What I mean by that is since its a Masters degree for ME but a concentration in BME, does that mean I can only find jobs in the BME field? Basically Im asking what a concentration actually means in the work field.
It means you will have a harder time getting jobs outside that field, but it certainly won’t be impossible. The question you need to ask (and that I can’t answer) is “for what non-BME jobs would graduate-level BME courses and research be useful?” Your masters degree has some value on its own, the rest of the value is in the applicability of your research and coursework.
Oh, and EVERY masters degree has a concentration, it might just not be formalized on your diploma. The formality matters very little outside the department offering the specialization
I’m not trying to be curt, but you’re trying to figure out LOTS of stuff that will simply be clearer to you once you get going. You are trying to solidify things now, that are actually fluid for some people. I say this not to discourage you from learning more, but to reassure you that nailing it all down right now isn’t necessary.
If memory serves based on your other threads, @Ajpat123, you are still in high school and still trying to decide on what to study for you BS. You are putting the cart incredibly far in front of the horse in terms of trying to figure out the field in which you’d like to specialize at the graduate level.
Figure out what you want to do for your BS first, since your other threads seem to indicate you don’t even have this completely figured out yet. Once you work your way a little bit through the BS degree, you will have a much stronger background and much more experience to use in choosing an area of specialization. Then, once you do that, you can decide if you even need to attend graduate school in the first place.
Regarding graduate school, I don’t think you seem to understand how it works. You don’t decide to get an MS in mechanical engineering and get a concentration in biomedical engineering. That is how some undergraduate programs are structured, but graduate programs are different. For those, you are going to want to at least have a more specific idea of what you’d like to study than that. For example, instead of a relatively broad biomedical engineering concentration like you might find at the undergraduate level, in graduate school you need to narrow it down to something more specific like biomechanics (just as an example).
The point of graduate school is (in part) to specialize on a fairly specific topic (or set of topics), and that specialization will absolutely affect your job prospects. You will have a nice leg up in landing jobs that are looking for people with expertise in that specific technical area. You can land other jobs as well outside of that specialized area, particularly based on skills you may have learned in the process that are transferable. How competitive you are for those other jobs will depend on just how transferable those skills are.
@boneh3ad I know this post was a while back but I wanted to ask something. I went to my schools NSO and decided on doing ME but am wondering if it’s gonna be difficult to get into medical devices as an ME? Also is double majoring as an undergraduate a bad idea? I wanted to ask an actual professor at my college whenever school started but wanted to just see what other engineers/engineering majors would say. My school has a double major program for BME and ME, the catch is it’s an extra semester (so 4.5 years instead of 4). Also one last question does it matter what first year seminar I take? Like if I were to take a BME seminar instead of an intro to ME? My school handbook says most students choose a seminar in their major or college (I’m in college of engineering, so both would be fine apparently but I don’t want to make a mistake and miss out on important ME info at the seminar).
I have no experience with the medical device field, but I can’t imagine it would be difficult to break into as a mechanical engineer. After all, those devices are often mechanical in nature, so they will want/need mechanical engineers to help in their design. The title of your degree is less important than the skills you offer the company.
Regarding double majors, you can search through this forum and find many threads on the topic, and the general consensus is that it is generally not beneficial and will only serve to give you more work to do in a shorter time with little to no career benefit. In some cases, it has been argued that it might actually hurt your marketability. In your situation, I couldn’t honestly tell you if such a double major makes sense. It might make a little sense there if it really is only one extra semester by design, but I doubt that would be any better than students who just take mechanical engineering and focus their electives on biomedical-type courses.
Given that I have no idea what a first year seminar entails, I do not feel like I am qualified to answer that question. Different schools handle those in different ways and have different rules. Some don’t even have them at all.
@boneh3ad ok thank you, I guess once I get started with classes I can ask one of my professors for advice and guidance.
@Ajpat123 You will absolutely not have trouble getting into medical devices as an ME. Medical device companies hire primarily mechanical and electrical engineers for design work.