From Electrical Engineering to Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering?

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Question #1: What do Electrical Engineers do? (A good summary)
Question #2: If I were to major in Electrical Engineering, How would it apply to Bioengineering? Like what i can do with Electrical Engineering to build something related to technology used in medicine? like diagnosing.
Question #3: What jobs can Electrical Engineers do if they only have a Bachelor's
Question #4: Is a Masters in Electrical Engineering really needed to acquire jobs?
Question #5: What are some good colleges and Universities in California that have an overall good engineering program that i have a chance of getting into (below are my info)? Or good Electrical Engineering program, preferabbly accredited by ABET?
Final Question: What should I do in college applications to show that although i want to major in electrical engineering that I would like to focus on Biology, to become a BioMedical Engineer that deals with diagnostic machines.</p>

<p>below are my lists from freshman year and on (im a senior now, so those will not be included)</p>

<p>Freshmen:
English Honors: B (both semesters)
Mandarin : B (both semesters)
Algebra 2 : A (both semesters)
Pe : A (both semesters, not included in academic GPA)
Biology Honors: B (both semesters)
Career Pathways/ Health and safety : A (both semesters)</p>

<p>Academic GPA: 3.5</p>

<p>Sophmore:
Trig/Pre calc Honors (weighted class) : C for Trig (first semester), B for Pre-calc (second semester)
Pe: A (both semesters, not included in academic GPA)
Piano: B for first semester, A for second semester
CHemistry Honors: A for both semesters, it is a weighted class
English: A for both semesters
Mandarin: B for both semesters</p>

<p>Academic GPA: 3.8333</p>

<p>Junior:
Received Straight As in all classes
Critical Analysis/COmposition: A in both semesters, this is an elective
Calculus AB AP: A in both semesters, a weighted class, I received a 5 on my AP test
Drama: A both semesters
Chemistry AP: A in both semesters, a weighted class, i received a 4 on my AP test
English language and composition AP: A in both semesters, a weighted class, received a 3 on my AP test
Mandarin: A in both semesters</p>

<p>Academic GPA: 4.4286 </p>

<p>BTW GPA i dont really understand....</p>

<p>Sat 1 scores: highest cumulative was 1900, but highest for reading and writing was 600, and highest for Math was 720
Sat 2: Math level 2 score and Chemistry were both 670 ( i plan to retake both, and maybe a third Subject test, not sure at the moment about the third)
Act: i have not taken it yet but i plan to take it in septemeber</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: I've been playing Piano outside of school as private lessons since third grade, so its been about 9 years now. I'm going to be a committee head of my school's math club next year. Im working on becoming a lifetime member of CSF (California scholarship foundation?) I did a little bit more than 20 hours of service my sophomore year. Im currently doing volunteer service at a hospital near by, i plan on doing 40 hours theres. I applied to NHS, but im not sure if ive been accepted.</p>

<p>Oh! and i am in the top 10% of my class. My high school is like 90% asians so id say its pretty competitive.</p>

<p>I plan on taking AP enviromental Science, regular physics, AP Stats, AP econ, and world literature as my main courses next year.</p>

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<p>Most schools have a ton of information on their website about the differences between majors and corresponding career paths. I would start there. </p>

<p>At my school, Electrical Engineers can focus in one of the following areas:</p>

<p>Comm, Sig Processing & Controls
Electronic Circuits
Electromagnetics
Solid State Electronics
Power Systems
Computer Engineering</p>

<p>Yes, you absolutely can get a job with a BS in EE. I hear you pretty much need a Master’s for Biomedical though. </p>

<p>There is some overlap between the two I think. EE majors at my school are actually required to take a Biomedical Engineering course in the first year. </p>

<p>The ideal path would probably be to major in EE or Mechanical and minor in Biomedical. If you get burned out and don’t want to do grad school, you have more options with a broad major like EE or ME. </p>

<p>I noticed you got a C in Trigonometry. That is not good. Calculus and Physics require strong trig skills fyi.</p>

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<p>Ya My only C in math was Trigonometry, but then again it was a weighted honors class where only a handful of people received As and Bs, and most people either passed with a C or failed. My school is mostly asians too, so it is pretty competitive among honors and AP classes. Also I took Calculus AB and passed the AP Exam with a 5 so Im pretty godd at the math department.</p>

<p>By the way, what school do you go to? Im interested in the fact that you are required to take a biomedical engineering course in the first year. It seems like a course where i can test my waters and see if i do want to pursue something in BioMedical Engineering, or just do something with more options and stick and focus on EE or ME. </p>

