Engineering or Arts and Science..?

[dragon529]

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I'm now a sophomore in Chem E. taking the first Chem E class and I don't really like it... so the question is... are there any advantages in being an engineer when applying to med school? Even with a lower gpa, would they value the harder and more challenging courses that engineers have taken? Also the only other reason I'm in Chem E is that if I don't get into med school... I can be a Chem E in the industry somewhere.... but now I'm really thinking of switching to bio major (BS degree if I do 1 yr of research along with it)... can someone shine more light on this dilemma?

 

[se2131]

Maybe they give slight leeway to engineering majors, but I can't imagine it being much more than a 0.10 bump or so, and it'd probably be more like a qualitative bump in their minds rather than a quantitative addition to your "applicant score."

 

[Quix]

No, there is no "bump" for Chem E, or any major for that matter. The bottom line is MCAT and GPA, not major.

 

[dragon529]

do they view an applicant with a BA vs a BS degree differently? and how about for companies when you try to apply for a job? Is a bachelor just a bachelor?

 

[Quix]

do they view an applicant with a BA vs a BS degree differently? and how about for companies when you try to apply for a job? Is a bachelor just a bachelor?

Nope, no difference between BA, BS, BFA, BSLA, BSN, etc., etc., etc. A bachelor's degree is a bachelor's degree (which, given how many are currently on the market, has become the new high school diploma).

 

[Cataract]

Hey, I'm a Biomedical Engineering major and I have to say engineering was the best major for me. I'll admit I'm biased, but do what you enjoy and I guarantee you'll get better grades.

The plus side to engineering, or something a little more applicable than art and science, is that you can pursue something else as an alternative to medicine. Or you could take some time off before med school. Or you can go on an industry co-op and gain some experience no one else could gain. Engineers are problem-solvers and applying that analytical approach to medicine would be ideal, wouldn't it? It might not make a huge difference GPA-wise, but you'll have a more varied experience than the traditional applicant.

You can play baseball and go from little league to minor league to big league, or you can play other sports in life.

 

[Revenant]

Get out while you still can. It's too late for me... [/Vader]

 

[narretgrez]

trust me, an engineering degree is worth its weight in gold, if u can maintain a decent gpa.

i've seen plenty of A&S students struggle to get jobs (after graduation) that engineers find in a snap.

but if u r suffering an awful gpa in engineering, that's no good either, and u should get out as soon as u can.

 

[Revenant]

Engineering can turn your GPA to **** in a heartbeat...

 

[se2131]

No, there is no "bump" for Chem E, or any major for that matter. The bottom line is MCAT and GPA, not major.

From LizzyM, an adcom (as you know I'm sure):

"I will endorse the notion that engineering majors sometimes get a little mercy shown them. Some schools that have grade inflation in some majors, are known for lack of grade inflation in engineering. So, an adcom member may see a 3.45 in engineering a whole lot different than a 3.45 in biology or sociology or philosophy from the same top-tier school."

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=5024544&postcount=35

And I think I saw some Q&A session w/ UMich adcoms saying essentially the same thing, but I can't find that link anymore. Maybe somebody else knows what I'm talking about though...

Basically, it seems like there's generally a slight bump, but I guess it really depends on which med school you're talking about. And it probably only comes into play when there are two essentially identical candidates, and they can only take one, or some weird hypothetical situation like that.

 

[se2131]

Nope, no difference between BA, BS, BFA, BSLA, BSN, etc., etc., etc. A bachelor's degree is a bachelor's degree (which, given how many are currently on the market, has become the new high school diploma).

This is not true when it comes to getting a job in engineering. My school used to offer an applied science BME degree (which has fewer required courses), but they got rid of it because it was essentially worthless when compared to the regular BME degree, and graduates w/ the applied science degree were having trouble finding jobs.

 

[zenaforever]

I'm a chemical engineer too - and I have to say that there are plus and minus points to being pre med engineer.

My gpa is definitely much lower than the average applicant applying to medical school. On the other hand, supposedly, engineering is supposed to train you well and you'll be able to handle the work load in medical school very well.

There are a lot of medical schools who really want engineers to be a part of the school. Engineers have a very problem-solving approach to things, which can be incredibly useful as a doctor.

