<p>How is the Biomed engineering program? I have a daughter interested in that major and think she would do best in a smaller program with great support and opportunity for research. Any input from students or parents of current students?</p>
<p>CS at UVA is very grad school oriented. If you are looking for practical programming, you will not get that here. Just saying. We sent 2 girls to Berkeley and a guy to Carnegie Mellon last year. The department is very small so you will have lots of research and TA opportunities.</p>
<p>I’m a parent and an engineer working in Virginia so I’ll give you my two cents based on visiting UVA, VT and VCU with a student. I did not visit ODU so I can’t tell you anything about that school.</p>
<p>No doubt UVA is the most selective. Just look at the stats for all three and you will see the differences. UVA and VCU also have biomedical engineering whereas VT does not (they are starting a minor this year in BME since they now have a medical college). So if she is dead set to go BME then UVA or VCU are the way to go for undergraduate. VT does have a very good graduate school in BME, but does not have a undergraduate degree in BME. </p>
<p>I have heard it is very competitive to get into the BME pipe line at UVA. They restrict the numbers of students (to insure the quality of the education no doubt) to a small number. So there is a chance you could plan on going BME as a freshman and find out you can’t get into that program, I think it is based on the first year grades. At a top notch school like UVA I would imagine it is indeed tough to make the cut given the competition. VT also has some restrictions regarding major selection based on GPA the first year as well.</p>
<p>VT has some outstanding programs and has a ton of research dollars. It’s well known as a engineering school in Virginia and beyond. The school is very good at training excellent engineers. They take a more technical approach to the training there with a small amount of liberal arts requirements. Most of the curriculum is hard core engineering including the electives. It is a beautiful campus (something my daughter seems to like) in a rural setting. The students were friendly and seemed to like the school.</p>
<p>UVA is also an excellent school. It is more known as a liberal arts school (my opinion) but is gaining excellent recognition for its engineering school. UVA has a different approach which I call the “Thomas Jefferson” way. Engineers study the technical material and they also get a ton (in my opinion) of liberal arts thrown into the mix. The student that showed us around was a BME student who was getting a minor in French. I’m not saying that is good or bad, just different then the VT approach. It is a beautiful campus with more of a city feel to it then VT. Once again the students were friendly and seemed to like the school.</p>
<p>VCU is the least selective but has an excellent faculty and faculty. Many people put VCU down because it is the least selective of all three schools. My feeling is that it is a decent school for engineering. I don’t know about the other programs, but for engineering it does a good job (in my opinion).They also have a medical college which makes the BME program solid. It is right in the heart of Richmond and does not feel like either VT or UVA, way more urban as you would expect. Once again the students were friendly and seemed to like the school. They also have a guaranteed medical college admissions path for those that want to go to the medical college. As you would expect it is very competitive to get a guaranteed admission before entering, but two of the students from our high school are there now and planning on going on to MCV when they graduate.</p>
<p>I have worked with engineers at from all three schools and each school is doing good job training entry level engineers (in my opinion). They all seemed well prepared to enter the work force and make a contribution. I would definitely recommend taking your daughter to all three for a look. All three have something to offer and we are lucky in Virginia to have all three as choices.</p>
<p>GAry, very informative and helpful! thank you.</p>
<p>Gary would you have said the same thing if I was talking about computer engineering?</p>
<p>Mr. A I guess it would be the same. D is not interested in computer engineering so we did not look closely at those programs. </p>
<p>I will says that two year ago we did go to the UVA engineering open house and we did talk to the computer engineering students and they seemed like they were doing some very interesting stuff. One of the projects was a small monitor that you could place on a patient to remotely monitor their vital signs real time. I believe they were working with the biomed students on that project, a great example of what they will no doubt do when they leave school working in teams with other disciplines. We also found the professors to be very engaging and they answered our questions or found the person with whom we should speak. I have found that some schools do not feel the need to have their professors do that (I will not name names less a big debate ensue). Any other opinions on Comp Eng from someone else out there who would know?</p>
<p>I do think it is very important to get out there and see the school. Last year my D went to an intro to engineering camp at UVA which was excellent. It was one week and they showed them around and explained the different programs at UVA. The year before she did the same thing at VT (for woman, sorry guys) and that one was two weeks long. Both were very good and it gave her a chance to spend time on campus (although not when classes were in session), eat the food, use the facility and talk to the faculty without her “old man” jumping in with questions! If you have a student that is a junior this year or sophomore I would recommend either.</p>
<p>
As someone who worked for a highly selective engineering school in the past, I don’t think this is the TJ way. I think it’s the future of engineering education. It is no longer sufficient to ignore the humanities, business, and communication areas if you want to educate technological leaders and entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>Dean J, Didnt mean to slight the UVA engineering school in any way. In fact the student that gave us the tour actually coined the phrase on the tour and I borrowed it for the description.</p>
