engineer question

[rebar]

for all the people who are engineers out there....we all know that we are going to have lower gpa's because we take an exhausting courseload and very hard classes.... i have heard from different people that schools take this into account and some people said they don't care what your major is... what are your thoughts??? has this been brought up at any of your interviews??? what gpa does it take to be an engineer to get looked at???
thanks
BIOE-3.3 gpa dat in August apply May 2008

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dmd2011]

for all the people who are engineers out there....we all know that we are going to have lower gpa's because we take an exhausting courseload and very hard classes.... i have heard from different people that schools take this into account and some people said they don't care what your major is... what are your thoughts??? has this been brought up at any of your interviews??? what gpa does it take to be an engineer to get looked at???
thanks
BIOE-3.3 gpa dat in August apply May 2008

im not an engineer but i think a 3.3 gpa in engineering is enough to get some attention from dental schools. it really depends on how well you do on the DAT.

 

[INFNITE]

i had a 3.3 in bioengineering and got in Columbia and NYU. But that was last year...

good luck!

 

[Ex_EE]

Personally I don't think it is a good idea to use engineering as an excuse for a lower gpa. Yes the engineering classes were harder, but not incredibly harder. I graduated with a 3.7 from EE/CS. I think it would be hard to convince anyone that engineering is that much harder than majoring in biochem or chemistry for example.

 

[liskiewi]

Personally I don't think it is a good idea to use engineering as an excuse for a lower gpa. Yes the engineering classes were harder, but not incredibly harder.

I disagree. In my experience, engineering was significantly more challenging and demanding than pre-dental. And I speak from experience when I say this. I have completed the degree requirements for a degree in Computer Engineering AND have taken a suite of pre-dental classes(and have gotten straight A's in all of them).

I think it would be hard to convince anyone that engineering is that much harder than majoring in biochem or chemistry for example.

I do agree, however, that it is hard to convince people that engineering is more challenging than pre-dental courses. If you haven't been through the engineering experience, you simply do not have an appreciation for the amount of work that is required to succeed and graduate with a high GPA.

That being said, I think the biggest thing someone from an engineering background can do is take a lot of dental-related science classes, such as biochemistry, physiology, histology, microbiology, and gross anatomy, and do really well in them(I'm talking straight A's here). This shows the admissions committee that your low engineering GPA was due to the fact that your engineering classes were more difficult. It also shows that you can succeed in the dental-related science classes. And again, I base this statement on personal experience with people on admissions committees, and having gone through the interview process myself.

Good luck.

 

[Ex_EE]

You seemed to have missed the fact that I graduated with a 3.7 GPA with a BS in electrical engineering and a BS in computer science, so I do know what engineering classes are like. I agree that pre-dental courses are easier (i too have straight A's), but higher level courses may not be that way.

I disagree. In my experience, engineering was significantly more challenging and demanding than pre-dental. And I speak from experience when I say this. I have completed the degree requirements for a degree in Computer Engineering AND have taken a suite of pre-dental classes(and have gotten straight A's in all of them).



I do agree, however, that it is hard to convince people that engineering is more challenging than pre-dental courses. If you haven't been through the engineering experience, you simply do not have an appreciation for the amount of work that is required to succeed and graduate with a high GPA.

That being said, I think the biggest thing someone from an engineering background can do is take a lot of dental-related science classes, such as biochemistry, physiology, histology, microbiology, and gross anatomy, and do really well in them(I'm talking straight A's here). This shows the admissions committee that your low engineering GPA was due to the fact that your engineering classes were more difficult. It also shows that you can succeed in the dental-related science classes. And again, I base this statement on personal experience with people on admissions committees, and having gone through the interview process myself.

Good luck.

 

[rebar]

thanks for the comments guys... i guess some people are just too smart, so engineering is easy for them... most people know that the courseload for an engineer is going to be harder than someone majoring in biology or chem.. i talked with my advisor about switching to chem to graduate a year sooner but she said it was not worth it... you don't have the credentials that you could get with an engineering degree... if you look at my courseload compared to a chem major it is much harder i take pretty much all of the same chems as them except 2 and take a lot of hard engineering classes...

 

[liskiewi]

You seemed to have missed the fact that I graduated with a 3.7 GPA with a BS in electrical engineering and a BS in computer science, so I do know what engineering classes are like. I agree that pre-dental courses are easier (i too have straight A's), but higher level courses may not be that way.

I do not believe I missed that fact. I read your post. And in no way am I putting you or your experience in engineering down, I am just offering my point of view. I have also taken higher level science classes such as 2 400 level biochems, 2 400 level physios and a 400 level histology. And in my experience, they were significantly easier than engineering.

 

[isurus22]

Engineering Majors have the highest acceptance rates to medical schools (by percentage). It is like 67%. Pre-Med has the lowest. My source is the official guide to dental schools. This must tell you something. I have a mech. engineering degree with 3.4 GPA. In my interviews, a lot of the professors said they loved engineers. Im going to Harvard this fall and of the 35 students, there is a good handful of engineers. I think that is a pretty high number.
Go Engineers!

 

[wizziefiend]

I do not believe I missed that fact. I read your post. And in no way am I putting you or your experience in engineering down, I am just offering my point of view. I have also taken higher level science classes such as 2 400 level biochems, 2 400 level physios and a 400 level histology. And in my experience, they were significantly easier than engineering.

I agree. In fact my upper level sciences were easier than the predent prereqs. My engineering classes consistely beat me up and I rarely left lecture without a headache it was so confusing and fast pace.

But my sr year is primarily science classes and im loving the ease.


BUT, I don't think it gave me much of an edge over traditional bio applicants. Lots of them had 3.8+ and walked into whatever school they wanted. Although us engrs can usually ace the math DAT stuff. Which helps the AA...

 

[goodgonads1]

Engineering (if you went to a real engineering school) is much tougher than anything in the biological sciences.

Think about it, most of those pre-dent/med classes are just about memorizing things. Most of the students in the pre-dent/med classes only care about getting the A and few of them even understand fundamentally what is going on.

Every now and then you'll have to do some math or critical thinking in O-Chem/P-Chem and the whole class starts sweating. (it's a joke, really). Engineering classes are much more challenging in that we actually have to UNDERSTAND what we're doing to get past our classes (that is, again, if you went to a real engineering school that isn't just plug and chug)

Sadly, however, most of the people who will be interviewing you aren't engineering majors and won't understand this.

What truly sets you apart is how well you do on you DATs. You gotta score as well, if not higher, than these non-engineers to prove yourself.

But from my experience, most engineers kick ass on the DATs, so I'm sure you'll be fine. I had a subpar engineering gpa (3.3 from UCLA EE) and still got into all the tough dental schools (UCLA, Columbia, etc)

 

[IcemanDDS]

"goodgonads1" lol

 

[goodgonads1]

Yea...as you can see I've been on this forum since 2006 and had never posted once. But when I saw this thread, I HAD TO SAY SOMETHING.

 

[IcemanDDS]

Yea...as you can see I've been on this forum since 2006 and had never posted once. But when I saw this thread, I HAD TO SAY SOMETHING.

True, engineering/math majors have it tougher than bio majors I'll admit. But bio majors have it tougher than most all the other majors out there. Bio involves chemistry and physics also, not to mention more memorization of material than any other major out there IMO.