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What is the best way to prepare for studying engineering in graduate school?

I am interested in Computational Neuroscience, and hope to study either Biomedical engineering or electrical engineering in college, along with neuroscience. I want to make sure that I am a good candidate for graduate school (in engineering or computational neuroscience), while still adamantly studying neuroscience in undergrad. #gradschool #neuroscience #engineering

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Sai’s Answer

Hi Elisabeth!


If you are interested in CN I think doing Neuroscience and CS is a better path. Biomedical is a surprisingly niche degree. A lot of it is about systems with some lab work in higher level courses. Everyone I know (nearly 25-30 people) who did Biomedical are either in consulting or med school. Electrical Engineering, on the other hand, is too low level. You will learn about analog systems, signal processing, semi-conductors, etc. Its not valuable unless you are planning to go in to the industry or deeper into academia it won't complement well with your aspirations to get to Grad school for CN.


CS paired with Neuro will give you a good foundation to think about the future of this space. You could also consider Biomedical if you get into a really good school. Grad schools also care a lot about your GPA - they want to make sure you can survive the Grad curriculum. Research experience will also be really crucial. So find a lab thats doing research that interests you and grow in that role. Good luck!


UT Austin is a solid school for CS and Biomed. I went to Georgia Tech and if you are looking out of state, you should also consider that.

Sai recommends the following next steps:

Research the Biomed Engg and CS curriculums of a few target schools.
Understand exactly what these classes offer and how they can map back to your interest in Neuroscience
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Ken’s Answer

Congratulations on being interested in finding the right career to follow.. It takes a special person to enter into a specific career field and meet the demands which that career area presents. The first step is to get to know yourself to see if you share the personality traits which make that make one successful in that area. The next step is doing networking to meet and talk to and possibly shadow people doing what you might think that you want to do to see if this is something that you really want to do, as a career area could look much different on the inside than it looks from the outside. When I was doing college recruiting, I encountered too many students, who skipped these important steps, and ended up in a career/job for which they were ill suited.

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college which you might be considering who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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