<p>hey all!!!
I have a feeling that Duke's admission officers try to limit the number of applicants interested in Biomedical engineering due to high volume of students expressing an interest in that field.
So, do you guys think writing about why biomedical engineering on my why engineering at duke essay will decrease my chances of getting accepted into Duke???
Thank you all,
Any input will be greatly appreciated...</p>
<p>I don’t think so, but that’s only because I did and got accepted.</p>
<p>My advice is to be honest in your essay. It’ll make it a lot easier.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice anonhigh. Mind if I ask how long your essay was?</p>
<p>My opinion is that if this is a Why Engineering essay, maybe you should try to keep it broad enough to show why you like the interdisciplinary nature of Duke Engineering (assuming you do, of course). If you write only about BME, I’m not really sure what admissions officers will think, but if you follow your gut instinct then hopefully it will be fine.</p>
<p>My essay was 552 words.</p>
<p>Certainly I think the adcom tries to shape the diversity of the incoming class, though what mostly comes to mind are the ECs, experiences, and backgrounds of the admitted students rather than what they intended field or academic interests are. </p>
<p>I think that the adcoms also take into account the high attrition rate of the engineering program when admitting students so as to leave some margin for freshmen classes. That said, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the adcom won’t admit a class that all say they want to do BME. </p>
<p>Finally, while stating an interest in BME (and honesty is probably the best policy here) is fine, don’t sound too definitive in your choice as you likely have little experience with BME and have a high chance of changing your mind. So try to convey a message of open-mindedness.</p>