I can say honestly though that now, being a senior and dying with engineering labs and senior design project, that although your work ethic might have changed forever being an engineer, it might not be worth it. I guess it depends on if you can handle four more years of school after going through hell in undergrad.

I would have probably done things differently, but I have a friend in medical school now who thanks her lucky stars that she went through with it because she still utilizes things she learned as an engineer.

Make sure you really really think through your decision - don't suddenly make it because you don't want to do that fluid mechanics problem set or you don't give a crap about what fugacity really means (does anyone really know?) You never know what set of skills you will eventually need.

Good luck 🙂

 

[Revenant]

This is not true when it comes to getting a job in engineering. My school used to offer an applied science BME degree (which has fewer required courses), but they got rid of it because it was essentially worthless when compared to the regular BME degree, and graduates w/ the applied science degree were having trouble finding jobs.

I believe he's talking about its relevance related to getting one into medical school. And he would be right there...it really doesn't matter.

But yes, engineers get employed with even the crappiest of GPA's, and they usually get compensated well out the gate given the fact that they merely have a bachelors.

 

[Quix]

I wasn't clear with the bachelor's is a bachelor's comment - I was only addressing the poster's question regarding whether an adcom treats a BS differently than a BA.

Re: Engineering major, the LizzyM quote in question (1) does not specify any particular kind of engineering (chemical, civil, BME, electrical, etc.), and the poster was asking about ChemE, and (2) she states *may* be seen differently, not *is* seen differently.

 

[Robizzle]

I'm a BME now in medical school and I can tell you first hand BME has NOT HELPED ME ONE BIT for medical school.

But doesn't engineering teach you to think? Surprise surprise, MED SCHOOL DOESN'T INVOLVE THINKING. Just a boatload of reading + memorization, which is exactly what ENG isn't.

But don't you take really tough classes in engineering which will prepare you for the basic sciences of med school? What you need are classes like biochem, physio, cell bio, anatomy, etc. to set up your foundation for medical school, NOT classes like signals and systems + thermo. That's the BOTTOM LINE. I can tell you straight up so far, the only classes that have helped me AT ALL with medical school are cell bio and physio (the ONLY bio classes I could take as an undergrad ENG)

But isn't the work discipline that engineers have going to help? Sure, but hey guess what everyone's in the same boat in med school everyone's gonna have the same discipline as you.

Will adcoms favor a 3.5 ENG over a 3.9 Psych? All else equal? PROBABLY NOT.

Will adcoms favor a 3.9 ENG over a 3.9 Psych? Perhaps.

Only upside is you can actually get a real job after graduation if you decide you don't want to go into medicine, plus the research is pretty damn cool.

I say only do it if you're really interested, the "toughness" ain't gonna impress anyone but your parents.

 

[Revenant]

Yes...anyone that tells you engineers get cut slack on their justifiably low GPA's is spoon-feeding you bullcrap. I'm sorry, but you were better off getting that 4.0 in basket-weaving than that 3.4 in engineering. Ridiculous...slightly...but they have 40000 applicants that they need to cut down to 20000 and GPA is a hell of a way to get it done quickly. Not to mention ranking difficulties of programs and majors is extremely subjective. It could never be done.

Now...individual schools aware of difficult curricula of other schools may cut you slack here or there...but there is no hard support of this happening, merely anecdotal evidence, so keep your GPA high or else you are toast, difficult major or not.

 

[jae9970]

i was talking with this senior engineer yesterday evening and he was telling me the three things schools don't teach engineering majors when they enter the curriculum:

1. they are going to have to study more and harder than everyone else
2. after graduation, they are going to work crapload of hours per week
3. they will be paid by salary, not hourly wage, so employers can have them work long hours and even overnight without paying them more

now i realize there's an over-generalization but the list came from someone who worked in the field for a long time..

supposedly, engineering is supposed to train you well and you'll be able to handle the work load in medical school very well.

