<p>My younger daughter is still in high school. She has always been very crafty - her favorite activity is building things. She's very creative. At this stage in her life, she is thinking of becoming a biomedical engineer. As far as academics go, she's a good student. She has good study habits, and she cares about her work. However, she is not much of a test taker. If she had all the time in the world to take an exam, she would do great, but she doesn't. I can tell that she learns a great deal more when doing something rather than reading about it or listening to someone talk about it. Are there engineering programs out there that involve much more than sitting in a classroom? Something more activity based?</p>
<p>I had a great education at a top 20 university about 20 years ago, and I graduated as an engineer, but barely. Classroom learning was very hard for me at that stage of the game.</p>
<p>I know that some schools not only have “hands on” experiences, but some also have Freshman Engineering Programs that provide “hands on” exposures to each area of engineering so that those who might be CivilE or EE, might realize that being ChemE or MechE is better suited for them (or vice versa).</p>
<p>At this stage in her life, she is thinking of becoming a biomedical engineer.</p>
<p>Many schools don’t have that discipline. However, depending on her career goals, that isn’t necessary for undergrad. If she’ll be premed, it’s not req’d…and if she’s going to do research, then some do MechE or ChemE and then do Biomed in grad school.</p>
<p>What state are you in? </p>
<p>Do you have a budget in mind? </p>
<p>If your D’s stats are strong, she might get some merit scholarships at some mid-tiers.</p>
<p>In my experience the best way to get the hands on part is a co-op job. Second choice would be the various clubs, Solar Car, Eco House. After that would be the labs. Physics class you have to sit in the lecture hall, but physics lab you get to play with the equipment. I hear geology camp is also a lot of fun. And in HS be sure to join the robotics team. There is a push to make engineering more hands on, but frankly that push has been there a long time and they aren’t going to cut the Jr. and Sr. level course so the students can spend more time playing with legos. It would decrease the value of the degree. And so many are taking 5 years to get out as it is. Find a school that will let your DD actually work on one of these EC projects as a Freshman. By the time she is a Sr. she will be in charge of some portion of the project, and that will be a great thing for her resume. Or she can work a real life co-op job and get connections as well as experience.
BTW there are schools that offer a BS in Biomedical Eng. It isn’t the same as Pre-med and doesn’t need to be. If that is really and truly what she wants to do she should pick a school that offers it. Specializes in it. Has connections to co-op jobs in the biomedical field. The concept of picking a “mid-tier” school that doesn’t offer what she wants to study so she can go on to grad school somewhere else is just insulting. There is no reason why she can’t just study with the best in the field. You might be surprised to find the best in the field is some state school located within driving distance of the top biomedical firms. Then again not everybody understands how very department based the reputations of engineering schools are.</p>
<p>GrnMtnMom – I can’t address hands-on engineering programs in college, but I recommend summer experiences to help give your daughter a feel for what she might want to do.</p>
<p>One of my daughters (now a HS senior) developed an interest in engineering around 8th grade. Her participation in 4-5 hands-on summer engineering programs has helped her solidify her proposed major.</p>
<p>I second Wellspring’s suggestion of Operation Catapult at Rose-Hulman for rising seniors. The list of projects from which to choose is quite extensive. </p>
<p>Additionally, another daughter received a scholarship to take a summer class in Bioengineering at Penn which she enjoyed.</p>
<p>Just a little different perspective here. It is true that some schools may have more hands on activities, labs, and or coop jobs. Engineering major at any colleges involve taking a lot of classes that you need to study a lot of concepts and theories in various areas of maths and sciences. There is no way of getting around that. Any semester in an undergraduate program, you will have 3-4 classes of studies that involve doing problems on paper and taking tests irregardless of other hands on labs or projects the student may have. If that is not what she wants or what she can do, then maybe engineering is not the right major for her.</p>
<p>I can address two of the colleges mentioned, Cal Poly SLO and WPI. </p>
