Biomedical Engineering major

[PomiliaAnthony13]

Pre-med, heavy EC/CV load, several foreign langs, no friends/partying whatsoever, etc..

Very interested in pursuing a BS in Biomedical Engineering.

Any thoughts? Also, would this be good prep for med school?

Ciao

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[eteshoe]

Engineering majors are useful in prepping students for either a nice career after college or preparing them for the rigors of med school/grad school. The caveat being that they also tend to be difficult majors to maintain a competitive GPA (3.7+) for med school. With the proper planning (study plan, tutoring sessions, practice problems, office hrs, etc) and determination it can be done. Do not pick BME strictly for med school prep because you may be disappointed with the amount of effort it takes to get that degree. Pick BME because you like engineering (math, science, pain, etc) and enjoy the ride. Good luck

source: I was a ChemE/Biochem in UG

 

[Cookiess]

Practically speaking, the BS in Biomedical Engineering would be useful career wise should you not decide to pursue medicine. However strategically speaking, coursework for the BME major tends to be rigorous and might leave you with a lower GPA than you would have if you chose a different major. You can pick any major and apply to medical school as long as you have completed all of the med school pre-reqs. Thus, you should pick BME if you enjoy the subject and classes. Any Biology-related (ex. Biology, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Physiology, Neurobiology, etc.) major should prepare you for medical school.

 

[Petrichor1]

Do the major that interests you most. I see it beneficial if you plan on working for 2 years after graduation because that is where experience and skills come together. Someone I know dropped BME pretty late in their UG because of its rigor, but that depends school to school. Some schools just have better professors, vested in the students' future. That is probably where I would want to do BME or any other hard engineering major.

 

[elu0315]

I went into BME as a premed. It was hard and maybe my GPA suffered a bit but the material I learned was super interesting and I would not have done college any other way

Edit: i think it also prepared me for the MCAT pretty well, where critical thinking is emphasized over memorization

 

[EventualMD]

Having done research on this, I wouldn't count on an undergraduate BME major being the ticket to a job after graduation. The field is relatively new and a lot of places require you get a masters to get a position (if you are very competitive however you may be able to get a job with just a BS). A lot of places won't even hire a BME because they don't really understand the curriculum and will hire an EE CE or ME instead. Being an engineering major will also lower your GPA somewhat which could be an issue getting into medical school.

 

[elu0315]

as any type of engineer, your job prospects are better than an equivalent bio premed imo

 

[CowboyNiceguy]

Having done research on this, I wouldn't count on an undergraduate BME major being the ticket to a job after graduation. The field is relatively new and a lot of places require you get a masters to get a position (if you are very competitive however you may be able to get a job with just a BS). A lot of places won't even hire a BME because they don't really understand the curriculum and will hire an EE CE or ME instead. Being an engineering major will also lower your GPA somewhat which could be an issue getting into medical school.

I haven't looked a lot into the engineering job market, but I got the same impression as a MechE -- that our degree is more attractive to employers than a degree in BME even for biomedical applications. Same for EEs.

Biology is probably better if you are confident in getting into med school, but other types of engineering are better if you want to be more employable. BME kinda falls inbetween. Hard but not necessarily useful.

 

[PomiliaAnthony13]

It's so sad to see that every comment that ever comes on SDN is always so negative:

"BME will lower your GPA."
"Don't choose BME for a med school prep. "
"You will get no job with a BME degree."

Isn't is within the range of reason to say that it's possible to maintain a 4.0, just as it is possible to maintain a 4.0 in ANY class? When you dwell on negativity, it comes to life. Also, I never said that I was choosing BME for the sole purpose of preparing me for med... You forum people can be kinda funny sometimes...

 

[gyngyn]

It's so sad to see that every comment that ever comes on SDN is always so negative:

"BME will lower your GPA."
"Don't choose BME for a med school prep. "
"You will get no job with a BME degree."

Isn't is within the range of reason to say that it's possible to maintain a 4.0, just as it is possible to maintain a 4.0 in ANY class? When you dwell on negativity, it comes to life. Also, I never said that I was choosing BME for the sole purpose of preparing me for med... You forum people can be kinda funny sometimes...

You did ask for our thoughts...

 

[PomiliaAnthony13]

You did ask for our thoughts...

Yeah, I wanted opinions — not a declaration of a lower GPA if BME is pursued. They portray these things to be facts.

