Aerospace Engineering & Pre-med: A bad idea?

[BubbytheTourG]

Hi. I am a recent high school graduate and am entering into a Top 50 university next year. I am definitely going to do pre-med and will probably try to apply to medical school, but I want to study Aerospace Engineering. The problem is, I have a very intelligent non-pre-med brother who just finished his second year of Aerospace Engineering and has slumped down to a 3.3 cummulative GPA, a low GPA which would be pretty difficult to raise. It is going to be quite a bit harder for me since I have the extra pre-med classes (although I am really only worried about Orgo... I took AP Chemistry and Physics and Calculus and did pretty well in them, although no credits will be used). My parents and teachers have advised me against this route, going so far as to say that I will pull two "majors" (premed ain't a major) only to succeed in neither and fail and become unemployment-line fodder. Is this a bad idea?

http://www6.miami.edu/umbulletin/und/eng/mech.htm#aerocurr

And how would I fit pre-med into an extensive AE course plan? I am willing to do summer semesters. Especially for Orgo.

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[Livingapparatus]

dont worry it is possible if it is what you really want to study, I had the same question about engineering about a year ago! It is tough that aero has doesnt use orgo but you will be fine.

3.3 aint all that low and not all that hard to bring up!

 

[TehDoc]

OOh TOP 50!?!! Orly?

 

[chr123]

It'll take an extra year to get through school. There aren't any electives in engineeering programs so you'll have to take 2 bios, 2 o-chems, and maybe 1 or 2 more science classes in addition to the AE requirements.

 

[CoolSpot7Up]

Do the major you're interested in. If you like aerospace engineering and you like medicine, you'll do well in those classes since you'll naturally try harder. Just be aware you'll have to work much harder than non-engineers, so don't go in there thinking it'll be a cake walk that will look nice on your med school apps.

 

[Bradstein]

Why do you want to study aerospace engineering?

 

[se2131]

You'll have to take physics for aerospace engineering anyway, so that only leaves a year of bio, orgo, and chemistry for your pre-med requirements. You should be able to work that in without taking a year off, maybe take a max of one of them over the summer.

If you're very good at mathematics and at taking exams, then engineering is not always the GPA-killer that everyone thinks it is. I probably would have done worse in an Arts/Sciences major which requires tons of papers (I was a BME major though)

3.3 won't cut it for pre-meds though (at least not w/o a great MCAT/EC's etc.), so make sure you don't drop that low. And you won't get a large GPA boost compared to non-engineers when adcoms review your file

 

[scgamer2000]

And how would I fit pre-med into an extensive AE course plan? I am willing to do summer semesters. Especially for Orgo.

To be perfectly honest, I don't see how you'll fit organic chemistry into this schedule without a) summer school or b) using AP credit.

This schedule says that chem I is taken sophomore year in the spring. The problem with that is that you probably need chem II to take orgo, so you'd need to take chem II over the summer and then take orgo the summer after junior year....which is too late because you should plan on taking the MCAT right at the end of junior year.

So, you'll need to move chem I to some earlier point and then squeeze chem II in. Then take orgo the summer after sophomore year. Did you take AP Physics C or B? If you took C and did well in it, then I'd bet the physics courses shouldn't be too difficult for you. In that case, you could swap chem I with prob/stat and then add chem II 2nd semester of sophomore year. Just a thought.

But yes, summer orgo I think is a must. I majored in biomedical engineering but knew plenty of people who were in aerospace engineering. I'm quite convinced that adding organic chemistry and lab on top their 2nd or 3rd year coursework would be death.

*Edit:* Oh nuts, I forgot to mention biology. Yeah....that'll probably be summer school too. Is there a reason that you aren't using AP credit for any of your coursework?

