Biomedical Engineering Personal Statement

To explain my transition out of biomedical engineering graduate studies, I first need to explain how I started in the program. Based on the job outlook for biomedical engineering graduates, I decided to apply for graduate school. At the time, it seemed like a viable option because 1) it gave more time for the job market to develop, and 2) I had previous undergraduate research experience within the bioengineering department so I felt that I was a competitive applicant. I stuck with what I knew through my undergraduate training and applied to the PhD program in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department at Mississippi State University. My rationale for applying to go straight into a PhD was that funding is usually guaranteed. As a first year PhD student, my first year was pretty normal. I took anywhere from 8-9 hour semesters of coursework and worked on research for my dissertation aims. As the year came to a close, I got a good feel for biomedical research from the perspective of a

The loss of funding coupled with a loss of interest in my research prompted my switch to a Master of Science. Once I switched to a Master’s, I really started to think about what I want to do with my life. My first year of grad school, I remember that my original end goal was to work in R&D long enough to get into a position where I could transition into a role in manufacturing and management. I came to this conclusion because I always enjoyed being in a position where I could oversee activities and devise strategies to improve processes. Even as an undergraduate in my design class, I was more interested in determining the optimal conditions to manufacture our design when compared to actually developing the design. I drew from these experiences that maybe I should look into other graduate programs where I could specialize in this