<p>What is the process for becoming a biomedical engineering major at UVA? BME is my main choice of major no matter where I go, and I'm wondering what sort of students get into UVA's BME program. I'm also applying to the University of Maryland, which has a brand-new, less selective program from what I gather.</p>
<p>At a recent admissions meeting with a panel of UVA grads, I learned from one of them you have to apply for the BME major at the end of freshman or sophomore year (can’t remember) after completing the general engineering coursework. So if you’re admitted to UVA SEAS you’re not admitted to any specific major within the school yet</p>
<p>The previous post is correct. BME is probably the most popular major in the E-school. It has to be “Capped” due to the high demand. I think at the orientation for my D they said around 100 or so was the limit. It is based on your GPA freshman year. Chemical engineering is also very competitive (due to faculty limitations I believe). Being UVA it is highly competitive for both programs (look at the “average” SAT score for the E-school and you will see my point). D was also told that you can apply again if you miss the first cut your second year. They gave some stats regarding percentage of first choices accepted, second choices, etc. during the orientation but I did not bother to write them down. I’m sure someone else has a handle on the numbers.</p>
<p>S was accepted into BME but decided to do Systems. Both are capped. His freshman GPA was slightly above 3.5. His high school ~3.9 weighted (0 for honors & 0.5 for APs) SAT ~2100. A friend’s daughter did not get in the 1st year and was accepted the 2nd. Her freshman GPA was about 3.2. Hope his helps you decide.</p>
<p>The capped programs aren’t cut-throat, even BME. BME is competitive though, but they’re looking for people with solid GPAs (3.0+), an interest in the field, and ECs. Systems is “capped” but with expanding facilities and a focus on expanding the program, I doubt you’d ever see someone get rejected from it in the near future, the only case being a low GPA, and if you have that low of a GPA then you should probably reconsider the e-school as a whole. I looked into switching into Systems during my second year and they said I’d have to do the whole application process, but that it wouldn’t be a big deal to switch (aka, the room was there).</p>
<p>FYI, there’s other programs “capped” as well, including CS, CpE, and ChemE. None of these ever come close to reaching the threshold though…</p>
<p>Also, I highly recommend searching for “BME” on here since that’s a term thrown around a lot, not Biomedical Engineering. There’s been a ton of talk about BME and there’s a couple of current/former BMEs on here. I think you’ll find a wealth of info and will answer some of your current questions and spur some new ones, in which case we’ll try to answer them for you. Good luck!</p>
<p>Unfamiliar, but bump for you.</p>
<p>When you say “ECs” I can’t help but wonder how many ECs if at all they can expect you to have at the end of your first year. Also, how does one demonstrate interest when opportunities for research and internship are not available in the first year. </p>
<p>Also, how difficult are the first year engineering classes at UVA?</p>
<p>ECs are anything from joining your first-year house council to playing kickball to whatever. There’s plenty of time to join ECs first year and frankly, first semester is a great time to get out and join them and meet people. They’re not looking for leadership in them, they just want to see you doing stuff outside of school.
And demonstrated interest can be taking bio classes or doing a BME project (if possible) in ENGR 162, stuff like that.
Those aren’t requirements by any means, but if you’re borderline on being accepted and have those things, it’ll help your chances. They’re not tough guidelines to meet, either.</p>
<p>And classes are a breeze, like all engineering programs…</p>