 

[BubbytheTourG]

Thanks for all your replies. The reason I want to study Aerospace Engineering is simply because I love aeroplanes. I figured that if I couldn't handle undergraduate engineering, why even bother trying to trudge my way through medical school? The only AP credit I know I have is for World History which I got a 4 on. I also took AP Physics, Calculus AB, Chemistry, and US Government. I might get credit for Goverment, but am doubtful about any credit for the others, although I have not gotten my scores back. Either way, the only credit I would want to use would be Goverment and History which would free up some spots for me to put in some pre-med classes.

The Chem 1 that is in there is Chemistry for Engineers, which is rubbish because of the real chemistry that I would have to take. I don't know if I can bypass the Chem for Engineers requirement with real Chemistries 1 and 2. Orgo is something I definitely wish to do over the summer. My ideal plan would be to take Orgo 1 the summer after freshman year and Orgo 2 the summer after sophmore year. I would like to take Biology and Chemistries 1 and 2 my freshman year, since they are relatively easy and am familiar with the material (I took regular Biology in 10th grade but aced it). Biology shouldn't be too hard, as I am already familiar with mitochondria, Golgi organelles and ribosomes, all the Kingdoms, animalia, etc.

My parents don't like the idea that I am doing engineering though and were quite godsmacked to find out that it is what I plan to do my first year. Worst comes to worst, I drop the engineering classes and change my major to Biochemistry & Molecular Biology as they are kinda urging me to... I would have to explain to medical school interviewers that I kinda had a change in what I wanted to do with my life. Good enough? Will the W's on my transcript hurt me?

And if I am honest, I don't really know if I can hold a high GPA. I might end up doing worse than a 3.3. Medschools need at least a 3.7 to be in the "safe zone" from what I have read.

 

[Livingapparatus]

a couple W's are not a apllication killer, 12 W's can.



well best of luck to you

 

[Blade28]

If you look around Pre-Allo you'll see that there are quite a few people who were also engineering majors in college (like me, for instance). It can be done - you have to really enjoy your major, though, and still do well on your pre-reqs!

Best of luck.

 

[Bradstein]

Biology shouldn't be too hard, as I am already familiar with mitochondria, Golgi organelles and ribosomes, all the Kingdoms, animalia, etc.

That's not all it's about but confidence is good.

It will be a long time before you get into anything related to planes. Oh sure, you'll hit on Bernoulli's principle in physics but I mean the nitty gritty. Even so, it's a lot about principles and the biggest learning experiences you'll have will be in your senior design project.

Engineering is tough mostly because you have to take so many classes. Virtually everything except for the bare minimum general education requirement.

Honestly, I think if you like planes you should get your pilot license if you haven't already. It will make your education MUCH more valuable having CONTEXT for everything. Plus, you'll start getting into the jargon and concepts of the industry.

 

[txprodigal]

my best friend is an aerospace engineering major and he always tells me about how many hours he's taking with little to no choice as to what he takes except for maybe the time slot for one class during the week

it'll be difficult to juggle your ECs, volunteering, shadowing, research, and all your engineering classes

i think it's definitely possible, but you'll have to dedicate yourself even more, and you might possibly have to take a bunch of classes during the summers or even get on the 5-6 year plan

good luck!

 

[loganhayes]

Aerospace engineering is a hard major. But if you like it and have talent in it, you will do well. Unless your engineering courses have Physics or Math prefix, they do not count as your BCPM GPA. So, even if you only get Bs in your engineering courses (with ENGR prefix) and you ace all pre-med courses, only your overall GPA will be lower.

I was a Math major and Math is a natural thing for me. I did well in them and helped me boost up my BCPM GPA to 3.9. But if I had not, those Math courses would have killed me.. all of them are a 4-unit course. Even one B+ drags your GPA down. Imagine if you score all B+s. A 3.3 GPA for med school is not too competitive.

But if you managed to get a super GPA (3.7 and up) with an AE major plus pre-med, it is evident that you are incredibly smart.

If it does not work out, just pick an easy major and ace every single course. For med school application, a 4.0 GPA in History will get you far than a 3.3 or less GPA in Aerospace Engineering.