 

[elu0315]

I can tell you for a fact that if I had done a major I had no interest in, like humanities or something, I would have had a lower GPA no matter how much less "rigorous" it was.
Do what you're interested in, the GPA will follow if you work hard

 

[gyngyn]

Yeah, I wanted opinions — not a declaration of a lower GPA if BME is pursued. They portray these things to be facts.

All statements (aka thoughts) here can be viewed as opinions or observations unless a citation is given.
As an example, I have observed that engineering majors who apply to my school do seem to apply with lower gpa's than similarly qualified applicants from most other majors. I don't have a study to support this but seeing this observation from someone who sees thousands of applications a year may spur you to do the research that confirms or refutes my observation!

I will say engineering MCAT scores seem to be pretty good. https://www.aip.org/statistics/data-graphics/average-mcat-scores-selected-majors-2012

 

[Sardinia]

All statements (aka thoughts) here can be viewed as opinions, persona or observations unless a citation is given.
As an example, I have observed that engineering majors who apply to my school do seem to apply with lower gpa's than similarly qualified applicants from most other majors. I don't have a study to support this but seeing this observation from someone who sees thousands of applications a year may spur you to do the research that confirms or refutes my observation!

They all consulted with the BME oracle on Mount MIT during their initiation rights into the major and she divined prophecies of negative self-fulfillment for all of them.

 

[idkididk]

I chose BME because I was good at math, but also wanted to be pre-med. It covered all the courses I would need for pre-med requirements. Graduated with a 3.6 and got into med school. My research experiences were kinda weak and other extracurriculars were more ENG/campus life oriented.

n = 1 here but one of my life philosophy is If someone else can do it, why can't you?

Edit: Also why are you already saying "no friends/partying whatsoever?" You'll definitely need to have a way to relax in undergrad..

 

[eteshoe]

It's so sad to see that every comment that ever comes on SDN is always so negative:

"BME will lower your GPA."
"Don't choose BME for a med school prep. "
"You will get no job with a BME degree."

Isn't is within the range of reason to say that it's possible to maintain a 4.0, just as it is possible to maintain a 4.0 in ANY class? When you dwell on negativity, it comes to life. Also, I never said that I was choosing BME for the sole purpose of preparing me for med... You forum people can be kinda funny sometimes...

I stand by my statement. Until you've gone through the hell that is engineering you won't get it. Can you keep a 4.0 as a BME? Sure, but it's just gonna be hard to do much else (so no it's not within reason to assume one can maintain a 4.0, but with hard work and dedication, it is reasonable that one could get a 3.7). A 4.0 is exceptional in many cases and borderline ridiculous in engineering. However, engineering can be fun but really only if you care for the subject matter itself because the amount of work required will really push you to your limits. The job market is growing and with the right connections and a competitive GPA (~3.5) one doesn't have trouble getting a BME job. I ended my UG with ~3.8+ - did that stop me from getting a job or getting into med school? Of course not, but I did have to have an almost perfect MCAT score and other ECs to compete against the insane applicant pool that is out there (especially for the MD/PhD). Don't make your life harder than it has to be is all I'm saying.

Mainly, I wanted to get across is that BME will prepare you for the rigors of med school, though the consequence of that preparation may prevent you from getting into your dream med school due to the typical damage done to a lot of engineering GPAs. Though, you may be the unicorn who can keep a 4.0, get a near perfect MCAT, have tons of friends and enjoy the college experience - in that case ignore all the replies to this thread and do you. Good luck with your academic endeavors!

 

[Goro]

People come here for realistic advice, not hugs and kisses, and certainly not to be told what they want to hear, but what they need to hear.

My students who have been engineering majors tend to have trouble with our curriculum. One fellow constantly kept saying "But as an engineer, I was trained to think this way..."

He finally shut that up when my Pathologist colleague told him "Your days as an engineer ended when you put on that white coat."

It's so sad to see that every comment that ever comes on SDN is always so negative:

"BME will lower your GPA."
"Don't choose BME for a med school prep. "
"You will get no job with a BME degree."

Isn't is within the range of reason to say that it's possible to maintain a 4.0, just as it is possible to maintain a 4.0 in ANY class? When you dwell on negativity, it comes to life. Also, I never said that I was choosing BME for the sole purpose of preparing me for med... You forum people can be kinda funny sometimes...