preprofessional courses for seas students

lsnowe · 07-31-2007, 09:15 AM

I am pretty sure that I want to study chemical engineering, but I was reading about the chem e preprofessional course and it just does not sound as interesting as the one for environmental engineers. Does anyone know anything about it?

Skraylor · 07-31-2007, 07:09 PM

what were you reading....culpa or the catalog?

i took the chem.e. preprof last semester and had friends in the eee preprof but i wont comment on that one...

the chem.e. one just had a massive re-org tho. the previous incarnation of the class had something like 90% of your grade based on attendance (the other 10% on like building a solar powered car from a kit). it's now taught by alan west (the chair of the department) and even this 1st semester of it's new form was good. he brought in speakers (alum, profs, etc) and then we did a project based on that person's work. for example west was the first speaker and he is into electro chemistry..our project was designing the correct voltage to create an evenly plated wafer (used in processors)

but anyways....remember, with the exception of EE, no major really requires you to take their preprof.

personally i really enjoyed the chem.e. preprof. it really helped me understand what chem.e's do in the world nowadays

Shraf · 07-31-2007, 08:46 PM

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remember, with the exception of EE, no major really requires you to take their preprof.

interesting....this actually seems to be true...i was completely unaware.

in that case, might i suggest "engineering in medicine" which is the easier of the two BME preprof courses.....chemE has A LOT of applicability in the BME field and if you have interest in medicine or r premed it might be worthwhile. The course is quite easy and you get a pretty good overview of BME.

lsnowe · 08-01-2007, 09:45 AM

Thank you both. the chem e preprofessional course sounds much better than in the description (I was reading the bulletin). I am afraid that the project sounds terrifying. I am going to definately look into the bme one too.

I do not actually think that I want to go to med school, but I was reading recently about the discovery of how hemoglobin carries blood from areas of high pressure to low pressure through the body and it was really cool. i was hoping to study chemical engineering with the aim of learning about protein structure. if I think that I might want to go into research do i need to plan on premed for an md/phd?

Shraf · 08-01-2007, 01:10 PM

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if I think that I might want to go into research do i need to plan on premed for an md/phd?

absolutely not...you can do research with just a PhD....MD/PhD is if you want to do medical research but there is also a clinical aspect to it...not to mention that MD/PhD programs r ridiculously competitive...not to say that PhD ones aren't ever competitive as well.

Skraylor · 08-01-2007, 06:49 PM

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An introductory course intended to expose students to Chemical Engineering. Examines the ways in which chemical and biological sciences are interpreted through analytical, design, and engineering frameworks to generate products that enhance human endeavor. Students are introduced to the culture of chemical engineering and the wide variety of chemical engineering practices, through lectures by department faculty and practicing chemical engineers, trips to industrial facilities, reverse-engineering of chemical products, and a chemical design competition.

It does in fact introduce you to chem.e.
It does interpret the sciences [...] to make life better.
It does introduce you to a wide variety of chem.e. practices
It does have guest/faculty lectures

It does NOT have the rest of the stuff. Maybe your year will be lucky and you guys will visit an industrial facility but we didnt. Neither did we reverse-engineer any products. All we did was look at artificial kidneys since one of our design projects was based on Prof. Leonard's research (who deals extensively with artificial kidneys)

kaylanl · 07-30-2008, 11:02 PM

Can I take more than one preprofessional course? I am interested in several possible engineering majors...

confidentialcoll · 07-30-2008, 11:46 PM

"Can I take more than one preprofessional course? I am interested in several possible engineering majors..."

I'm sure you can, if you're really confused taking 2 might help. But most people figure it out through different means. usually through talking to seniors, reading course descriptions, looking at industry placements and job opportunities, and figuring out broad fields, and technologies they're passionate about. the pre-prof course gives you an overview of the discipline and the research being done in the field. Don't take more than two, because they're near useless once you know what you want to do.

Skraylor · 07-31-2008, 05:09 PM

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I'm sure you can, if you're really confused taking 2 might help. But most people figure it out through different means. usually through talking to seniors, reading course descriptions, looking at industry placements and job opportunities, and figuring out broad fields, and technologies they're passionate about

Yea. During orientation there will be panels and meet-and-greets of professors from all the different eng departments. Also, sometime during the first month of school there's a meet-and-greet of seniors from all the different depts (with free pizza usually).