<p>I don’t think the nonthesis option is set in stone. He just was surprised to find that some colleges do offer that option and it was one he thought he’d explore. He thought he’d have to do a thesis to get a master’s.</p>
<p>As for research with a professor, I don’t know that actually working with one is as important as the school having faculty that do research in the field he’s interested in.
For example, the school he’s currently at has a strong emphasis on automotive. He finds that most of the class is spent applying principles to automotive applications, with the follow up, Here, you can coop at Car Company A with the knowledge you gain here. </p>
<p>He’d like to go somewhere that the professors have actually worked in the biomedical industry.</p>
<p>I agree with the broader investigation of not just biomedical engineering programs, but also, mechanical engineering programs where the professors have a biomedical interest. He has found one such professor at his present college and has done research with him. But, because of his school’s location and lack of wide range recruiting, he’s off the radar of biomedical engineering companies despite the fact that he’s not only done research in the field, but has done presentations on the subject matter. </p>
<p>As for being paid to go to grad school by an employer or as part of a thesis program, we had a long talk about that last night. I told him to not rule out a school because of cost this time. We made that mistake for undergrad. Although he’ll graduate debt free with his BS, he lacks job prospects, so I wonder if it would have been worth it to take on that 120K debt for him to be in the thick of the industry.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your suggestions. We will definitely put them to use!</p>