1). What made you guys want to switch into the medical field, and not continue in the Engineering Field, where you can use your Engineering skills?
I pretty much always wanted to do something medically related, but from a behind-the-scenes perspective (like medical technology with Covidien or pharm with Bayer - lots of options with cheme which is why I chose it). My sophomore year, I started thinking about human med, and by the summer after my 3rd year of undergrad, I was thinking about vet med. I noticed I wasn't passionate about engineering like my classmates, and I didn't really care about landing internships/co-ops (not that I didn't look, but when it came to interviewing, I wasn't excited about it). That was a big hint that maybe I didn't want to do it for the rest of my life...
2). Do you regret majoring in Engineering for your undergrad degree?
Yes and no. I worked hard and love math and physics, but there were definitely some specifics about it that I hated. Take, for instance, my senior design project. We were randomly assigned topics that the professor didn't bother to check up on, so my group's project was incredibly outdated. We met with him several times, were told that our method of solving the problem was wrong (even though none of the data we were being told to use was even available), and were finally told (with a couple of weeks to actually do the project), "Oh yeah, that is an outdated topic... I didn't really read into it when I picked it out." 😡
3). Since you have been admitted to vet school, what was your undergrad GPA? Is Engineering really a "GPA killer", and do you think it decreased your chances of vet school? Did you get really good test scores and did a lot of volunteer and interns to compensate your rather low GPA, if you have one? The average GPA for Engineering majors is quite low compared to that of Biology, Biochemistry, and other science- related majors. So Good job for making it into vet school after surviving such a hard major! 👍
My undergrad GPA was 3.8. My SO (who is a 2nd year med student) was in the cheme program with me and graduated with a 3.94 or something ridiculous like that. Engineering majors do not have to be a GPA killer, but they certainly can be if you're not careful or open to getting help from professors or other students. Not everyone can hack engineering, which is totally fine - not everyone needs to excel in the same areas. But if you are going to apply to a professional/graduate program, keep an eye on how classes are going so you don't have to compensate for it in the future.
Good luck with your decision!