 

[BubbytheTourG]

Ok. I think I'll go for it. Just 3 more things. I was looking at another post and people were discussing Navier-Stokes partial differential equations... and they look quite scary. Will things like these become clear to me if I pay attention in class and don't screw around? I am afraid of doing both of these plus all of my homework and still getting poor grades.

And how does one go about doing research? I can definitely do physician shadowing just fine (my dad's a doctor) and volunteer work wouldn't be a problem on weekends, but research seems a bit hard to come by.

And how many students typically are accepted to any given medical school? Like University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for example?

 

[loganhayes]

Ok. I think I'll go for it. Just 3 more things. I was looking at another post and people were discussing Navier-Stokes partial differential equations... and they look quite scary. Will things like these become clear to me if I pay attention in class and don't screw around? I am afraid of doing both of these plus all of my homework and still getting poor grades.

And how does one go about doing research? I can definitely do physician shadowing just fine (my dad's a doctor) and volunteer work wouldn't be a problem on weekends, but research seems a bit hard to come by.

And how many students typically are accepted to any given medical school? Like University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for example?

The old adage applies here... Knowledge is power.
So yes, everything will become crystal clear once you dive in. Take it easy, pace yourself, you will do just fine.

For top schools, research would be a plus. But otherwise, research is not required. If you don't like research, don't push yourself to do it. Because time wasted on research could be otherwise spent on your study.

Get the MSAR book, the answer for every school is there. But the ballpark is 100-150 for most med schools. Some schools have a smaller number (50-80). So yes, it is VERY competitive.

 

[engineeredout]

Ok. I think I'll go for it. Just 3 more things. I was looking at another post and people were discussing Navier-Stokes partial differential equations... and they look quite scary. Will things like these become clear to me if I pay attention in class and don't screw around? I am afraid of doing both of these plus all of my homework and still getting poor grades. school?

HAhahahaha navier stokes. You won't need the REALLY complicated parts of the equation unless you go to graduate school. And despite getting As in most of my chemical engineering classes, I have absolutely no idea what the **** is going on.

YOu might want to consider a different engineering field. ChemEs take orgo/chem/physics/calc, all the premed but bio normally, and even then depending on your schools it might be fit in.

 

[Mister Pie]

Ok. I think I'll go for it. Just 3 more things. I was looking at another post and people were discussing Navier-Stokes partial differential equations... and they look quite scary. Will things like these become clear to me if I pay attention in class and don't screw around? I am afraid of doing both of these plus all of my homework and still getting poor grades.

And how does one go about doing research? I can definitely do physician shadowing just fine (my dad's a doctor) and volunteer work wouldn't be a problem on weekends, but research seems a bit hard to come by.

And how many students typically are accepted to any given medical school? Like University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for example?

I remember when I was a freshman I flipped through an upper division quantum mechanics textbook and nearly psyched myself out from pursuing my major (engineering with an emphasis on physics), but when the time was right and I actually took the course, I had all the right "pieces" to take the next step forward.

 

[BubbytheTourG]

I will look at the MSAR book.

I was considering biomedical engineering and it does indeed look very interesting. I might switch to it depending on future events.

Just to lend you in on a little bit of my background, or that of my father, he was a very hardworking Biochemistry major who aced orgo... but he didn't do any research. And he only applied to med-schools in-state. He ended up getting rejected from all of them and ended up going to medical school in Mexico. However, he is doing just fine now as a successful general surgeon. I do not intend to go to the top medical schools in the country. UM Miller, UF, and the new UCF and FIU medical schools are just a few of the places that I am already aiming to. I might even consider Veterinary school. I will see if research is needed to be accepted to these schools.

 

[Blade28]

I was looking at another post and people were discussing Navier-Stokes partial differential equations... and they look quite scary. Will things like these become clear to me if I pay attention in class and don't screw around?

