<p>Slamjammer,</p>
<p>I’m not a BME but interestingly enough, a majority of my friends are. I will ask one of them if they may offer insight on the BME program. From my general ‘layman’ understanding, WashU’s BME program is very strong and at the top of its game. </p>
<p>Please give me few days to ask around my friends-- the BMEs always seem especially busy. </p>
<p>–zenith</p>
<p>Thanks Zenith–</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure BME is real strong and well respected, sounds like a lot of pre-med folks focus in this area as well which makes sense to me. The concern is what is driving these changes up top, I think this changed 2-3 years ago as well and wondered how strong are the non-BME engineering departments since my S is really undecided at this time. He loves WashU though! It does raise questions as to what is driving these changes and are they hoping to change things and what does that mean for the rest of the engineering areas outside of BME. Thanks for asking and any help you can provide.</p>
<p>Well, zenith, I know you wanted me to post in the Pre-Med thread. But, I just realized that I’m actually Pre-Dent? (How did that happen?) Is there anyway for me to switch? And how soon and how easy is the process?</p>
<p>Hi dlee93,</p>
<p>If you’re thinking to switch from Pre-med to Pre-dent, you can do so any time. The only limiting factors are scheduling and taking your prerequisite classes (I am not familiar with the classes required for Pre-Dent students, so be sure to visit your advisor about this) Like premeds, pre-dents probably want to get their prereqs done by a certain class year (ie premeds finish their bio/chem/physics by sophomore or junior year). </p>
<p>So there isn’t really a ‘process’–nothing official like filling out a form saying you’re pre-med now and not pre-dent or vice versa. For example, I have some friends who started off WashU without being ‘pre-med’ but later became pre-meds-- they just changed their schedules to include pre-med science classes and got involved in health-related activities. The idea is that you just need to take the right classes and be involved in appropriate clinical activities. If and when you decide to switch, be sure to visit your four-year advisor and one or more pre-health advisors as soon as possible to make sure you are on track for your career path. The pre-health advisors will be able to offer more advice from there.</p>
<p>slamjammer-</p>
<p>I’m BME, with an EE minor, actually.
Sutera is not leaving the school - in fact, he was only ever an interim dean while they were looking for the replacement. It has always been known that he’d only have the position for a little over a year.</p>
<p>If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.</p>
<p>Slamjammer-- the first BME I contacted mentioned he might not be able to answer your questions comprehensively; he is currently interviewing at graduate schools across the US so he will be busy this week. </p>
<p>However, he noted that the changes to the BME are relatively minor and that ‘the department has so much money’ they have a lot of leverage and flexibility. It seems to me the quality of the BME is in no way affected. Johnson181, what do you think?</p>
<p>Hi Zenith,</p>
<p>Can you answer my question on post #18?
It would be really appreciated,</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>right now i’m signed up for a double major in bme and chem and plan for to do pre med. i hope its not too much</p>
<p>if i were to switch my second major to computer science which is in the school of engineering would I be able to graduate in 4 years? would summer school be necessary?</p>
<p>stormin171- I actually know a ton of bme’s with a second major in compsci, and they’re definitely graduating in 4 years w/out having to take summer school (although I know a handful that did so they could take orgo back home instead of at washu).</p>
<p>As to bme quality (and chem e)- the new brauer hall is almost complete, which will be (~) half bme/half chem e. The bme dept is thriving- there’s no cut backs anywhere that I’ve seen.</p>
<p>Hi Can2010,</p>
<p>I just realized you also asked about other engineering departments at WashU. Let me ask various engineers, and I’ll be sure to get back to you.</p>
<p>I originally planned on doing English Lit or English Lit/Business but I am now interested in IPH. Can you tell me about that?</p>
<p>Want to get in a conversation with someone in your major? </p>
<p>Then join the group “WashU Bear Buddies 2009-2010” on facebook (currently ~90 of your classmates have, and 350 members of the class of 2013 did last year). This group is a resource unique to WashU, where you get paired up with one of our over 100 mentors with similar academic and extracurricular interests to you. You will also get access to the Expert Lists, so that you have the ability to contact more current students to learn about areas outside your mentor’s expertise or get a second opinion. Did I mention we also have pictures of dorms?</p>
<p>If you have any questions, please let me know via PM.
