Campus Tours for Prospective Students

<p>My son would like to go for a campus visit to LSU over the summer. He's really leaning towards biomedical engineering which LSU doesn't offer, but he hasn't completely made up his mind yet. His dad & I both graduated from LSU and I think he should tour the campus just as a good "data point". We live near Houston, so it's an easy trip over. Can anyone let me know the best way to set up a tour/visit? I know the website mentioned "daily tours", but wondered if there are certain dates that are better than others.</p>

<p>any date should be as good as any other, basically. they don’t say much at the info meeting that isn’t on the website. lsu does have a nice campus, and that’s what you’ll gain from visiting. i also suggest that if any of you are coffee people, you stop by a local chain of coffee shops, community coffee house (it’s in the library) and there’s also a local, independent coffee house right off campus called highland coffee. </p>

<p>about biomed engineering as a major:
i was considering it, but from what i can tell it’s not a very good undergrad degree. after graduating with an undergrad degree, you don’t have the best of career prospects–think research lackey at best with little ladder to climb. he’ll need a master’s degree to do anything fun.
the biomed curriculum is generally lackluster for the real world as well. biomed is such an expansive field that undergrads just can’t be well rounded in it; so typically you either have basically a general engineering degree with some biology thrown in, or some other type of engineering degree with biology thrown in. i would suggest studying an engineering based on what he wants to do <em>after</em> school. if he wants to build electrical implants/devices, do electrical engineering. if he wants to build prosthetics, do mechanical. if he wants to manage a drug factory, do chemical. biomedical degrees at the undergrad level aren’t the best way to go. choose a different engineering major, maybe with a biology double major or minor, then go to grad school in biomed. i hope that helps, and feel free to PM me if you have any questions. </p>

<p>other people here may think i’m full of ****, but that’s my advice, lol.
fwiw lsu’s bioengineering is NOTHING like biomed.</p>

<p>We also live in Houston & toured LSU last summer. I signed us up for the tour through the web site. The Admissions session was large as was the tour group. We were not impressed with the student leading our tour group…she was unable to veer off her script and even told a group member not to interrupt her because it through her off. Having said that, it is definitely worth taking the time for the “official” visit through the Admissions office because it does cover a lot of information & you will see the main parts of campus. The dorm tours are optional and I recommend taking it. It started to rain right before our dorm tour, so we sent our son out with the group leader & my umbrella…great decision because DS got to see the campus on his own and ask the student leader any questions he didn’t want to ask with mom & dad around. LSU is tied for the #1 choice of DS and he will apply as soon as the app is available on June 1.
Final recommendations: sign up online for the Admissions session & group tour; eat lunch someplace on campus; take the dorm tour; let your son do some walking around on his own or with a current student, if possible; don’t hesitate to stop students walking around campus & ask them questions…we did this and got great answers that were not covered in our tour guides script.</p>

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<p>Sounds legit. It sounds like you would need a Masters degree anyway to be competitive in the biomed market, so why not have an undergrad degree in one of the major engineering disciplines as a fallback for if you have a change of heart?</p>

<p>Totally agree about the LSU bioengineering statement. From what I understand, it’s more of an environmental engineering dealing a lot with water quality, sewage, etc.</p>

<p>Thanks for the help. His current longterm plan is med school, but we know it’s important to have a ‘plan b’. With the scholarship money LSU offers it’s tempting to do his undergrad there and we still have family there, but I’m not really excited about him being 5 hours away!</p>

<p>We’ll take the tour and see what he thinks. We’ve already been to a function for Juniors at UT and he’s visiting A&M this summer. He’s already experienced a couple of Saturday nights in Death Valley and “Geaux Tigers” was one of his first phrases, so only reasonable to check LSU as an option!</p>

<p>1dsnhs, what makes your son interested in LSU? Are you guys alumni?</p>

<p>“1dsnhs, what makes your son interested in LSU? Are you guys alumni?”</p>

<p>We are UH alumni, but I had a cousin who played football for LSU when they won the BCS game a couple of years ago and the interest began then. DS originally thought UT (which I did NOT) so we took him to see several oos universities last summer. I am a native Texan and I hate saying this, but everything we saw oos was better than anything we’ve seen in Texas…and we have seen most all, believe me! Plus, the oos schools are offering great scholarships and DS will not qualify for anything at UT or A&M (not NMS, a minority or female). DS liked just about everything at LSU…location, campus size, campus atmosphere, traditions, Engineering options (more than 2 majors since he is undecided on the exact area) & Greek system to name a few specifics. Now that LSU is ranked as a top tier (& yes, I know it’s at the bottom, but it’s still nationally ranked) we would be quite happy if DS matriculates at LSU. As for its party reputation, I don’t think it’s any worse than UT’s. Heck, I went to UH and managed to find the parties and also spent a fair amount of time at A&M’s as well…it’s part of the college experience.</p>

<p>Just wondering, what kind of students are your sons? If they have great numbers and are top applicants, you can get personal tours if you call the right people. I was just going to go on the regular tour and my mother called and mentioned we were visiting, and they went full out and arranged a personal tour, a meeting with a dean in my department for lunch, private tours of the Mass comm facilities, and meetings with Honors College and Scholarship department members.</p>

<p>It’s really what sold my parents on LSU. My father came with and my mother spoke on the phone with some people and they were very impressed. LSU was an unrealistic option to them before all this and this made it seem as if I was almost destined to attend.</p>

<p>If you’re interested in more, send me a PM and I can direct you to someone. I visited in January, so I’m not sure they would do this all this soon, but they might or you can talk about it.</p>

<p>Do you know anything about their Chemistry or Biology programs, or about the research opportunities?</p>

<p>he should look into the Louisiana Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Scholars program, but not if he knows he wants to be a doctor
[LaSTEM</a> @ LSU: Louisiana Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Research Scholars Program](<a href=“(LA-STEM) Research Scholars Program | LSU Office of Strategic Initiatives”>(LA-STEM) Research Scholars Program | LSU Office of Strategic Initiatives)</p>

<p>thisDude, why would you say “not if he wants to be a doctor”?</p>

<p>because the program is designed (and funded by the DoE) with the purpose of increasing post-graduate studies in STEM (sci, tech, eng, and math) and mainly PhDs, which excludes doctors</p>

<p>There is a such thing a a M.D./PhD. I know several students who are pursuing this path. they wanted to practice medicine, but at the same do research in a medically related field. So not all doctors are excluded. </p>

<p>Anyway, I don’t think it would be that hard to get involved in research at LSU, so even if you didn’t participate in STEM, you should be able to find a research job somewhere on campus or at Pennington. But I would guess you would miss out on the STEM related courses, though.</p>