Engineering Major vs more robust EC's?

[BamaSlamma]

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I want to major in either chemical or mechanical engineering, but I'm worried that by choosing an engineering major, in order to maintain a high (>3.6) GPA my ability to participate in EC's might be diminished. So I'm wondering if its better to graduate with a BS in ME/ChemE with a high GPA and some extracurriculars or to major in something less...."challenging*" but have more robust EC's?

*Not trying to bash on one major vs another, just pointing out that there are other majors out there that don't require multiple semesters of multivariable calculus, etc. I hope you all understand what I meant here.

 

[911 Turbo]

Major in the easiest thing possible because apparently medical schools could care less either way.

 

[Lollygag]

Major in what you want. I don't know how demanding an engineering major is because I'm not one so take this with a grain of salt, but you wouldn't see so many engineering major's getting into medical school if their course load is that difficult they can't have time for EC's. They do it somehow... it may just be more of a matter of how well you manage time efficiently rather than if you have "time".

 

[EmergencyMonkey]

I would say major in what interests you the most. If you don't have the passion for your major you may lack motivation altogether.

______________
visit the monkey at EmergencyMonkey.com

 

[Midifelder10]

Major in the easiest thing possible because apparently medical schools could care less either way.

This

 

[notbobtrustme]

If your ultimate goal is medical school, then yea, **** engineering. For every success story, there's about 10 horror stories.

However, if you want a well-paying job right out of undergrad, major in engineering. Your GPA means ****-all and you can pull down a 50-75k job easy with the right engineering degree.

 

[Narmerguy]

Major in what you enjoy. You will typically do best in things that you enjoy vs things you force yourself into. What degree you get won't matter much to medical schools, so feel free to take on creative writing or sociology if that's what floats your boat. Just do well in your prereqs.

 

[gyngyn]

We really don't care about your major. We care about you.

 

[EnginrTheFuture]

This

The ignorance... it burns.

If you have had an engineering mindset for a long time, you will likely regret every second of not studying it during college. It's probably your one and only shot to do it. Of course you may regret the work it will take to major in it, but again, if it is what you love you will regret that less. If you take the mindset that college is just something you have to do to get into medical school and not an opportunity to explore your interests then 1) That saddens me 2) you probably will end up an engineering "horror story".

If you want something bad enough, you will do what it takes to achieve it. If you want two things bad enough, you do what it takes to achieve them both.

For those saying major doesn't matter:
EVERY SINGLE interview I had, the first thing mentioned was my major. To say that my interviewers didn't consider it when trying to grasp who I am and what I can bring to the table seems factually incorrect from my experience. Maybe the major itself didn't give me an "advantage" but the skills I gained from it, the things I learned about myself because of it, and so many things I would directly attribute to my major probably did give me a better shot at receiving an acceptance. People act like you major is a "name tag" you wear, but certain majors foster specific skills and experiences. Yes, these things can overlap, but not always and not entirely.

I do not have a "stellar" GPA, but a good GPA for my type of engineering. I do not have an amazing list of ECs, but have a couple I was really passionate about. I still got over 5 MD interview invites and acceptances to every one so far. You want to know why? Because this shallow notion of "high GPA, high MCAT, great laundry list of EC's" is exactly that, shallow. They want a diverse set of students, coming from all types of knowledge bases, ethnicities, and life experiences. Also, I think schools admired the fact that I didn't consider college just another step in becoming a doctor.

I would never trade the terrible times (all nighters) in for the world. It is a part of who I am, and I loved what I learned. Best part, I know I will continue to use it in research (I have been for a while in medical research). I learned skills I find to be very empowering, and I am glad I took the time and effort to obtain them. If you think you will share that feeling, you should do it and not look back. Of course not everyone would end up feeling that way so take my experience with a grain of salt and figure out what you project YOUR experience will be. I just thought it would be good to hear from someone outside the SDN hive mind. PM me if you have any questions or concerns.

 

[KuroiOne]

I vote for major in what will make you most happy, if that's engineering then go for it. I also do think that admission committees are sensitive to the fact that engineers have slightly lower GPAs. Also it should be noted that if you look at the stats Engineers and Physics major do the best on the MCAT. So you often end up with a bit of an MCAT GPA trade off, and some schools certainly weight MCAT over GPA, it's meant to be an equalizer across schools and majors. Physics with calculus and the entire thought process helps.

And honestly you will have time even in an engineering major to do lots of ECs, that's really what college should be about.

A little about me and why I somewhat know what I'm talking about, I'm a post-bacc with a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering, middle of the road cGPA great sGPA and great MCAT. Definitely thank my engineering background with my MCAT. Many of my friend were BMEs as undergrad and had lower GPAs than non engineering majors, but did well on the MCAT, did lots of extracurriculars and got into great medschools.

Follow your interests.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Unless you can get a high GPA, I'll have to vote against it. Generally speaking, engineering majors have significantly lower GPAs than other majors. Since medical schools get their fair share of engineers, this won't make you "unique" and will not give you a major advantage. In fact, going strictly by numbers, it will probably end up shooting you in the foot. This is especially bad if you end up having a low GPA, and less check-boxes, I mean ECs, than the competition.

On the other hand, if you're an engineering major and along the way realize that you have no desire to be a physician, then you can get into some pretty awesome careers. A lot of engineering majors also do quite well when it comes to getting into top business schools.

So it's your choice, but if you're strictly set on being a doctor and don't want to do anything engineering-related in the future, then an engineering major is probably not the right direction.

