Any ChemEs here?

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I am not a ChemE major myself, but my friend would like to know if there are any ChemEs pursuing medicine on here.

He wanted to know:
-How hard you work for your GPA(what is it)? How much study time you put in?(each week/day)
-Do you feel taking a rigorous major prepares you more so than other students?
-Do you have time for extra currics?

-Any additional info/ advice you have for someone who is thinking about doing ChemE?

I am not a ChemE major, but ChemE is a career oriented degree. As a ChemE major, the question will not be "Why medicine?" but "Why medicine instead of ChemE?" - there is a disconnect that implies a shift of career choice applying with this degree as there would be with any other career oriented degree, such as a BSN (Bachelor's of Science in Nursing). Your friend might be better served enrolling in a different, medically related, major so he can devote more time to pursuing the extra-curricular activities that are an all but necessary part of a strong medical school application. That being said, the rigor of the major won't prepare you any better for medical school than any other major with a similar focus on science content (chemistry, biology, physics, etc.). The best predictor of your success in medical school will be your BCPM GPA, regardless of your field of study.

Originally Posted by i will be an md

I am not a ChemE major, but ChemE is a career oriented degree. As a ChemE major, the question will not be "Why medicine?" but "Why medicine instead of ChemE?" - there is a disconnect that implies a shift of career choice applying with this degree as there would be with any other career oriented degree, such as a BSN (Bachelor's of Science in Nursing). Your friend might be better served enrolling in a different, medically related, major so he can devote more time to pursuing the extra-curricular activities that are an all but necessary part of a strong medical school application. That being said, the rigor of the major won't prepare you any better for medical school than any other major with a similar focus on science content (chemistry, biology, physics, etc.). The best predictor of your success in medical school will be your BCPM GPA, regardless of your field of study.

I disagree with this. The same could be said about any other engineering degree, and premed engineering majors can simply say they enjoyed studying science from an engineering perspective (e.g. they just liked fluid dynamics, heat transfer, whatever.) The difference with a BSN is that it's a distinct field of healthcare.

Originally Posted by i will be an md

As a ChemE major, the question will not be "Why medicine?" but "Why medicine instead of ChemE?"

Originally Posted by gettheleadout

The same could be said about any other engineering degree, and premed engineering majors can simply say they enjoyed studying science from an engineering perspective (e.g. they just liked fluid dynamics, heat transfer, whatever.) The difference with a BSN is that it's a distinct field of healthcare.

I agree with you, and the comparison to BSN is an extreme example for illustration, but a friend in ChemE was asked just this question at interview. He was accepted, for what it's worth.

Originally Posted by i will be an md

I agree with you, and the comparison to BSN is an extreme example for illustration, but a friend in ChemE was asked just this question at interview. He was accepted, for what it's worth.

Hmm, well in that case that's the first time I've heard of that sort of question being raised. Personally I would hope the justification that one should have the opportunity to study whatever one pleases during undergrad should be enough (of course with the exception of health-related "training" degree programs like BSN's.) I still wouldn't consider this something for engineering majors to worry about.

Originally Posted by i will be an md

I agree with you, and the comparison to BSN is an extreme example for illustration, but a friend in ChemE was asked just this question at interview. He was accepted, for what it's worth.

Could you share his stats?

Originally Posted by D0CTORX

I am not a ChemE major myself, but my friend would like to know if there are any ChemEs pursuing medicine on here.

He wanted to know:
-How hard you work for your GPA(what is it)? How much study time you put in?(each week/day)
-Do you feel taking a rigorous major prepares you more so than other students?
-Do you have time for extra currics?

-Any additional info/ advice you have for someone who is thinking about doing ChemE?

I am graduating with a ChemE degree and have been accepted to several medical schools for next year.

1. I have a 3.8 GPA. I definitely worked hard to do well but the amount of study time depends on the person. Engineering is more about understanding concepts and solving problems than knowing information. I spend much more time doing homework and working through problems than I do studying, as understanding homework actually does prepare you for tests. Homework assignments that took 10-15 hours are usually the norm after engineering classes. For course-load, one of my easier semesters was Fluids, P-Chem, O-Chem 2, and Diff EQ, so get used to lots of hard classes at the same time.

2. Engineering majors at my school do seem to do very well on the MCAT, especially the physical sciences section. However, I don't think having a rigorous major gives you all that much of an advantage. I did emphasize in interviews how my major developed my problem solving and critical thinking skills, but the same could be said of many majors. I did hear from one school's admissions director that they will take engineering into account when evaluating GPA, but not a whole lot (he said an engineering GPA could be about 0.1-0.2 GPA points lower, i.e. a 3.5 in engineering is about the same as a 3.6-3.7 in biology). That was only one school though, many don't care at all.

3. ECs were more difficult for me to do given the time I had to spend on school. I think clinical experience was probably the weakest point of my application (I probably had about 350 hrs, but they were meaningful hours, which helped in interviews). Looking back, it may have been better to take a year or two off after school.

