keep what you guys said in mind</p>

6

<p>UCSD is ranked pretty high on US News for BME up with MIT, GA Tech, Duke, and Johns Hopkins</p>

7

<p>Mr Payne, BME is not medicine + mech e. A lot of BME programs don't even require you to take mech e classes. Some programs allow you to take a cell and tissue engineering track, why would someone interested in cell and tissue engineering (a BME subfield in a lot of schools) major in mechanical engineering? What if someone is interested in medical imaging? What about bioinformatics or computational biology? What about systems bioengineering? These are all "BME" fields in a lot of schools.</p>

<h2>BME is not just BioMechanical engineering and even though it often is doesn't mean it is everywhere and doesn't mean that all BMEs are interested in mech e at all.</h2>

<p>I'm doing a BME undergrad track and hoping to go to a more traditional engineering major for grad school.</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
I'm doing a BME undergrad track and hoping to go to a more traditional engineering major for grad school.

[/quote]
Incidentally, this is the kind of situation where an ABET-accredited BME degree might be helpful. Graduate schools in traditional engineering disciplines often require or prefer applicants with ABET degrees. </p>

<p>I'm sure that some people with unaccredited BME degrees have successfully "crossed over" into more traditional disciplines for graduate school. But in general, an ABET BME degree would probably improve your chances.</p>

9

<p>
[quote]

BME is not just BioMechanical engineering and even though it often is doesn't mean it is everywhere and doesn't mean that all BMEs are interested in mech e at all.

[/quote]
I'm quite aware. I was just saying that BME rarely gives one a way to add value over a traditional ME in many of the jobs that BMEs operate in.</p>