If you like engineering and physics, then yes, you'll eventually understand equations like these.

 

[RSAgator]

Obviously take what I say with a grain of salt, but I think that many of the pre-med engineers I know (myself included) became pre-med after choosing engineering and decided to stick with it. Thankfully I have a highish GPA after the fact, but if I'd known medicine was for me from the start I don't think I would have chosen chemical engineering as my path towards it. Engineering is difficult and college is a huge adjustment from high school. You will likely be competing against some of the brightest people in the university for your grades, but at the end of the day it's the amount of work you put into your courses that will determine your grades. Unfortunately for some people there aren't enough hours in a day to do everything and they eventually get sick of it and sink. Also many people going into engineering have quite a misconception about the subjects they will be studying, so you might find that "i like aeroplanes" won't be enough of a reason for you to enjoy aerospace engineering. It's doable, you can actually have incredible success with it, but that's only if you do well in your courses. Good luck

 

[theantidrug4u]

I'm about to start my first year of med school and I graduated for a top 5 engineering school. Mostly cause of the in state tuition though, not so much the "quality" education. First i would like to dispel some myths.

1-You won't have time for everything-Going into engineering in any school with a tough program means you are a very motivated individual and likely know the work load you will be encountering. Most of the engineers I am friends with are as busy as I am, granted with other things. Working for a consulting group, being on student government, playing NCAA sports are all things my close friends do and we go out as often as any other engineer and far more than many of the pre-med kids. You will, of course, be very busy, but there is no reason why you can't make time for everything.

2-It will be tough taking extra classes-The addition of biology and extra chemistry is difficult but even in the most rigorous engineering programs you are expected to have 20-30 hours of non-engineering classes. Most students entering into competitive engineering program have most of this completed with AP credit. This just means rather than taking the blow off classes like some of your friends you'll be taking more difficult classes. Though, with proper planning there is no reason why you can't graduate in 4 years. I finished all my pre-med requirements by the end of my sophomore year and took the mcats before the start of my junior year. There were one or two really difficult semesters but it really was not that bad.

3-Your GPA will hurt you-Its true that some schools will weigh engineering into your GPA. However, if it is like my school where our engineering program is much much much more difficult than the biology program, where a 3.3 in engineering is much harder than a 4.0 in bio, you are going to be screwed by the system. They are not compensated for to that degree. This is the bitter truth, though i find no reason why anyone driven enough to take on engineering and medicine can't pull off a half way decent GPA.

now for the advantages. I feel that these FAR outweigh the extra classes.

1-You take AWESOME classes-I'm a bioengineering major and I LOVE every single class I take. I feel that being a straight biology major, I would enjoy it just as much but I would be shortchanging myself and miss out on some of the incredible classes I have been in. I would have never discovered my love for quantum mechanics or heat transfer.

2-It sets you apart-Honestly being able to say I spent two summer as an intern at an engineering company where I was in charge of whatever it is you did, makes a huge difference. Often in engineering companies you need to work with people with some crazy personalities and those are all skills you can use to your advantage to show that you can, in fact, interact with even the quirkiest patients.

3-Its a backup plan-I entered with an incoming class of 23 students. Of those, 15 wanted to go to med school. We had 8 people follow through and actually apply. 7 people got in. The one student that didn't sent in his applications over winter break. So it was more due to him being lazy than anything else. Every other person was thankful they had a job or grad school opportunity they were interested in rather than being part of the large percentage of biology students who wanted to go to med school but now had no idea what to do.


My biggest advice however is plan plan plan. You need to know what you need to do and when. I have friends who were chemical and electrical engineers who both made it into med school but both decided their sophomore year. They both graduated in four years but had a very grueling last two years of college. You know now that this is what you want to do. Figure out what you need and when to take your classes. Get help early. Become friends with engineering students that want to go to med school as well, they are an invaluable resource, pre-med advisors are useless to engineering students, I have been told incorrect information on multiple occasions by multiple advisers. You will need to make sacrifices, but it won't be any worse than and biology student.

