Engineering/nutrition/bio torn

[FitMD]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I know there have been posts likes this is in the past, but I am still torn to what I should do. I am currently a freshman majoring in bio-engineering and know for a fact that I want to go onto medical school. I have been reading a lot of these posts where some people have been saying that engineering is a huge risk if you are trying to get into medical school and that the schools don't really care about your major just your GPA, where as others are saying that medical schools are looking for people that have different majors than just the average bio major. Also I am worried if I don't get into medical school that I wouldn't have a good career to fall back on if I majored in bio or nutrition where as engineering would be a good career to fall back on. This is really tearing me up because I know the engineering could be hard and lower my GPA but I also want to have a good career in case I don't make it into medical school.

 

[DocVapor]

That's a dense post, with a whole lot more consideration to give than what's possible on SDN. I'll still try and give it a shot though.

If you are interested in engineering, do it. But commit to it fully and get great grades so that you can go to med school. There are history/english/polsci majors in my class, so it won't keep you out. Don't look at not getting into medical school as a possibility until later if you can't keep your grades up. I feel that engineering is a great field, and will always be necessary, and if you make it through medical school your potential for designing the next big implant/surgical tool/prosthesis would be great.

 

[EnginrTheFuture]

I know there have been posts likes this is in the past, but I am still torn to what I should do. I am currently a freshman majoring in bio-engineering and know for a fact that I want to go onto medical school. I have been reading a lot of these posts where some people have been saying that engineering is a huge risk if you are trying to get into medical school and that the schools don't really care about your major just your GPA, where as others are saying that medical schools are looking for people that have different majors than just the average bio major. Also I am worried if I don't get into medical school that I wouldn't have a good career to fall back on if I majored in bio or nutrition where as engineering would be a good career to fall back on. This is really tearing me up because I know the engineering could be hard and lower my GPA but I also want to have a good career in case I don't make it into medical school.

I would take a gander at some of my old posts where I go into this in further detail... One Caveat though is that biomedical engineering is not going to have the same effect on adcoms as a chemE, mechE, or EE in my opinion. This is for two reasons. 1) At many schools BME is becoming another form of pre-med and the grades are being inflated. 2) It will not set you apart because so many BMEs are applying to medical school. It is becoming similar to majoring in Biology or Biochem... it's not going to "stand out". I am not at all saying that those majors aren't impressive, difficult and worthy of attention. What I am saying is that these adcoms see these majors all day long and because of that it is less likely to be brought up in your favor.

Being an engineer has absolutely helped me once I got the interview. It MAY have helped me get an interview or two. With that said, what I have learned, what I can accomplish in the future with what I learned, the work ethic I have attained and the research I have done because of my degree is something I wouldn't go back and change for anything. Make your own chances.... don't let someone tell you that you shouldn't learn amazingly powerful material because it's risky. It may very well open doors that make you a much happier physician. Guess what, trying to get into medical school and into a subspecialty is very risky. If you are dedicated and love the material you learn, driving a car is probably the most risky thing to achieving your goals.

Follow your dreams and don't take short cuts, you really only get to do this once so why waste it?

 

[deleted303591]

Being an engineering student is going to cause a GPA drop. The way I look at it is, you either have what it takes or not. If you can't get >3.5 then that is your problem. You cannot blame it on your major. Even deciding on being a pre-med can be risky, especially when you consider the marticulation rate.

Job security as a BioE is a lot less likely compared to the other engineering disciplines (EE, CpE, ChemE, MechE, IndE, CivE). You basically have to go to grad school to get a stable job as a BioE, which is a gamble in itself.

I do agree that there is grade inflation in the BioE major. It is the "sexy" engineering that everyone wants to (at least) initially do upon marticulation. The BioEs have it a lot easier that the EEs at my school, unless the choose they neuroengineering option (Electronics and Digital Signal Processing are killer hardcore classes, for them and also the EEs).

On another note, I wanted to do biomedical engineering, but I chose EE because I wanted job stability and I did not want to be forced in to going to grad school. But, I am very technologically inclined and EE is a good fit for me. I can still do various biomedical engineering applications in my work. In fact, my cousin's husband is a EE and he worked on defibrillators for Medtronic in the past.

 

[mappingmedicine]

You've gotten a lot of great replies so far... OP, you listed you're a freshman and that's awesome. One of the great things early in the game is that you have room to explore different majors and ideas that you think will fit you the best in your life. Most schools don't require you to declare your major until junior year, so take some more classes and maybe that will point you in the right direction.

 

[redpanda]

I would take a gander at some of my old posts where I go into this in further detail... One Caveat though is that biomedical engineering is not going to have the same effect on adcoms as a chemE, mechE, or EE in my opinion. This is for two reasons. 1) At many schools BME is becoming another form of pre-med and the grades are being inflated. 2) It will not set you apart because so many BMEs are applying to medical school. It is becoming similar to majoring in Biology or Biochem... it's not going to "stand out". I am not at all saying that those majors aren't impressive, difficult and worthy of attention. What I am saying is that these adcoms see these majors all day long and because of that it is less likely to be brought up in your favor.