Overall, if your friend really enjoys engineering and think he/she can do well, then go for it. I think choosing a major you enjoy is just as important as how hard it is, as you will be more likely to do well if you find the subject matter interesting. I would not choose ChemE solely based on wanting to impress medical schools, as those people generally do poorly and hurt their GPA. Overall, I think being a ChemE helped me, but mainly because I found it interesting, did well, and was able to talk about it in interviews. That being said, I had several classmates who were interested in medicine, but tanked their GPA's so there is some risk.

Originally Posted by i will be an md

I am not a ChemE major, but ChemE is a career oriented degree. As a ChemE major, the question will not be "Why medicine?" but "Why medicine instead of ChemE?" - there is a disconnect that implies a shift of career choice applying with this degree as there would be with any other career oriented degree, such as a BSN (Bachelor's of Science in Nursing). Your friend might be better served enrolling in a different, medically related, major so he can devote more time to pursuing the extra-curricular activities that are an all but necessary part of a strong medical school application. That being said, the rigor of the major won't prepare you any better for medical school than any other major with a similar focus on science content (chemistry, biology, physics, etc.). The best predictor of your success in medical school will be your BCPM GPA, regardless of your field of study.

This is a relatively easy question to answer. Not everyone wants to work as a process engineer for an oil or pharma company. ChemE does introduce a lot of medically relevant topics like tissue engineering. That was what initially got me interested in medicine. The rest of the "why medicine?" question was probably pretty similar to everyone else and focused on my experiences shadowing and volunteering.

Originally Posted by D0CTORX

I am not a ChemE major myself, but my friend would like to know if there are any ChemEs pursuing medicine on here.

He wanted to know:
-How hard you work for your GPA(what is it)? How much study time you put in?(each week/day)
-Do you feel taking a rigorous major prepares you more so than other students?
-Do you have time for extra currics?

-Any additional info/ advice you have for someone who is thinking about doing ChemE?

I’m a non-trad ChemE, wanted to share my thoughts and insight.

While I was an undergrad, chemical and electrical engineering were considered the “hardest” majors. Of course this is a bit subjective, but that was the general consensus on campus. I worked very hard to maintain a high GPA. Like many other engineering students, I had many late nights dedicated to problem sets and projects. Most (if not all) of my premed friends would agree that ChemEs in general worked much harder than them as an undergrad.

I had several ChemE classmates that decided to pursue medicine right after school. One switched to a chemistry major halfway through while the other dropped down to a BA. I know of only a few people from other years that completed the BS and went into med/law school right away.

For most people ChemE will be a tough major to maintain high (3.8+) grades and the course load is INTENSE. Without entering college with lots of AP credits it would be difficult IMO to fit in anything beyond the basic level biology classes in addition to the engineering requirements. Granted you will have plenty of physics, chemistry, math by the time you graduate…

Assuming you don’t have to work full time as a student or have any unusual circumstances, I think you will always have time for ECs, regardless of your major. It all comes down to managing your time and prioritizing what you feel is most important to get out of the college experience.

Originally Posted by i will be an md

I am not a ChemE major, but ChemE is a career oriented degree. As a ChemE major, the question will not be "Why medicine?" but "Why medicine instead of ChemE?" - there is a disconnect that implies a shift of career choice applying with this degree as there would be with any other career oriented degree, such as a BSN (Bachelor's of Science in Nursing). Your friend might be better served enrolling in a different, medically related, major so he can devote more time to pursuing the extra-curricular activities that are an all but necessary part of a strong medical school application. That being said, the rigor of the major won't prepare you any better for medical school than any other major with a similar focus on science content (chemistry, biology, physics, etc.). The best predictor of your success in medical school will be your BCPM GPA, regardless of your field of study.

Disagree, I'm a ChemE and the major is not career oriented, none of the engineering majors are career oriented. Engineering is thought process oriented. Engineering teaches you how to think in a logical fashion, how to combine multi-facted sciences and how to develop efficient solutions to complex problems. That's why so many engineers end up working in different engineering fields from their undergraduate field of study.

Besides the fact that engineering is very hard and can hurt your GPA, it is a great major for a future doctor. If you think about it, Physicians are simply human engineers. Physicians are given problems (the patient's chief complaint) and the have to fix the problem.

Originally Posted by MrLahey

Disagree, I'm a ChemE and the major is not career oriented, none of the engineering majors are career oriented. Engineering is thought process oriented. Engineering teaches you how to think in a logical fashion, how to combine multi-facted sciences and how to develop efficient solutions to complex problems. That's why so many engineers end up working in different engineering fields from their undergraduate field of study.

Besides the fact that engineering is very hard and can hurt your GPA, it is a great major for a future doctor. If you think about it, Physicians are simply human engineers. Physicians are given problems (the patient's chief complaint) and the have to fix the problem.

Frig off Lahey.

Originally Posted by circulus vitios

Frig off Lahey.

You Mad Randy?

Originally Posted by circulus vitios

Frig off Lahey.