BTW I concur with the previous poster, fluid dynamics and materials classes are insanely hard and extremely math intensive. I do not envy you for the years of partial derivatives you have ahead of you.

 

[UVAbme2009]

It's hard, but it's not impossible. You can make your schedule work for you. Whatever the outlined schedule says for your major is not set in stone. That's just an example for you to base your schedule off of.

I did biomedical engineering and ended up with a 3.65 overall and a 3.62 BCPM. That's including what I'd consider a lackluster second year because I had trouble finding effective ways to study. If I could go back and do it again I think I'd be around a 3.8 instead.

BME or Chem E will be more helpful in balancing your schedule because some courses (biology in BME, orgo in Chem E) are already required by the major.

Ultimately you should choose a major that you enjoy because right now you don't know if medicine is actually what you'll end up looking at.

 

[academician2008]

I did study microelectronics to become an engineer in Russia for 3 years before I transfered to the US college.
Here I switched to psychology because it was a much easier major to maintain a high GPA and apply to med school.
I only did that switch because I realised I liked people more than machines and I did not really want to be an engineer after I graduate. What is a point for you to chose a major you won't ever need in your career? Just for fun? I'm just wondering...
The classes are difficult full with a lot of mathematics. I would not do it again if I knew in advance I go to medicine.

 

[Druzie]

As a non-traditional applicant I'm a bit biased, but I generally think you should do what genuinely interests you. I was a computer science engineer undergrad and I gained a lot from the experience. It sets me apart, and the skills I learned as an engineer have definitely put me at a distinct advantage now in my post-bacc premed courses.

If you start school as an AE, most likely one of two things will happen: you'll love it or you won't.

If the first, stick with it. It'll be rewarding for its own reasons, and you'll have some great things to talk about on apps and in interviews. I'm pretty positive that the engineering school will accept a full year of Gen Chem instead of Chem for Engineers. (Mine did.) And maybe you'll have to be in school one more year to manage the courseload while maintaining your sanity, but in the grand scheme of things, what is one more year?

If the second, change your major (you wouldn't be the first to do so) and (as someone already suggested) take flying lessons.

 

[Bradstein]

If the second, change your major (you wouldn't be the first to do so) and (as someone already suggested) take flying lessons.

I was actually saying he should start taking lessons NOW. If he doesn't love the AE major, he'll still have a solid background in planes. If he loves it, being an actual pilot will add a whole new dimension to his studies.

 

[costadelsol]

Ok. I think I'll go for it. Just 3 more things. I was looking at another post and people were discussing Navier-Stokes partial differential equations... and they look quite scary. Will things like these become clear to me if I pay attention in class and don't screw around? I am afraid of doing both of these plus all of my homework and still getting poor grades.

And how does one go about doing research? I can definitely do physician shadowing just fine (my dad's a doctor) and volunteer work wouldn't be a problem on weekends, but research seems a bit hard to come by.

And how many students typically are accepted to any given medical school? Like University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for example?

I'm also a cheme, and Navier-Stokes might look scary to you now, but once you've taken courses in differential equations it'll all make sense to you.

 

[Druzie]

I was actually saying he should start taking lessons NOW. If he doesn't love the AE major, he'll still have a solid background in planes. If he loves it, being an actual pilot will add a whole new dimension to his studies.

You're right. No matter what else he chooses to do, flight lessons would be great.

 

[engineeredout]

Keep in mind that the first year for all engineering majors is virtually identical, so it would not be difficult to switch between the engineering fields if you want to change it up from aerospace after that.

And if you want to switch out of engineering entirely, you would not be in a bad situation for premed because first year engineers take gen chem, calc, and physics.

 

[chr123]

Just know what your getting into. Lots of people think air planes are neat until they have to do figure out complex bending on a wing spar or pressure distributions over flight control surfaces.

