Cockrell School of Engineering Questions Thread!

<p>I'm (going to be) a 2nd year ChE student. For any prospectives or incoming class of '14 freshman who might have questions regarding Engineering or UT in general, Post them on here and I'd love to help y'all out!</p>

<p>I’ve applied to Cockrell for ME and have 2 major questions. Based on what you’ve seen how competitive is Mech Engineering and when did you get your letter of acceptance from Cockrell?</p>

<p>Do you know anything about BME? Is it hard? I’ve heard it’s similar to the classes like EE.</p>

<p>@CharlesWf: I applied around November 26th-ish (During the Thanksgiving Break of my Senior year) and got my acceptance letter at the middle to end of December. MechE is pretty competitive and a majority of Cockrell students are MechE’s, EE’s, or BME’s.</p>

<p>@Xcellerator: BME is pretty rigorous. My roommate is a BME major and during his first semester he had to take basic intro to BME classes that he got easy A’s in (big GPA booster). This spring semester, however, he had to take 17 hours which included Biology, Chemistry, Engineering Physics, Chemistry Practice Lab,etc. which is REALLY rigorous at UT (Trust me, this is what my first semester looked like and I spent a majority of my time studying). I looked into the course catalog for BME’s and during your 3rd year you take a majority of EE classes (I think Circuit Design and Logic which is EE 306 and some other classes). Heres the link to the course catalog for BME majors and you can see for yourself what classes you have to take , EE-wise:</p>

<p>courses sem hrs
First year, fall
BIO 311C, Introductory Biology I 3
BME 102, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering 1
BME 303, Introduction to Computing 3
CH 302, Principles of Chemistry II 3
CH 204, Introduction to Chemical Practice 2
M 408C, Differential and Integral Calculus 4
total 16
First year, spring
BIO 205L, Laboratory Experiments in Biology: Cellular and Molecular Biology; or BIO 206L, Laboratory Experiments in Biology: Structure and Function of Organisms 2
E E 312, Introduction to Programming 3
M 408D, Sequences, Series, and Multivariable Calculus 4
PHY 303K, Engineering Physics I 3
PHY 103M, Laboratory for Physics 303K 1
RHE 306, Rhetoric and Writing 3
total 16
Second year, fall
BME 314, Engineering Foundations of Biomedical Engineering 3
CH 310M, Organic Chemistry I; or CH 318M, Organic Chemistry I 3
CH 118K, Organic Chemistry Laboratory 1
E 316K, Masterworks of Literature 3
M 427K, Advanced Calculus for Applications I 4
PHY 303L, Engineering Physics II 3
PHY 103N, Laboratory for Physics 303L 1
total 18
Second year, spring
BME 311, Network Analysis in Biomedical Engineering 3
BME 113L, Introduction to Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering 1
BME 333T, Engineering Communication 3
BME 335, Engineering Probability and Statistics 3
CH 353, Physical Chemistry I; or CH 353M, Physical Chemistry I for Life Sciences 3
CH 369, Fundamentals of Biochemistry 3
total 16
Third year, fall
BME 221, Measurement and Instrumentation Laboratory 2
BME 348, Modeling of Biomedical Engineering Systems 3
BME 365R, Quantitative Engineering Physiology I 3
Technical area electives 9
total 17
Third year, spring
BME 251, Biomedical Image, Signal, and Transport Process Laboratory 2
BME 353, Transport Phenomena in Living Systems 3
BME 365S, Quantitative Engineering Physiology II 3
Technical area electives 6
American history 3
total 17
Fourth year, fall
BME 370, Principles of Engineering Design 3
GOV 310L, American Government 3
Technical area elective 3
Senior engineering elective 3
Approved fine arts/humanities elective 3
Approved social science elective 3
total 18
Fourth year, spring
BME 371, Biomedical Engineering Design Project 3
GOV 312L, Issues and Policies in American Government 3
Senior engineering elective 3
Technical area elective 3
American history 3
total 15</p>

<p>What did your high school stats look like?</p>

<p>@CharlesWf:
My stats were :
Senior, South Asian (Indian), Male at a pretty competitive school in TX (was ranked in top 300 of Newsweek Magazine…Most kids can get into Top Private Schools but most students choose to go to state schools ; Top students go to Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Columbia College, Tulane, etc)</p>

<p>Proposed Major:
-Chemical Engineering</p>

<p>GPA:
-UW GPA: 3.85
-W GPA: 5.0119</p>

<p>Rank:

  • Top 2.33% of my class.(12 out of 400)
    -Honors/Pre-AP classes every year
    -ACT w/ Writing: Composite= 32 (10 on the Essay)</p>

<p>Community service: over 400+ hours in hospital, nursing homes, charity banquet, nursing facility, Red Cross, doctors offices, etc.</p>

