Engineering then Med School?

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playa4real

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So what exactly are the chances? The word on the streets is that you don?t necessarily need to have such a ?competitive? gpa (3.4-3.7), but I find that doubtful. I am a junior at Boston University majoring in electrical engineering and want to pursue medical school after graduating; however I currently have a 3.1. For my ECs, I am a resident assistant, Dean?s Host, and will be starting up a new organization this fall. It is a nonprofit organization that I plan to create through BU in which we perform community service in the Boston area. Along with the community service we will hold fundraisers, the money raised by these fundraisers will go to schools in India and will help bring teachers to schools that cannot afford them (all through Ekal Vidyalaya). I have worked at Boston Medical Center reading to little kids, but did not have enough time to continue this. I am trying to get a part-time job or perhaps research at one of the local hospitals, but haven?t really seen anything open. Basically, I just want to get some feedback from anyone that has any tips/advice for me to better my chances at med school or if anyone has been through a similar situation or knows people that have and can just help me out.

Please stick to the topic in this thread and thanks for any help in advance.

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playa4real said:
So what exactly are the chances? The word on the streets is that you don?t necessarily need to have such a ?competitive? gpa (3.4-3.7), but I find that doubtful. I am a junior at Boston University majoring in electrical engineering and want to pursue medical school after graduating; however I currently have a 3.1. For my ECs, I am a resident assistant, Dean?s Host, and will be starting up a new organization this fall. It is a nonprofit organization that I plan to create through BU in which we perform community service in the Boston area. Along with the community service we will hold fundraisers, the money raised by these fundraisers will go to schools in India and will help bring teachers to schools that cannot afford them (all through Ekal Vidyalaya). I have worked at Boston Medical Center reading to little kids, but did not have enough time to continue this. I am trying to get a part-time job or perhaps research at one of the local hospitals, but haven?t really seen anything open. Basically, I just want to get some feedback from anyone that has any tips/advice for me to better my chances at med school or if anyone has been through a similar situation or knows people that have and can just help me out.

Please stick to the topic in this thread and thanks for any help in advance.
Better get those grades up becuase it does matter. I did engineering at RIT, but wasn't thinking of med school at the time. Luckly I had a very strong GPA.
 
I'm majoring in biomedical engineering (aka bioengineering). I think engineering is great preparation for medical school. I've developed excellent analytical thinking, design, and problem solving skills - I even designed a new type of chamber as part of developing a new technique cancer research.

Also, medical schools tend to respect a tough academic major which explains why engineers tend to have great luck with admissions. However, that doesn't mean you can slide in with a lower GPA - they still expect excellence in whatever you study. So if you can get the GPA up, you should be okay because your EC's look good. The one weak point I feel in studying engineering is that it isn't as easy to study social science and humanities subjects (I only have 9 credits in those to date). I would suggest you take a few of those types of courses in your time left in school. Good luck! :)

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges? book Medical School Admissions Requirements: U.S. & Canada 2002-2003, biomedical engineering as a major nationwide has the highest admission rate to medical school of all majors.
 
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I'm in somewhat of a similar situation. I say somewhat because my UG was in Engineering (EE initially then I switched and did a double in Comp Engg and Comp Sci). However, I'm about to wrap up my MBA and have worked in the industry for quite some time. So the situation is a little different than yours. Also, no one ever really asked my Engg. GPA even though it was rather strong (3.64) Schools will ask though. I did have to work my rear off though. Even grad school is tough. I guess what makes it tough is the fact that I work full time and am on Q1 (on call 168hr/wk) every month as primary. Then another Q1 on secondary. So I might be up all night and still have to goto work the next day and then class that night if the pager doesn't go off. If it does..... On top of that I've been taking classes just for fun (I know sounds crazy). I took photography, drama, art history, etc. Lot's of non technical classes. Also I took time out to volunteer at a ton of places.

My goal right now is getting the pre-reqs taken care of then take the MCAT. How that and the admissions process goes time will tell.

Good Luck,
-Y_Marker
 
Your g.p.a. is subpar but usually engineers do better on the MCAT because they have a better background in physics than the rest of us. If you score well, your g.p.a. won't matter as much. However, your EC's may be a little lacking. Unless you are going to say that you spend 15 hours a week or more with your organization, you might want to add something medically related. Try to pick up your hospital exposure again. You aren't bad off though. Med school is doable.
 
JDAWG07 said:
I'm majoring in biomedical engineering (aka bioengineering). I think engineering is great preparation for medical school. I've developed excellent analytical thinking, design, and problem solving skills - I even designed a new type of chamber as part of developing a new technique cancer research.

Agreed. :thumbup: I was also a bioengineering major in college, and those tough classes did take their toll on my GPA. I still did OK, though, and I think some med schools take your major into account.
 
Just make sure you don't appear narrowly tuned to science. Medicine is of course a lot about working with people.
 
I was an electrical engineer from a very tough school w/ no grade inflation. Medschool's didn't care, they still want a good gpa! Your gpa can be a bit lower then bio majors, but it you should get it up somewhat. Maybe go for 3.4. Also, in order to compensate for your low gpa, make sure your premed class grades are all strong.
 
Any other engineers who wanted to apply to Hopkins but couldn't after learning of the req'd *24 HOURS* in social/behavioral sciences and humanities? If I understand correctly (and it seems pretty clear), AP credits and any pass/fail credits can't be counted. I had to take Hopkins off my list b/c I did not even come close to meeting this requirement as an undergrad.
 
Work a little on your GPA and you should be fine. At least you won't be in my position. I doubled in Computer E/Computer Sci at Iowa State but didn't start thinking about med school until my senior year. . . too late! It's taken me over three years of working and night classes to get all of my med-specific prereqs out of the way; I'm starting to feel old!

It's great to get some volunteer work at the hospital, but consider finding experience in your field that's also medical. E.g., I've been working for a major medical device manufacturer since graduation. It doesn't have to be years and years of experience. Even an internship would serve you well. Boston Scientific is just down the road.
 
thanks, ya i have another 2 years left of school so i'm definately going to try to get that gpa as high as possible. About jobs, internships and what not, how were you guys able to get one..what did you have to do to get one? Tips/Advice?

thanks again
 
go to your schools career counseling (if they have one). at my school, you can submit your resume there and it goes out to a lot of company's. It is great for internship, and co-op.
 
IME engineers kick ass on the MCAT - it's the extra physics, but also the problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. Obviously don't count on that, and try to get your grades up, but you might end up pretty competitive.

If you want a medical/engineering co-op or internship experience, check out companies like Philips and Marconi (ask a BME for more). They like EEs for signal processing and stuff like that.
 
I can weigh in on this pretty well, bc my friend was BME major and I was Biological Science major at Hopkins. My GPA was a 3.75, his was a 3.6 (which at Hopkins Engineering is awesome), I had a 33 on my MCAT, he had a 36. Being a bio major, I was able to do a lot of research at the Med School and also did a lot of clinical stuff. He did research at the engineering department at Hopkins and it wasn't really 'health related.' We both got very similar interview requests...and are both at teh places we wanted to be at. I've always thought that his engineering studies allowed him to get out (as much as possible) of the clniical work and the health care research work bc it weighed in more being a harder major. Also it could have been bc he was fine tuning his own field of study, being an engineer, while I was doing the same with my own.
 
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