<p>My S has been accepted to a&m BME and to UT Austin BME. We visited aggieland for the first time last week, and he liked the atmosphere very much. My D is in engineering at UT, so I'm much more familiar with that program and all that it offers. I have a couple of questions/concerns...</p>
<p>The admissions process for BME is much more selective at UT...UT looks specifically at whether the applicant is a good fit for the particular major, especially this year when class rank was not as big a factor in engineering...(ie my son was barely top 10% so he was not even auto admit; in previous years, BME was full by the time they got to top 3% for the most part). A&M admits more students initially into BME and as long as you are auto admit and apply early, you get your top choice, regardless of what it might be. According to the academic advisor we met with, more than half of those BMEs admitted do not remain in the program. This compares to a mere handful who drop out of the major at UT. I'm just curious about this difference in process and if it ultimately makes any difference in quality of program...</p>
<p>Secondly, my D has had incredible opportunities at UT with internships and job opportunities. She has been hired for two summers with national/international corporations with fantastic pay. UT has a wonderful career/advising center and plenty of free excellent tutoring. Does a&m have these opportunities?</p>
<p>Finally, we all loved the atmosphere and campus at a&m and think that it suits my S well! I may just have a house divided for a couple of years with D and S.</p>
<p>Honestly, BOTH schools offer great biomedical engineering programs. In fact, Texas A&M just unveiled their new Emerging Technologies Building which will be used to house, among other things, their biomedical engineering department. I have been inside, and I must say… It’s amazing! While UT does stand a little higher in rankings for their biomedical engineering program (at least at the graduate level; I don’t know about undergraduate), I think that you will get the same job opportunities and same education at either school. It really comes down to the environment. I would note that UT’s biomedical engineering is also very new, though I have not been inside of it. So, either way you go, they’re both strong programs with new, ever growing departments that I’m positive will be an exciting thing to be a part of.</p>
<p>As a side note (and you’ve probably heard enough of this), Texas A&M is stereotyped as very conservative and UT is stereotyped as very liberal (the same goes for the cities in which they reside, respectively), but I think that BOTH schools have a lot of diversity. These stereotypes may be what the student body as a whole leans to, but it does not mean that all of the students are strictly one or the other. That being said, I would highly recommend visiting both campuses maybe even a second time, if needed, to see which city your son would like to live in, as that’s probably going to be one of the biggest differences in his decision. Does he like a smaller town feel or does he like being in a larger, faster paced city? It’s all in preference.</p>
<p>I hope your son finds what he’s looking for! I’m sure he’ll do great either way!</p>
<p>I probably shouldn’t say this on this forum… But… Hook’em. - incoming UT EE freshman.</p>
<p>One thing to consider about A&M…the BME program requires you to have a 3.25 on your CBKs (lower level classes like math, physics, chemistry) to get into upper-level. While it’s do-able, it’s not easy by any means. I don’t believe tu has the same requirement. That’s something to consider. I have friends that have to switch to other engineering disciplines because they didn’t have the required CBK in lower level BME. That could be a reason why more drop out of the program at A&M than at tu. If you get in at tu, you stay in. At A&M, you can be forced out because of your GPA.</p>
<p>A&M has fantastic career service programs. It’s not unheard of for a freshman engineering student to land an internship after his or her first year, although most take summer classes or work back home. A&M also has help desks for tutoring and programs where grad students tutor undergrads in select disciplines.</p>
<p>Both schools will give your son a great education and work ethic. Both will also give great job opportunities in engineering upon graduation. My brother graduated from A&M as an EE and had his pick of places to work. I picked A&M because of the people. Not that tu has worse people, but there’s a family sense here at A&M that I did not feel when I visited Austin. I also love the fact that College Station is a small town versus a big city, but that’s a personal preference. Since coming here, I’ve never once regretted my decision. My first year has been stressful, but overall, a good kind of stressful. I’m being challenged (sometimes to wits end!), but not in a way that is discouraging.</p>
<p>Congrats and best of luck to your son! He has a tough decision to make, but he can’t really go wrong.</p>
- incoming UT EE freshman.</p>