MrBigStuff

Has anyone received an official letter or set up meetings with professors? I've called a couple times about meeting with faculty, but they keep telling me to wait until I get my official acceptance letter. I'd be happy to, except decision deadlines for other schools are April 15th, so I have to finish visiting everywhere by the end of next week. Has anyone successfully set up meetings or visited the program? If so, how?

Hey everyone - I've been reading this thread for a while but I've never posted. I've been accepted to LEAP for Mechanical Engineering (Fall 2013), and I was wondering if any of you guys had visited the program or were planning to. Looking on their site I'm not quite sure who to contact, and I'd like to visit relatively soon, as I only have until April 15th to decide between schools. I sent an email to the enggrad@bu.edu address, but I'd rather contact an actual person. I will probably call the office tomorrow, but any information you guys have about specific people you contacted would be great. Congrats to everyone who got in! LEAP looks like a really awesome program.

I have a bachelor's in physics with a minor in math from a small liberal arts college, and have recently been accepted to UT Austin and Tufts for master's programs in mechanical engineering (waiting to hear back from various others). I've heard from many sources (including engineering professors) that physics prepares you well for mechanical and electrical engineering, so you should be fine, especially if you major in CS as well. If you're really worried about it, Boston University's LEAP program allows people with a bachelor's degree in literally any subject to pursue a master's (and eventually a Ph.D. if you want) in various fields of engineering, but you certainly don't need to do anything like that.

You shouldn't have any problem whatsoever. I graduated last year with a B.A. in physics with a math minor (I went to a good but very small liberal arts college that does not offer a B.S.), my GPA was lower than yours, I have no publications, and all of my research experience is in neuroscience since that was my major until my senior fall. So far I've gotten into Tufts and UT Austin for master's programs in mechanical engineering. From what I understand, physics prepares you best for mechanical or electrical engineering, so you should be fine - especially if you have a good amount of CS under your belt already. Engineering schools will mostly only require the general GRE, but I supposed a perfect score on the physics one couldn't hurt.

I don't know much about that field, but I remember seeing a poster advertising UPenn's GRASP lab (https://www.grasp.upenn.edu/). I believe they do research on sensing and perception in robots, and since the lab is at UPenn I assume it is quite reputable. hope this helps.

You should take a look at Boston University's LEAP program (http://www.bu.edu/eng/academics/special-programs/leap/). It is tailored towards people who do not have undergraduate degrees in engineering, and their only requirements are a bachelor's degree (which you clearly have), and one semester of college level calculus with a grade of a B or better. I know in the US calculus is also a requirement for medical school, so you probably have that as well. LEAP offers a Phase 1 where you catch up on math/physics/engineering courses you missed as an undergraduate, and as long as you maintain a 3.2 GPA or better you are guaranteed admission to the M.Eng. program of your choice. You can also apply to their M.S. or Ph.D. programs, or apply to another school. People enter this program with degrees in psychology, literature, education, etc., so your background would certainly not be a hinderance. In fact, if you want to to biomedical engineering, I would expect an M.D. would be quite a useful degree to have.

You should check out Boston University's LEAP program (http://www.bu.edu/eng/academics/special-programs/leap/). The only requirements are that you have a Bachelor's degree in any field and have taken one semester of college level calculus with a grade of a B or better. If you don't have that, you can take it at any local college over the summer and they will accept it. They have a phase 1 where you take math and science courses to catch you up, and then as long as you maintain a 3.2 GPA in phase 1, you are guaranteed admission to BU's M.Eng. program in whichever field of engineering you choose. You also have the option to apply to an M.S. or Ph.D. program at BU, or to apply elsewhere. The profiles of students they provide on their site show people with bachelor's degrees in physics and chemistry, but also psychology, literature, and education among other things. Good luck!