<p>Cal Poly has as their motto “learn by doing” but my son (ME major) didn’t really “do” that much until his senior year when he had to do a required senior project. Yes, there were classes that involved labs, usually upper level classes and not any more than I would expect at any engineering school. There were opportunities to do things, but he is kind of introverted and didn’t really pursue them. However again, I believe that most engineering schools offer clubs and other ways to do things hands on. My son got a good education from Cal Poly, but I would say it was any more “doing” than I would expect at a good engineering college.</p>
<p>My daughter (also an ME major) is a sophomore at WPI. Not really at the “doing” phase of college yet. But, WPI did offer and encourage their freshman to take a seminar type class that studied some “real world” engineering issues. Her engineering classes to date have usually included a lab section, maybe a little more than what I would consider typical. WPI requires a major project to be done outside her major and she is looking at the possibilities now for her junior year. The project would be one term and full time for that term. WPI term system is different than any other school I know. Terms are 7 weeks long and there are 4 terms (plus a summer term) throughout the school year. She also has to do a term long project in her major her senior year. Seems like WPI is more “doing” than Cal Poly.</p>
<p>Interesting to note that you really don’t get a real good idea of what each school is about until you talk to the students that are going or went to those schools. When you visit each school, try to get to talk to the students as much as possible and get their impressions as to the amount of hand’s on at each school.</p>
<p>I would also think that mechanical, civil, aerospace engineering would tend to be more hands on than biomed. Sure both can have labs, but you really can’t see the mechanisms in action in biomed. You might see the results of those actions, but the action is at the molecular level (or there abouts). I am a hands on type person and had some problems with chemistry and electronics type classes for those reasons. Maybe some kind of summer exploratory program in some of these areas would help her make her decision where to major in.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for all the feedback. It’s very helpful.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, we are in Vermont. At this point, we’re just exploring options (this daughter is a h.s. sophomore). I don’t think we’re limited by geography. My oldest daughter is a college freshman halfway around the globe.</p>
<p>The reason my youngest daughter is interested in biomedical engineering is that (1) she loves to figure out how things go together and work, and (2) she really liked biology as a course last year. So, I’m not sure that’s a good reason to look into that field. If there are other suggestions, we’re still extremely open minded. Unfortunately, there is no robotics club at our school. She has been building things on her own and with my husband for a while. But I will look into that Operation Catapult - thank you.</p>
<p>BME is a very rigorous major if you don’t LOVE it and have very strong academic skills. As you probably know, many engineering schools don’t even let kids declare BME until they’ve completed the first year. Johns Hopkins, for instance, requires a separate application with about a 5% acceptance rate, distinct from its other engineering acceptance rate, somewhere in the teens. BME is cross-disciplinary engineering AND premed!</p>
<p>Again, BME can be GPA/confidence killer, unless you love it and are good at it. I’d think long and hard about this choice. MechE would be a hands-on alternative that can also train one to produce biomedical applications/products. As you know, MDs often team up with engineers to produce what they need. </p>
<p>Kettering has a great co-op engineering program. while it may not be for everyone (go off-campus every other semester) they do have lots of employers willing to work with them, starting from freshman year. </p>
<p>I live in Indiana, so know lots of kids that went to Operation Catapult at Rose Hulman. It is a great program.</p>
<p>I was just about to suggest Rose Hulman summer Catapult program. </p>
<p>Northeastern has a terrific co-op program. Otherwise,their engineering program seems to have the traditional courses including a fun freshman computer project course. I’ve heard that they want to phase in more project-based learning. Same is true at many other engineering schools.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider for her now is looking into the Women in engineering summer program at VA Tech. for HS students. Don’t know if offered to out of state, but they have a great FREE summer program!</p>
<p>We loved WPI. My daughter is applying there, but with slight reservations because she wants to continue to take French and she’d have to take it at one of the consortium schools in Worcester, as WPI only offers Spanish and German.</p>
<p>Very hands on approach and a LOT of support for women engineers.</p>
<p>I second Kettering (I am an alum). It’s an excellent hands-on, real world school. Flint is no paradise, but the school is in a very nice neighborhood.</p>