Don't take advice about how hard AE is from anone but an AE. Not all engineeers are created equal.

Toughest AE>EE>ChemE>ME>Civil>IE>BME easiest

I'm a ME by the way.

Talk to the pre-med advisor responsible for the engineers at your school to put you in touch with an AE pre-med.

 

[Gut Shot]

Is this a bad idea?

Yes, it's a horrible idea. Major in a GPA-crushing field like aerospace engineering of you want to be an aerospace engineer. Otherwise it's nothing more than an iron maiden for your dreams.

If you want to be a physician, you should chart a course to being a physician, not a premed also-ran with a bunch of AE credits.

 

[se2131]

Toughest AE>EE>ChemE>ME>Civil>IE>BME easiest

This really varies from school to school, at ours it was:

ChemE > BME > EE > AE > ME > CS > Civil > Systems

At least, that's based on the amount of free time that each of those majors had

To the OP, you really need to talk to people from the different disciplines at the school you're attending to get a feel for the difficulty. Fewer required classes does not necessarily mean that it's easier

 

[engineeredout]

This really varies from school to school, at ours it was:

ChemE > BME > EE > AE > ME > CS > Civil > Systems

At least, that's based on the amount of free time that each of those majors had

To the OP, you really need to talk to people from the different disciplines at the school you're attending to get a feel for the difficulty. Fewer required classes does not necessarily mean that it's easier

For us, ChemE & MechE > EE > CE > BME > CS > AMS and theres probably another engineering major or so I forgot about.

I give the MechEs here credit cause its one of the top meche programs in the country.

 

[Livingapparatus]

ChemE>>>BME>EE>the rest

But this is biased, my brother being chemE and me being BME

 

[sunny1]

Just know what your getting into. Lots of people think air planes are neat until they have to do figure out complex bending on a wing spar or pressure distributions over flight control surfaces.

Don't take advice about how hard AE is from anone but an AE. Not all engineeers are created equal.

Toughest AE>EE>ChemE>ME>Civil>IE>BME easiest

I'm a ME by the way.

Talk to the pre-med advisor responsible for the engineers at your school to put you in touch with an AE pre-med.

Word. My husband is an aerospace engineer and let me tell you - despite his being one of the smartest people I know and doing very well in his jobs, his GPA was hit by the AE major at his school (a well-reknowned program). He's got his BS and MS in it, and it is HARD! Granted, the strength of AE programs varies. You can't just go by brand name schools to know the good ones either.

Now, the job prospects are good in private industry, so if you wanted to be an aerospace engineer for a while, I'd suggest it. Keep in mind it's not just planes but also you can work on rockets. But to go through all this and then switch gears and head directly into med school? Makes no sense.

FYI, I took prereq classes with my husband's coworker who is in the process of realizing he no longer wants to work in the field and does want to pursue medicine instead. So there are people that can and do make the switch. But to just pick AE as your major because you think it will be interesting and challenging though you have no desire to ever use it is a poor choice in my opinion, because your GPA will take a hit and the major generally can be quite time consuming.

You seem to have a variety of interests. You'll be a freshman = you've got time to figure out what you want to major in. Take a few classes, discuss your interests with advisors in the different programs, sit in on a few upper level classes or talk to the undergrads and profs in that major to learn more about the programs. Look at some other engineering options like biomedical engineering. Perhaps mechanical. Take some flying lessons. Join a RC club. 😉 Then decide whether you really want to pursue AE or not. I would suggest no unless you want to be an aerospace engineer, not a doctor.

 

[vbdoc77]

If you choose to do both AE and follow premed reqs, make sure you have very good time management skills. Be ready to work very hard too. It is most definitely doable though. As a CME, some of the concepts I learn (thermo, transport, mat balances...) can be directly applied to the human body. This makes me want to pursue medicine that much more.

Make sure you sit down with someone in the AE dept (try the dept chair if you can), and ask them what they think about the course plan you are considering.

