<p>I am currently a senior in high school and I am considering Iowa Engineering, specifically their Chem/Biochemical engineering or Biomedical Engineering programs. Does anybody have any insight on these programs? I am an out of state student and have been to Iowa City on various occasions, but never while class was in session. What is the feel of campus? What is Iowa's reputation amongs employers?</p>
<p>charters, my son is in his third year in Iowa’s BME program. I have made a number of posts about it over the past few years and you can find them if you “search this forum” for “biomedical.”</p>
<p>Pros of Iowa’s program: one of the oldest in the nation, ABET-accredited, fairly small with awesome attention available from faculty and advisors. A great emphasis on employment while still in school. My son got a job as a sophomore in the Davidson Lab within the med school. He’s a research grunt but it’s a great starting point. 70% of Iowa engineers will further work a summer internship or co-op assignment. My son is fairly shy but now in his 3rd year he’s on the solar car team (primarily a ME club), belongs to the engineering professional fraternity, works in the lab, attended a biomedical device conference in MN last spring. Iowa is a great place to get involved even if you’re not the over-achiever, joiner type. You will not get lost in the crowd here. Go to an info session and you’ll really appreciate the attention they give.</p>
<p>Cons: the program is not super- highly-rated. But 95% of its grads are employed right out of school, so who cares? About 1/3 go to industry, 1/3 go to med school and 1/3 to grad school. Most jobs for BS candidates are sales, mfg or quality engineers. To do true device design a MS is really a necessity.</p>
<p>Iowa is an exceptionally friendly school, as many posters here will attest. The faculty of the engineering college is awesome. As part of Family Weekend each year they host a BBQ or breakfast so parents can come in and meet them informally. We learned a ton from just these events alone. It seems like a small thing but it’s this kind of small community that makes engineering at Iowa seem like a small school.</p>