Originally Posted by MrLahey

You Mad Randy?

Chill guys.

Originally Posted by gettheleadout

Chill guys.

Dont worry man, inside joke...it's from a famous canadian sitcom.
Randy gets pissed and says "Frig off Lahey"

Originally Posted by D0CTORX

Could you share his stats?

I don't know his MCAT or GPA but he attended a "Top 30" university and I'd guess he scored pretty well on just about everything.

I guess I can speak to this topic as I am a ChemE myself.

To the coursework: it is quite heavy, but it helps in that it eventually makes you less neurotic. I had a semester with Orgo I, DiffEq, and three ChemE courses, and I can safely say that often Orgo seemed to be the easiest of the classes. Something has to give, of course. I managed to do quite well because I dedicated a lot of time and energy solely to school. There are a few engineering pre-meds that I know. Some love their majors and are doing quite well, while a few are wishing they were not engineers anymore. It all depends on your abilities to think rather than memorize. That leads me to my next point.

To the interview questions regarding applicability: Engineering is more applicable as most other majors in my opinion (save for perhaps biochem or biospsych maybe ... don't flame me if you disagree). Since engineering is more of an approach-based major (teaches you how to solve new problems using the material you have learned), I feel like it's better in the long run. I haven't been in med school, but I'm guessing that to treat a patient you can't just memorize facts - you'll need to know how to apply them to any given combination of symptoms. My biology courses seemed to be a lot more memorization of terms rather than any sort of application, and I can't say that that's very enjoyable.

To the MCAT: have not taken it. Had a guy tutor me who was a ChemE. The dude absolutely tooled on the exam (40+). n=1 in this case, but take that as you wish.

To the hidden perk: as a ChemE, my most time-consuming and stressful classes have been the engineering classes. I spend a lot of time studying with ChemEs rather than pre-meds, and that's oftentimes very nice for your sanity.

Originally Posted by D0CTORX

-How hard you work for your GPA(what is it)? How much study time you put in?(each week/day)

I worked hard, but not excessively to the point where I could not enjoy being an undergrad. I rarely studied on a Friday or Saturday unless I had a test early in the upcoming week. Probably studied an average of 1-2 hrs a day on a non-test week (engineering homework, papers, and lab reports). The most I studied on a test week was probably 3-4 hrs a day, no more than 5 days in advance of a test. I graduated with a 3.99 GPA. I studied for 2.5 months to take the MCAT for about an hour or two every day and ended up with a 36Q with a 14 on physical sciences.

-Do you feel taking a rigorous major prepares you more so than other students?

Sure. Engineering classes are usually geared towards complex/critical thinking and they incorporate a broad selection of scientific principles. I feel engineers generally have better time management skills than your typical pre-meds majoring in chem or bio. Engineers have more demanding homework with long problem sets, lab reports, and papers. You have to be able to manage time effectively to get decent grades. I think it forces you to be a little more mature with your lifestyle than the average student.

-Do you have time for extra currics?

Yup, but you can't expect to go out and have fun every night like other people. You also can't be as involved in certain organizations that eat up large chunks of time. I had plenty of time for professional development and volunteering, and was on an executive committee of one organization.

-Any additional info/ advice you have for someone who is thinking about doing ChemE?

Expect to make a large time commitment. If you aren't strong in math and physics, your GPA will reflect it. It is very satisfying to complete the degree, but you will probably hate it several times over the years. If at any time you decide medicine isn't for you, you will have a variety of good options to fall back on without having to obtain more education. The degree is worth it.

Originally Posted by Midwestern Blot

I worked hard, but not excessively to the point where I could not enjoy being an undergrad. I rarely studied on a Friday or Saturday unless I had a test early in the upcoming week. Probably studied an average of 1-2 hrs a day on a non-test week (engineering homework, papers, and lab reports). The most I studied on a test week was probably 3-4 hrs a day, no more than 5 days in advance of a test. I graduated with a 3.99 GPA. I studied for 2.5 months to take the MCAT for about an hour or two every day and ended up with a 36Q with a 14 on physical sciences.



Sure. Engineering classes are usually geared towards complex/critical thinking and they incorporate a broad selection of scientific principles. I feel engineers generally have better time management skills than your typical pre-meds majoring in chem or bio. Engineers have more demanding homework with long problem sets, lab reports, and papers. You have to be able to manage time effectively to get decent grades. I think it forces you to be a little more mature with your lifestyle than the average student.



Yup, but you can't expect to go out and have fun every night like other people. You also can't be as involved in certain organizations that eat up large chunks of time. I had plenty of time for professional development and volunteering, and was on an executive committee of one organization.



Expect to make a large time commitment. If you aren't strong in math and physics, your GPA will reflect it. It is very satisfying to complete the degree, but you will probably hate it several times over the years. If at any time you decide medicine isn't for you, you will have a variety of good options to fall back on without having to obtain more education. The degree is worth it.

Dude, that is an awesome GPA. Great job!


Thanks everyone, I am passing along the information to my friend!