<p>Thank you for your reply. Please reply again ;]</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Generalize much?</p>

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<p>I bet the badminton team is tough too</p>

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<p>Uhm no its not a generalization cause its true. THe school is in an asian community where basically, More than 85% of a graduating class is Asian. We have mexicans and hispanics, but rarely any Caucasians, and if they are there not full Caucasians, and usually are half asian.</p>

<p>And Japher. Uhm i dont know if your a high school student, but just incase you didnt know, Badminton has been cut from CIF, therefore are school deemed it unneccesary to have that sport in our school and it will not be returning this fall, eventhough our badminton team was really good.</p>

<p>Last but not least, this post was so you can help me and answer my questions. Not comment on my so asian school…</p>

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<p>EE to biomedical engineering is a perfectly acceptable option. Some schools allow you to specialize in a particular area of EE that relates to the biomedical field. From the many many opinions I have read here and elsewhere, it is better to major in something related to the biomedical field such as MechE, ChemE, or EE and then go on to grad school for biomedical if that is the field that most interest you.</p>

<p>As far as the asian thing is concerned, I see why the previous posts have not been so sympathetic. Nobody likes excuses. The better way to phrase it is “my school is very competitive therefore it is difficult to achieve the highest grades, rank, etc.”.</p>

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<p>Thank AggieEngineer, but im sure if they read my complete post, they would know that its not because most of my class is asian, because well i am asian too, but because the class itself is hard to begin with and i already completed Calculus with A in both semesters and a 5 on my AP test.</p>

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<p>I mean getting a C in ONE class in your high school career isn’t the end of the world. You have clearly proven that you can do well in mathematics as evidenced by the Calculus class. Any GOOD adcom will understand that people are human and under perform from time to time. Obviously your trend of As shows that you learned - which is the entire point of going to school rather than the concepts that students need to “generate As”.</p>

<p>I agree with everyone that you shouldn’t use asians as an excuse. Just because someone is asian doesn’t necessarily make them smart. I would go into more detail, but you will get a lot of people angry very fast if you keep assuming that. That doesn’t just stand for people on these forums, but when you get to college it will be a very big issue.</p>

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<p>Its not and excuse. its just a fact that alot of people in my school are asian. And the people i hang out with are smart and competitive… its not being racist or using asian as an excuse. Just stating that my school is competitive. Im sort of confused on how i used asian as an excuse too. its not like i said “i have asians in my shcool they mess up the curves! they suck! they are why i got a c in my trig class rawr at asian!” lol, Cuase first. im Asian and we dont suck lol. And im pretty sure i never said asian are always smart or assume they are…</p>

<p>and i apologize if i offended anyone?
So lets stop talking about my asian school. and get more on the whole EE questions and the main points of my post…</p>

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<p>You explicitly stated that your classes were competitive as a result of the Asian demographic of your school.</p>

<p>Your words:

</p>

<p>In the future, you might not want to use racial stereotypes as a means to explain your situation. In most parts of the country it is frowned upon.</p>

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<p><em>sigh</em></p>

<p>Don’t trip over yourselves calling out PC violations…</p>

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<p>I absolutely think we should tear the OP apart for saying something that is true given her experiences. [/sarcasm]</p>

<p>My department (EE) has a couple of bioengineering classes. Two of them added to the catalog by a department head who hates the fact that people attach bio to something and it automagically sounds good.</p>

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<p>I still dont understand, why after i continously explain myself and i apologized if i offended anyone, Taht UCHopeful responds to my posts to comment on my “racial stereotypes” rather than what the title of this post is really about, which is Electrical Engineering. And UCHopeful has yet to even answer my questions, only to comment on my explanation. What more can someone do? Grovel at your feet? And it is the truth, most of my school are asians, and its pretty competitive. IM SORRY IF IT OFFENDED ANYONE! MY POOR CHOICE OF WORDS AND PUNCATION! DO I HAVE TO REPOST MY QUESTIONS SO YOU CAN STOP BADGERING ON MY SECOND REPLY?</p>

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<p>Smilodon, What college do you go to? Im trying to do some research on Colleges. Im going to assume, say if im wrong though, that your an EE, what kinda of classes do you have to take? And does EE require alot of physics? Im not taking it till senior year this year, and even then its going to be only regular physics not AP.</p>

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<p>@Worried. I go to Cooper Union in New York. I have not seen much Physics as an EE. There is a class you are supposed to take as a junior at my school that is physics intensive, but I put it off till senior year.</p>