Being an engineer has absolutely helped me once I got the interview. It MAY have helped me get an interview or two. With that said, what I have learned, what I can accomplish in the future with what I learned, the work ethic I have attained and the research I have done because of my degree is something I wouldn't go back and change for anything. Make your own chances.... don't let someone tell you that you shouldn't learn amazingly powerful material because it's risky. It may very well open doors that make you a much happier physician. Guess what, trying to get into medical school and into a subspecialty is very risky. If you are dedicated and love the material you learn, driving a car is probably the most risky thing to achieving your goals.

Follow your dreams and don't take short cuts, you really only get to do this once so why waste it?

Not entirely sure where the bioE has grade inflation thing is coming from. Engineering is not exactly known for having mercy on class averages because they're trying to turn out a bunch of people who can solve problems, not take tests. Typical class average in bioE courses at my undergrad institution was 60-70 and this was considered a C. In terms of similarity to majoring in biology or biochem, this is an absurd statement. Any engineering curriculum is significantly more difficult starting with the fact that you are tested much differently than a basic science class and that your options for the curriculum are far more limited in terms of electives. While there are a lot of bioEs in the applicant pool, I think it is still relevant to sell yourself against the biologically-oriented non-engineers, especially in the area of problem solving (see: experience in med school where people freaked out about what was quite possibly the easiest physio problem set I'd ever seen because they'd not been put in front of problem sets before).

 

[deleted303591]

Not entirely sure where the bioE has grade inflation thing is coming from. Engineering is not exactly known for having mercy on class averages because they're trying to turn out a bunch of people who can solve problems, not take tests. Typical class average in bioE courses at my undergrad institution was 60-70 and this was considered a C. In terms of similarity to majoring in biology or biochem, this is an absurd statement. Any engineering curriculum is significantly more difficult starting with the fact that you are tested much differently than a basic science class and that your options for the curriculum are far more limited in terms of electives. While there are a lot of bioEs in the applicant pool, I think it is still relevant to sell yourself against the biologically-oriented non-engineers, especially in the area of problem solving (see: experience in med school where people freaked out about what was quite possibly the easiest physio problem set I'd ever seen because they'd not been put in front of problem sets before).

The BioE (major) classes are pretty easy at my university, like IndE or CivE difficulty.

The only way your GPA is not inflated at my university as a BioE is if you chose the neuroengineering option. If you chose that subspecialty, you are in for quite a ride compared to your peers. By the way, the average GPA of a graduating undergraduate engineering student at my University is a 2.8 (cumulative).

I would say that BioE majors have grade inflation compared to other engineering majors.

 

[Cypher321]

If you're the engineering type then I'd say go for it. The work is challenging and some of the nights finishing up projects are long but the internships are paid (and relatively well at that) and the final fruits of your labor are rewarding. However, you should accept the possibility that you might stumble along the way with your grades and will need to get yourself back on track via Post-Bacc, SMP, etc which will result in more time between you and med school. If this is acceptable to you and you have a passion for engineering, then do it. Otherwise pick something else because if you are serious about medical school, there's a good chance you'll eventually get in regardless.

 

[FitMD]

Thanks guys for all the feedback I really appreciate it. As of right now I'm going to stick with the bio engineering and try really hard to get good grades for med school. I agree that engineering will put me in a mindset that will help me solve problems and always be "thinking like an engineer". If for some reason I can't get into a medical school I will go onto graduate school and get a combined degree with bio and mechanical engineering, or if I still want to be in the medical field I will do an advanced nursing program and become a CRNA.

 

[EnginrTheFuture]

Not entirely sure where the bioE has grade inflation thing is coming from. Engineering is not exactly known for having mercy on class averages because they're trying to turn out a bunch of people who can solve problems, not take tests. Typical class average in bioE courses at my undergrad institution was 60-70 and this was considered a C. In terms of similarity to majoring in biology or biochem, this is an absurd statement. Any engineering curriculum is significantly more difficult starting with the fact that you are tested much differently than a basic science class and that your options for the curriculum are far more limited in terms of electives. While there are a lot of bioEs in the applicant pool, I think it is still relevant to sell yourself against the biologically-oriented non-engineers, especially in the area of problem solving (see: experience in med school where people freaked out about what was quite possibly the easiest physio problem set I'd ever seen because they'd not been put in front of problem sets before).

I totally hear you, I didn't mean to paint with a broad brush. I do want to explain myself though:

At the numerous schools I know a lot about, BioE has become much more lax on their typical engineering grade deflation because a much higher percentage of their students NEED to go to grad school (including medical school and programs where you aren't competing against other engineers). As someone who applied to BME Masters programs, I saw this first hand. Many BME departments are realizing that the low GPA's are causing some problems for even their best and brightest. This sort of problem doesn't exist nearly as much in the other engineering fields. With that said, I am sure many schools do not inflate their BMEs. Unfortunately, there are many prevalent schools that are inflating and the applicant pool will have a decent number of those students.

Also, your point about still selling yourself as an engineer is very very important! BMEs still have the engineering mentality and it is not something to sweep under the rug.

To OP: If you are an engineer at heart... major in engineering. Don't listen to the hivemind about GPA, just work hard and make it happen yourself. That is what it comes down to. I knew that I would never be happy unless I was in an engineering program. Spend the next year answering that question and go from there! You have a long road and many things will change. Good luck