How promising is BME at Iowa?

beastman
Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:50:05 +0000

My son is a freshman in BME at Iowa. Wisconsin was initially his first choice. He never looked at Illinois, so my comments concern strictly the Iowa-UW comparison.

At Iowa, you are admittedly directly into BME as a freshman. At UW you are admitted into the College of Engineering as a freshman but must later apply for acceptance into BME, typically as a sophomore. Key point: Wisconsin currently has room to accomodate about 30 new BMEs each semester but approx 90 students apply for them. The 60 who are not accepted must try again the next semester. Clearly, not all are eventually admitted. Many move into larger programs like ME or out of engineering entirely into bio-something in the College of Letters & Science. I asked an advisor in the program if this capacity problem would be rectified soon and she said, not likely. To my son and I, this was a pretty big problem with UW as an option as the program is difficult enough without the additional pressure of 1/3 chance of acceptance.

Typical time to graduate at UW is 5 years. Iowa, 4.

Opportunities to co-op, do research and intern: at Iowa, 75% of undergrads will intern or co-op. It’s an unspoken requirement for graduation. Many of the companies recruiting on campus require such experience. 20% of freshman engineers remain on campus their first summer to work research jobs with professors. The emphasis on such experience at Iowa is HUGE and they back it up with a robust Professional Development office to hook kids up with opportunites. In the info session at UW Engineering I asked about co-op and Dr. Sandrik replied, yes, those opportunities are available. Some kids do them, some don’t. A completely different level of emphasis!

The BME program at Iowa is one of the oldest in the nation and far larger than Wisconsin’s. Why BME appears to be the red-headed stepchild of Wisc’s COE is beyond me. It is the smallest of their programs with no plans for change on the books.

You are dead-on in your assessment of ISU as, in general “the better” engineering school but it lacks BME. Iowa has it because it is the medical campus in Iowa. Many faculty at Iowa’s BME program also teach in the medical school, one of the largest in the country. Because of its relationship with the medical and biomedical programs, opportunities for undergrads to do research are endless. Contact Phil Jordan at Iowa for more info.

Everything I’m telling you here is factual and not my opinion. Double-check my info with advisors at either school and they will back me up, as they are my sources also. Short of that, attend an info session a UW’s COE and the same with Jane Dorman at Iowa’s engineering school and you will see for yourself the difference.

Admittedly, UW is a more prestigious school for engineering than Iowa, but for my money, the opportunities for co-op etc, PLUS the direct-admit aspect at Iowa PLUS it’s long tenure as at BME program make it a clear winner.

Good luck!