<p>Will attending an undergrad school with a low ranking in engineering hurt me when I apply for grad school/internships?</p>
<p>I am going to be a junior majoring in biomedical engieering and minoring in chemistry and energy engineering at the Unversity of Miami with a 3.9 GPA and two summers of research experience. UM isnt exactly known for its highly esteemed engineering deparment and obviously a student coming from a top program will look more impressive but how much of a difference does it make?</p>
<p>Also, I am not entirely sure I would want to pursue biomedical engineering for grad school and was possibly thinking of looking into some type of chemical engineering, more along the lines of biofuels. Will the minor in chem and energy engineering help and is it possible to go to grad school with a different type of engineering than you did for undergrad?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help and advice!</p>
<p>Will it hurt you? Yes. Can you overcome it with excellent grades and plenty of experience? Yes. If you can’t get into a good graduate school it’s not because of the school of your choice, unless it truly is nothing but a diploma mill.</p>
<p>It is quite common to go to graduate school for a different type of engineering. However, you may have to take some extra courses to cover the basics you never learned as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>ok thanks, it is frustrating though because I got into top engieering schools (UVa, UMichigan, Carnegie Mellon…) but turned them down because I couldn’t afford them, I got a full scholarship to Miami so I sometimes wonder if I made a smart choice or not.</p>
<p>It was a smart choice. Graduating with little to no debt is substantially better than graduating with massive student loans to pay off.</p>
<p>Purdue is obviously considered one of the top engineering schools. Many of the graduate students I knew came from schools I had never heard of before, small schools without a big reputation. So there’s no reason to be discouraged.</p>
<p>Agreed with everything Purdue’s said so far. Grad schools know not everyone can afford a private undergrad or lives in a state with a solid flagship. I know a number of people from schools I hadn’t even heard of.</p>
<p>Also, you should definitely minor in ChemE if you can and you’re thinking of switching fields.</p>