<p>During the summer:
-Working a office assisting job at a physician recruiting center
-Volunteered at a hospital
-Had a job as a C.N.A. Trainee (worked with the hospice patients; did pretty much every dirty job possible)
-Intership at 2 doctors offices (one ENT; one Family medicine)
-Ran a business that built and sold custom computers on auctioning and classifield sites; Also provided virus removal and hardware installation.</p>

<p>Senior year:
-5 AP classes (Gov, Eco, English Lit, Bio, Psych, Calc BC)</p>

<p>Junior AP classes:
-English Language=4, AP US History=4, AP Comp. Sci AB=4</p>

<p>Total AP Classes: 9</p>

<p>EC’S

  • Youth Group (9,10,11,12)
  • HOSA (Officer) (10,11,12)
  • School districts Tech committee ( i was my school’s representative and leader; lead the change for innovative use of technology in the classrooms to help students gain knowledge) (11,12)
  • Youth Leadership Group (10)
  • NHS (11,12)
  • NTH (11,12)
  • Spanish Club (11)
  • Reading Rocks Program (promoted literacy to senior citizens and children) (team leader) (9,10)
  • Hospital Volunteer Group (Officer) (9,10,11)
  • C.N.A. Certified & CPR Certified (11)
  • National Technical Honor Society (11,12)
  • Senior Clinical Mentor for Clinical Program (10,11,12)
  • Building/selling/repairing custom computers (9,10,11,12)
    As seen from my EC’s i have an interest in technology and medicine.
    All of this at the top of my head.</p>

<p>Bump for Engineering Students!</p>

<p>Are you in the Engineering Honors Program? What are the main differences between being in engineering, and honors engineering?</p>

<p>@bacdgk: I’m not in engineering honors. The main difference, in my opinion, is class size and some amenities that honors students get. They have somewhat better housing and they live in “quads”, which in fact make all the honor students feel united and close knit. Class sizes for honor students are around 20-30 depending on the class (at least that was the class size for Engineering Physics I Honors). The curve for Engineering Honors classes is pretty harsh i’ve heard and the class average on tests, usually, is around the high 60’s. Personally, I see theirs no difference between honors and regular engineering</p>

<p>In the situation that I would want to do internal transfer, where can I find the application form online? I used the link from the undergraduate catalog but it’s not working. Also, are there any deadlines that I need to turn the application in by?</p>

<p>@bacdgk: While the facts iambored10 stated regarding the difference between engineering and engineering honors, I would recommend on applying for the honors program if you are a freshmen. Living in the Andrews/Blanton/Carother has a huge intangible benefit of meeting some of the best and brightest at UT. Furthermore, having smaller classes that first year really help you develop strong bonds and friendship with the top students at UT, not limited to engineering, since some honors classes are cross-major. The honors quad also has a more academic feel to it than the rest of the campus. </p>

<p>IMO, there’s no benefit to be in engineerings after 1st year because most of the honors classes are for introductory courses.</p>

<p>WOOT! I applied to UT and got in (top 10%)! I’m hoping to get into Cockrell to study Chemical Engineering! </p>

<p>How difficult would you say your first year was? :)</p>

<p>IMO the first year is always the most difficult. Not only do you have to get acclimated into the college atmosphere, but the classes you take are weed out classes.
Later on, the concepts may be more difficult, but you get used to the rigor and there’s more grade inflation.</p>

<p>I agree with liu. My first year, I wondered what the heck I was doing in Honors Engineering!! It was a struggle. Then things improved and I ended up with a high GPA and went on to get my master’s degree.</p>

<p>Do try to stay focused - there are so many kids partying and goofing off that it can be distracting. At least it was for me, since I’d been pretty sheltered growing up.</p>

<p>I COMPLETELY agree with MaineLonghorn and liu2bhs. My first semester was ridiculously hard and ended with a semi-low GPA. But now I understand my weak points and how to study properly, So my 2nd semester should be good. Their are alot of kids partying and being total idiots (sorry for my choice of words) but just stay focused dont give up.
@misssirmaaa: Chemical Engineering is fun. My advisor (Kelly McQueary, you’ll meet with her during orientation) is really peppy and awesome. Studying-wise, its a bit rigorous but it’ll all pay off in the end</p>

<p>One more benefit of Engineering Honors:

  • You get a personal adviser (professor).</p>

<p>i have a question regarding engineering at ut. when applying for internships through the ecac, what do the big name engineering firms look for in undergraduates?</p>

<p>A lot of it has to do with interest. If you show up to their info sessions and show interest and knowledge of their industry, you’ll much more likely get an interview invite.</p>

<p>Is CheE + a Liberal Art feasible at UT?
What have you heard about the Plan II + Eng students?
Is one allowed to do BHP and get an engineering degree?</p>

<p>Eng + PII is pretty common.
BHP + Eng is less common. The first BHP + Eng double major was accepted in 2002.</p>