Best of luck!

 

[clarki]

I'm a incoming MS1 with a degree in Aerospace engineering. It was hard work, but I have no regrets (yet... maybe ask me again in 4 years). I started as a freshmen not knowing if I wanted to end up in medicine, bioengineering, or aerospace, and I wanted leave my options open. I graduated in 4 years, and still had time for athletics and extracurriculars.

I think you will be able to tell very quickly how feasible it will be for you to maintain a high GPA. If you don't feel like you are cutting it after the first year, it is not too late to switch majors.

That said, you need to talk to an adviser and actually plot out your course schedule over 4 years to see how it fits. It was not easy for me to find space for bio and ochem classes, and I had the advantage of starting with a lot of AP credits. In my case, several of the AE 'technical electives' were replaced with ochem and this was ok with the school.

 

[UVAbme2009]

I find it funny how some of you think you can judge how difficult an engineering major is compared to others. Unless you've majored in them all, you really don't know, do you?

 

[BubbytheTourG]

Not to say that my major is chisled in stone. A change may very likely take place, especially after the first year. But, with the addition of Biology and General Chemistry, first-year aerospace is pretty much the same as a standard pre-med's student's courseload.

 

[arwilli3]

Don't take advice about how hard AE is from anone but an AE. Not all engineeers are created equal.

Toughest AE>EE>ChemE>ME>Civil>IE>BME easiest

I'm a ME by the way.

I am also ME, and I would generally agree with this, although a reasonably smart and resourceful person can slide through any of the degrees without working hard (they'll probably have a bad gpa though).

Also I really believe that being a good engineer and getting good grades in engineering are totally different skill sets. Some of the best engineers I graduated with had bad gpa's, while I had an awesome gpa and would be above average but not great in industry.

Above all, what does AE have to do with medicine? I may be wrong, but it seems like pretty much all the other engineering disciplines can be related to medicine (except maybe civil, but even then i could be wrong) but the people I know in AE pretty much learned about how planes and wings are designed, and how to accomplish such design. If you really want medicine, I would think that it would be better to discuss how engineering fit in with medicine rather than just saying "ya, I decided to completely switch". That's what I did anyway and it worked for me.

 

[EpiPEN]

Toughest AE>EE>ChemE>ME>Civil>IE>BME easiest

I'm a ME by the way.

Talk to the pre-med advisor responsible for the engineers at your school to put you in touch with an AE pre-med.

Iono about BME being the easiest. It's like the major where you learn something about everything but not enough of anything.

 

[BubbytheTourG]

I'm a incoming MS1 with a degree in Aerospace engineering. It was hard work, but I have no regrets (yet... maybe ask me again in 4 years). I started as a freshmen not knowing if I wanted to end up in medicine, bioengineering, or aerospace, and I wanted leave my options open. I graduated in 4 years, and still had time for athletics and extracurriculars.

I think you will be able to tell very quickly how feasible it will be for you to maintain a high GPA. If you don't feel like you are cutting it after the first year, it is not too late to switch majors.

That said, you need to talk to an adviser and actually plot out your course schedule over 4 years to see how it fits. It was not easy for me to find space for bio and ochem classes, and I had the advantage of starting with a lot of AP credits. In my case, several of the AE 'technical electives' were replaced with ochem and this was ok with the school.

If you don't mind me asking... what was your GPA?
And what extra pre-med classes were you able to fit in? (Cell Biology, genetics, biochemistry, anatomy, psychology, etc.)

 

[ESzczesniak]

This can definitely be done and I would argue that taking the major you like is the only way to go. I graduated a top 10 engineering school as a mechanical engineer. Certainly not the same as aerospace, but along a very similar track. I had done this because I too loved aircraft, but I also loved race cars. Decided with mech. e., I'd get to pay around with both a little bit. In fact, engineering internships can really help the diversity factor on med school apps. I had worked with the Air Force/NASA JPL and with an auto racing teams. In fact, that's all people wanted to know about in interviews...and they even seemed genuinely interested. These were experiences that few others people could put on their applications. There is a bit of a double standard, as it was still expected that I'd done some of the standard hospital volunteering and medical research, but I met the minimums here and left it at that. Otherwise, it was all about flying airplanes and driving race cars...well more the engineering side of it, but you don't think I went through all of that without getting to play with the toys a little, do you🙂?