 

[BenzylAcetate]

Quick background, I majored in engineering and had an unsuccessful application cycle so I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about whether or not my engineering degree was worth it.

My advice would be to stick with an engineering major but spread it out over 5 years. The first two years focus on medically relevant ECs while you get through the basic engineering coursework. Most volunteer positions don't require much education and this is the time in your college career when your lack of technical skill makes your free time least valuable.

The last three years focus more on building an engineering resume; look for research and co-op opportunities as well as summer internships. This way you can lower the course load to maintain a higher GPA and develop some of the technical skills necessary to land a position in industry if med school doesn't work out for whatever reason.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Because this shallow notion of "high GPA, high MCAT, great laundry list of EC's" is exactly that, shallow. They want a diverse set of students, coming from all types of knowledge bases, ethnicities, and life experiences. Also, I think schools admired the fact that I didn't consider college just another step in becoming a doctor.

Don't kid yourself. The admissions process isn't some mystical, magical process where your innermost feelings are laid bare. It's a game with a set of rules and expectation. The reason high GPA, MCAT + cookie cutter ECs is recommended is because it will work for the vast majority of applicants.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Don't kid yourself. The admissions process isn't some mystical, magical process where your innermost feelings are laid bare. It's a game with a set of rules and expectation. The reason high GPA, MCAT + cookie cutter ECs is recommended is because it will work for the vast majority of applicants.

Exactly! I realize that everyone is trying to make themselves seem "unique," but if this quest for uniqueness ultimately leads to a low GPA or MCAT, it's unlikely that whatever the applicant pursued will make up for these faults. Don't forget that you're already competing against people who come from all sorts of majors and have laundry lists full of ECs.

 

[BamaSlamma]

Maybe people are misinterpreting my question. I'm not asking I can get away with a sloppy GPA by pursuing an engineering major. I'm saying that pulling down a 3.8 in a liberal arts major (usually) takes less of a time investment than pulling down a 3.8 in an engineering major. Given that (fairly reasonable) assumption, and the assumption that I don't have the ability to warp space time, simple math says that I would have less time to pursue ECs as an engineering major than a liberal arts major would. So the question is really whether or not having a harder major in any way offsets having one or two less ECs than the liberal arts guy with every single EC on his cookie-cutter laundry list.

People around here are so quick to see the letters GPA and jump right into a debate about the numbers, all else be damned,

Sent from my iPad, please excuse any fat-fingering mistakes.

 

[Midifelder10]

The ignorance... it burns.

If you have had an engineering mindset for a long time, you will likely regret every second of not studying it during college. It's probably your one and only shot to do it. Of course you may regret the work it will take to major in it, but again, if it is what you love you will regret that less. If you take the mindset that college is just something you have to do to get into medical school and not an opportunity to explore your interests then 1) That saddens me 2) you probably will end up an engineering "horror story".

If you want something bad enough, you will do what it takes to achieve it. If you want two things bad enough, you do what it takes to achieve them both.

For those saying major doesn't matter:
EVERY SINGLE interview I had, the first thing mentioned was my major. To say that my interviewers didn't consider it when trying to grasp who I am and what I can bring to the table seems factually incorrect from my experience. Maybe the major itself didn't give me an "advantage" but the skills I gained from it, the things I learned about myself because of it, and so many things I would directly attribute to my major probably did give me a better shot at receiving an acceptance. People act like you major is a "name tag" you wear, but certain majors foster specific skills and experiences. Yes, these things can overlap, but not always and not entirely.

I do not have a "stellar" GPA, but a good GPA for my type of engineering. I do not have an amazing list of ECs, but have a couple I was really passionate about. I still got over 5 MD interview invites and acceptances to every one so far. You want to know why? Because this shallow notion of "high GPA, high MCAT, great laundry list of EC's" is exactly that, shallow. They want a diverse set of students, coming from all types of knowledge bases, ethnicities, and life experiences. Also, I think schools admired the fact that I didn't consider college just another step in becoming a doctor.

I would never trade the terrible times (all nighters) in for the world. It is a part of who I am, and I loved what I learned. Best part, I know I will continue to use it in research (I have been for a while in medical research). I learned skills I find to be very empowering, and I am glad I took the time and effort to obtain them. If you think you will share that feeling, you should do it and not look back. Of course not everyone would end up feeling that way so take my experience with a grain of salt and figure out what you project YOUR experience will be. I just thought it would be good to hear from someone outside the SDN hive mind. PM me if you have any questions or concerns.

You can be as good as you think you maybe but a tough major in engineering will set you back. If the classes are curved you are screwed. There are plenty of colleges you can study engineering from and not take a big hit but try Caltech or Harvey Mudd (just examples), you won't be very preachy then.

 

[SOMBound13]

I majored in Chemical Engineering and have had a successful app cycle. Three MD acceptances so far and I think I'll get one more.

I majored in ChemE because I liked it, and I wanted to have a "back up" in case I decided not to pursue a medical career.

At my undergrad, a good number of ChemE students are pre-med.

 

[Midifelder10]

I majored in Chemical Engineering and have had a successful app cycle. Three MD acceptances so far and I think I'll get one more.

I majored in ChemE because I liked it, and I wanted to have a "back up" in case I decided not to pursue a medical career.

At my undergrad, a good number of ChemE students are pre-med.

I look at your stats and you are a great student. Chem E comes in different flavors, I don't know of any student in our college for the past decade has the GPA same as yours. Some colleges make it more difficult than it needs to be.