<p>I’ve visited many engineering schools with D and none of them have as much humanities emphasis as UVA. I’m not saying it is bad in any way just not what I observed as the norm. You are certainly right in communications both verbal and written being very important with regard to any profession, including engineering.</p>
<p>I’ll put in my two cents.</p>
<p>The UVA and VT engineering have very different program and it is hard to say which is better, but rather which one fits you better. UVA has more options and more flexible, allowing engineering students to branch out and become more rounded. The VT program is more technical like Gray said.</p>
<p>Having gone to a engineering school similar to VT and being in the industry for over 30 years, here is what I see: My school required a minimum of 148 credit to graduate (avg >18 credit per semester) leaves very little room for anything else. Unless you are into research and development, most people end up using less than 5% of what they learn (so why the intensive eng discipline?). Most of our skills are learn on the job. Many of the engineers move to different projects and cross disciplines after the first few years. I am a ME and did work in EE, controls, failure analysis; did design, project eng, construction, testing; now into financing. Within 10 -15 years, most are moved into leadership, supervisory or management positions. Therefore good communication skills are important. If you graduate with a good gps in engineering, if will not have problems with any entry level eng job. </p>
<p>Another issue is global competition. What industry/manufacturing is in the US today vs 20 years ago? Lots of routine design work has been farmed overseas. I talked to a professor at UVA in one of the open houses regarding this issue and how does UVA prepare their eng students. His response was something like: You have to be either the leader of the technology or you are in the position to manage overseas works from the US. I agree.</p>
<p>Mr. A I do not have an answer for comp eng either. But Carnegie Mellon is very strong.</p>
<p>BTW S is in 3rd year. Was originally interested in bme. Was accepted to both bme and systems. Decided on system and economics (either double major or minor in econ).</p>
<p>Thanks, I am now between Vcu and uva for engineering.</p>
<p>davh01 , Could you give us an idea exactly what the System Engineering major is about? As I recall it is heavy in applied mathematics and allows the students to select engineering courses that interest them from all the various degrees. Can you give us your perspective on the strength and weaknesses of the degree? Thanks</p>
<p>ary, You can get more info from the Sys Eng Dept website
[University</a> of Virginia: Department of Systems and Information Engineering](<a href=“http://www.sys.virginia.edu/students/undergraduate.html]University”>http://www.sys.virginia.edu/students/undergraduate.html)</p>
<p>“The undergraduate program in Systems and Information Engineering is designed for students interested in bringing people and technologies together to dramatically improve an organizations productivity and effectiveness…”</p>
<p>The program is very flexible and has lots of options. I view more as a combination of industrial eng and project engineering. Students can select a wide range of sequence to follow: biomed, ME, computer, finance… and can tailor it to their interest.</p>
<p>Most of the classes my S took, other than the basic science courses, have been higher level math, programing, economic, financial, statistics, probability, material science. His sequence is in finance / economic and makes it easier for him to double major or minor in economics. He has an option to look for jobs in both engineering or financial firms. The outlook for the degree looks strong and was one of the reason he decided on Sys over biomed. Strength: strong analytic skills. Weakness: less technical. </p>
<p>From UVA Today: March 13, 2009 While the current recession has pushed some industries to contract, many students graduating from the University of Virginia this spring will be able to find jobs in their fields. There is still demand in construction, civil engineering, systems engineering and consulting.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>I have heard that you find jobs faster if you go out of Uva then if you went out of VT.</p>
<p>Mr. A, I would still recommend you visit the schools and talk to everyone you can grab on the visit. You can get a ton of info off the web but you can’t get a feel for a school on line (in my opinion). D has had friends who were sure they were heading to school A, but visited school B and decided that B was for them all the time. Hope you have the time to visit all three.</p>
<p>Thanks!!! I am acutually going to UVA this sat.</p>
<p>Money Magazine just listed Systems Engineer as the best job fro 2009 with a 45% growth rate. Here is what it said:</p>
<ol>
<li>Systems Engineer</li>
</ol>
<p>Median salary (experienced): $87,100
Top pay: $130,000
Job growth (10-year forecast): 45%
Sector: Information Technology</p>
<p>What they do: They’re the “big think” managers on large, complex projects, from major transportation networks to military defense programs. They figure out the technical specifications required and coordinate the efforts of lower-level engineers working on specific aspects of the project.</p>
<p>Why it’s great: Demand is soaring for systems engineers, as what was once a niche job in the aerospace and defense industries becomes commonplace among a diverse and expanding universe of employers, from medical device makers to corporations like Xerox and BMW. Pay can easily hit six figures for top performers, and there’s ample opportunity for advancement. But many systems engineers say they most enjoy the creative aspects of the job and seeing projects come to life. “The transit system I work on really makes a tangible difference to people,” says Anne O’Neil, chief systems engineer for the New York City Transit Authority.</p>
<p>Drawbacks: Long hours are common; project deadlines can be fierce.</p>
<p>Pre-reqs: An undergrad engineering degree; some jobs might also require certification as a certified systems engineering professional (CSEP).</p>
<p>Drawbacks: Long hours are common; project deadlines can be fierce.</p>
<p>Hmmm…doesn’t sound to different from e-school in general, from D’s description! </p>
<p>You’ve provided lots of good info Gary, thanks.</p>