I was lucky to come through with a strong GPA and a good MCAT, but the applications worked out well for me. The hardest part was explaining why, after doing all this engineering, I wanted to be a doctor. Most people liked the explanation that I was always interested in medicine, so I took the oppurtunity to study another interest for 4 years before heading into medicine for the rest of my life. It played itself well to the diversity factor.

And as an added bonus, you won't have to worry about studying much for MCAT physical science, as you will be way ahead of the average pre-med in teh physics and even chemistry (minus orgo) departments.

 

[ESzczesniak]

Sorry, double post.

 

[Zanzobar]

As a former engineering student who applied last year, I'm telling you it's entirely possible to do both engineering and pre-med, without summer school or taking extra semesters.

A lot of your premed classes can be used for electives (not all electives have to be technical, some can simply be a non-intro science class, talk to your adviser). Also you will probably have semesters where you're taking 6-7 classes (with all your premed courses). It's a lot of work, but it can be done, and if you do well in school, you will stand out from the average bio major. I loved engineering and got good grades in my engineering classes, so it was worth it for me. In my year, a lot of my engineering classmates did well in the application process (ie top 10 med schools), so it is definitely possible to do both.

And at this point, regardless of what your parents or high school teachers may say, you should study what you're interested in, even if it means challenging yourself. Good luck and hopefully this helps.

 

[Zanzobar]

Toughest AE>EE>ChemE>ME>Civil>IE>BME easiest

As a lot of people have said, this varies a lot with different schools. For us, BME classes were all curved to a C+, whereas EE and Chem E classes were curved to a B.

 

[sunny1]

Not to say that my major is chisled in stone. A change may very likely take place, especially after the first year. But, with the addition of Biology and General Chemistry, first-year aerospace is pretty much the same as a standard pre-med's student's courseload.

I would think Gen Chem would be required for AE majors.

Regardless, this is why you should use that first year to your advantage and do your research on the various programs that interest you from the perspective of students with advanced standing (i.e., jrs and srs) in addition to the professors and advisors. Ask about the difficulty of classes and what % of the class pass them, is there a senior project that demands a lot of time or not, etc.

Normally I am a person that says major in whatever you want so long as it interests you and you think you can do well in it. So I realize that my logic in this case is different. That's why your research into the various engineering programs that interest you will help you figure out the relative difficulty of their AE program compared to the other engineering programs there. I just want to be sure you can stay on top of your GPA and be as competitive an applicant as possible while also fulfilling your own personal academic interests meanwhile.

 

[EpiPEN]

As a lot of people have said, this varies a lot with different schools. For us, BME classes were all curved to a C+, whereas EE and Chem E classes were curved to a B.

Not to mention a lot of BME students share some classes with ME, AE, and EE people. Imagine trying to beat the curve in a class where other people have way more background classes in that certain area.

 

[paranoid_eyes]

don't do engineering if you wanna be a doctor. your gpa is too important for that kind if foolery

 

[ESzczesniak]

don't do engineering if you wanna be a doctor. your gpa is too important for that kind if foolery

You just can't say stuff like this unless you're an engineer too. Even then, you can't predict what his GPA will be, seeing as he's a different person. Yes, it can be a killer on GPA, but I believe my GPA was actually stronger by being an engineer because I actually enjoyed it compared to being a chemistry major or something.

In fact, if you're still pre-med, you're don't even know for sure what it takes to get into med schools. For a lot of the top schools, GPA is completely irrelevant once you get past the screening cut offs.