To join, you can either join the group mentioned above or send me a PM. </p>
<p>We have over a hundred mentors, who would love to talk to you. </p>
<p>We are not affiliated with Admissions or Orientation, but we are affiliated with WashU’s Student Union.</p>
<p>The IPH major is great!! I’ve more or less copied this text from the department’s website, which is incredibly helpful:</p>
<p>First of all, IPH students will do the Text&Tradition FOCUS program… Which is basically an interdisciplinary seminar-style program for freshmen that explores the classical texts and intellectual texts upon which American and European culture has been built.</p>
<p>The major combines an introductory core - a concentrated study of texts central to the American and European philosophical, religious, and literary traditions - with an area of concentration - an advanced sequence of courses and research tailored to the special interests of each student in the program.</p>
<p>All students in the major will learn to write and speak clearly and flexibly; they will have broad exposure to a range of canonical texts; they will be trained in the historical and formal analysis of those and other texts; they will be fluent in at least one foreign language; and they will have considerable experience in independent research.* Combining a core of knowledge, foreign-language proficiency, critical, analytic, and research skills, IPH is a challenging major for creative, intellectually ambitious students. You’ll be well prepared for a range of graduate programs in the humanities, a future in academia, or a professional career in law or public service - and for the vital work of critical citizenship and path-breaking problem-solving.</p>
<p>Area of Concentration</p>
<p>Some degree of specialization is a useful aspect of education in the humanities. With their faculty mentors, students construct a coherent, interdisciplinary sequence of courses (four or more) for advanced study. Each student’s sequence, or “area of concentration,” which must always include at least one course in political or cultural history, will normally be taken between the third and seventh semesters of the program.</p>
<p>Models of Concentration</p>
<ul>
<li>The study of the cultural and political life of a nation or region over the space of a couple of centuries. By “cultural life” we mean the aggregate of literature, visual and musical culture, theater, philosophy, religion, and received ideas.</li>
<li>The study of two or more closely-related national or regional cultures over the space of a (long) century. The concentrations of students interested in Medieval or Renaissance Studies would come under this rubric or the previous one.
The study of an intellectual discipline or tradition: e.g., political philosophy, aesthetics, historiography, the avant garde in the twentieth-century, etc.</li>
<li>The complex study of an aesthetic mode - e.g., realism - or of a cluster of aesthetic or social practices - e.g., orchestral music, sculpture, insult, print. Although this sort of interest might best be served in a traditional department, the novelty and interdisciplinarity of approach or the extra-departmental nature of the object of scrutiny might make the IPH its proper home.</li>
</ul>
<p>Research
Research is at the center of IPH. The student research experience can begin very early, for as early as the first year, students have the opportunity to assist faculty in advanced research projects.</p>
<p>IPH majors begin to develop a specialty in the sophomore year by engaging in independent research, under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Sophomore research tutorials have ranged over a large number of topics.</p>
<p>*from the website, these are examples of past and current undergrad IPH research opportunities: upward mobility in 18th and 19th century Europe; visual culture from antiquity to present; 20th century African American history; representations of laughter throughout history; colonial Latin American studies; masculine ideologies in Iberia; religious, cultural, and intellectual history of the High middle ages; researching Boccaccio’s “Decameron”; influence of classical poetry on 20th century poetry; investigating trends and spectatorship in 18th century France literature, opera, and philosophical fiction; editing German anthologies that professors are writing; French political history; researching British literature societies.</p>
<p>*this is taken from wash u’s wikipedia page: Washington University professor Joseph Lowenstein (professor in IPH… He is brilliant), with the assistance of several undergraduate students, has been involved in editing, annotating, making a digital archive of the first publication of poet Edmund Spencer’s collective works in 100 years. A large grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities has been given to support this ambitious project centralized at Washington University with support from other colleges in the United States.</p>
<p>My S wants a BME career, but applied to ME at WashU. I understand that the BME dept is the best engineering program. How is ME? Does it have a good track for a later BME career?</p>
<p>I’m not very familiar with the transition process (probably have to ask someone who have attended WashU), but I would recommend switching to BME (which I heard though is an easy process) if your son wants a BME career. I’m not sure how the grad schools would look at your son wanting to go to BME but have not taken the BME courses offered by one of the strongest BME programs in the country.</p>
<p>ibagoren- I’m fairly certain you’re son did not apply to either me or bme. When you apply, you apply to the school of engineering in general (and later select a “preference” during the summer so they can assign advisors).</p>
<p>Johnson181 - You are right, he did not apply to ME in WashU. He wants to study ME as an undergraduate discipline, and applied to a number of schools. In case of WashU, BME happens to be a better program, and if he chooses WashU, he may switch to BME or do a double major or Major/Minor.</p>
<p>Can2010 - You have a point. Double major might be a good middle ground.</p>
<p>His other choices are Duke - which also has a better BME than ME - and Bowdoin, which will have to be Physics, followed by a ME at Caltech or Columbia, as part of Bowdoin’s 3+2 program. I am not sure how do ME vs BME work at those schools yet.</p>
<p>hey ibagoren,
I know someone in the engineering department who “doubled”-- he has a BME and Chemical Engineering degree as well as majors from the business school. He also took a full or nearly full courseload every semester, but I’m sure he could have taken less. I don’t know of any ME and BMEs currently but it is possible to double major in the engineering department.</p>
<p>Can anyone here talk about the strengths of the Computer Science/Engineering dept at WashU? When we visited we saw that the Computer labs were just about so-so with 1-2 people hanging around.</p>
<p>From the Engineering talk we felt that a lot more emphasis was put on BME, which is expected, but I want to know how the CE program is. They said something about new the MAC lab but we did not get to see it.</p>