<p>Sooooo I originally planned to double-major in Economics and History, but now after talking a bit about it with some friends, I'm seriously considering to drop those and major in -insert Bio/Chemical/Mechanical/Civil- Engineering. I'm a freshman, by the way, and am a premed, so it's not too late for me to switch majors etc.</p>
<p>Um, so I guess what I wanna know is what exactly is bioengineering? Chemical engineering? Mechanical engineering? Civil Engineering? Should I expect to take more biology courses in bioengineering than in civil engineering, for example? Would mechanical engineering require more physics courses? Any particular nuances or things I should know in _____ engineering? Insights and experiences would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>How is bioengineering different than chemical engineering (or any other engineering field, at that)? What distinguishes mechanical engineering from civil engineering, etc etc? What kind of things do chemical engineering undergrads go into upon graduating? Do they usually get PhD's in graduate school or go to professional schools (medical, law, business)?</p>
<p>I know these are all very broad and vague questions, but I'd appreciate any input on the matter. I really don't know where to start and what I want to do exactly. All I know is an engineering degree is quite valuable and definitely does not close any doors (should I decide to go to medical, business, or law school).</p>
<p>Mechanical engineering. is concerned with the design, construction, and operation of power plants, engines, and machines. It deals mostly with things that move. One common way of dividing mechanical engineering is into heat utilization and machine design. The generation, distribution, and use of heat is applied in boilers, heat engines, air conditioning, and refrigeration. Machine design is concerned with hardware, including that making use of heat processes.</p>
<p>Civil engineering. includes the planning, designing, construction, and maintenance of structures and altering geography to suit human needs. Some of the numerous subdivisions are transportation (e.g., railroad facilities and highways); hydraulics (e.g., river control, irrigation, swamp draining, water supply, and sewage disposal); and structures (e.g., buildings, bridges, and tunnels).</p>
<p>You might want to try and talk to a course advisor or someone within one of those departments at your school. I'm sure they'd have more info on how each department is focused at your school and could give you a bit more guided advice than we could here.</p>
<p>If you are seriously considering medical school after college, bioengineering probably would be your best bet since it has a firm grounding in all the sciences that are pre-recs for med school. At my college, students fulfilled all med school reqs in bioengineering. Chem eng is also a good choice for med school. Then again any engineering major is.</p>
<p>I agree with what someone above me said, you need to look at your particular school and what the focus of each department is. At my college, I was a ME and our department was obsessed with Automotive engineering. </p>
<p>As for the specific curriculuim questions, it really depends on the school. Some schools make students take a few physics classes, some, like mine, teach you those topics in the engineering classes.</p>