There are a lot of medical schools who really want engineers to be a part of the school. Engineers have a very problem-solving approach to things, which can be incredibly useful as a doctor.

i agree with your second point but not the first. From what i hear, the way you study (or supposed to study) is so different from typical engineering curriculum that it takes a major adjustment for majors like engineering. Medical training emphasizes the volume of information, not grasping the core concepts, so medical students typically read pages and pages of lecture notes and memorize stuff, instead of solving problems and designing experimental procedure

 

[Revenant]

i was talking with this senior engineer yesterday evening and he was telling me the three things schools don't teach engineering majors when they enter the curriculum:

1. they are going to have to study more and harder than everyone else

Probably. Depends on the institution though. I admit I do hate it seeing the liberal arts majors throwing the frisbee and frolicking because they don't do crap as I sullenly walk into the library....again

2. after graduation, they are going to work crapload of hours per week

Nope, usually 8-5, maybe 8-6 or 7 if something critical needs to be done. But this is rare.

3. they will be paid by salary, not hourly wage, so employers can have them work long hours and even overnight without paying them more

Rarely do engineers work long hours. Read above. Standard 8-5.

i agree with your second point but not the first. From what i hear, the way you study (or supposed to study) is so different from typical engineering curriculum that it takes a major adjustment for majors like engineering. Medical training emphasizes the volume of information, not grasping the core concepts, so medical students typically read pages and pages of lecture notes and memorize stuff, instead of solving problems and designing experimental procedure

Eh...more like they give you a problem with no guidance whatsoever and say.... "go to town!" The engineering curriculum is a blast really. It's almost like the professors don't teach...at all! Let's just say spanish class is the fun time in my day. Engineering blows...avoid it like the plague.

 

[Revenant]

Oh...and for the record...about 1% of engineers actually want to be engineers. The other 99% (myself included) simply have no idea what the hell they want from life, and what the hell, engineering is fairly stable, needed, and easy to get a job in.

Suffice it to say it truly is for the paycheck. No one gets up in the morning and goes "hey, I want to streamline industrial processes today in order to raise my company's stock by a point!"

 

[Quix]

I'm going to call Shenanigans on across the board claims that engineers study more/longer hours/more difficult material than any other. As an undergraduate language major, I was required to take 17 credits per semester freshman year and 20 credits per semester sophomore year (daily language classes - German and Japanese in my case); this wasn't exactly a cakewalk, considering we're absorbing the culture, history, and literature of several hundred years, in a foreign language (in Japanese, for instance, we got to learn three different alphabets *before* we got to this, considering they can all be used in the same sentence, dependent on whether a word of foreign origin is used).

The point is that it's easy to get into an argument for any particular major being easier/harder than another, but more often than not, it's not necessarily an accurate picture. There weren't frisbee-throwing liberal arts majors when I was an undergraduate, at least not during the few times when I wasn't studying. 😉

 

[Revenant]

I'm going to call Shenanigans on across the board claims that engineers study more/longer hours/more difficult material than any other. As an undergraduate language major, I was required to take 17 credits per semester freshman year and 20 credits per semester sophomore year (daily language classes - German and Japanese in my case); this wasn't exactly a cakewalk, considering we're absorbing the culture, history, and literature of several hundred years, in a foreign language (in Japanese, for instance, we got to learn three different alphabets *before* we got to this, considering they can all be used in the same sentence, dependent on whether a word of foreign origin is used).

The point is that it's easy to get into an argument for any particular major being easier/harder than another, but more often than not, it's not necessarily an accurate picture. There weren't frisbee-throwing liberal arts majors when I was an undergraduate, at least not during the few times when I wasn't studying. 😉

For me language classes are the only good part of my day. Then I get into engineering and want to kill myself. Go figure.

 

[jae9970]

Revenant, sounds like you really hated your major. well i happened to kinda have enjoyed my major, so there must be some difference in opinion there.

And about that 1% thing.. i find it hard to believe. WHere'd you get that number??

 

[osli]

But doesn't engineering teach you to think? Surprise surprise, MED SCHOOL DOESN'T INVOLVE THINKING. Just a boatload of reading + memorization, which is exactly what ENG isn't.

Erm... sure. Keep that mentality when you tackle the USMLE and see how it works out for you. 😉

From my own personal experience (anecdotal, of both myself and a few of my peers) engineers have an easier time in med school than their biological sciences classmates, on average. Small sample, biased sample, blah blah I know... just an observation. Take it for what you will.

To the OP...

Stay in ChemE if:
- you can maintain a good (upper 3.x) GPA
- you want to get used to the work ethic and study habits of a med student
- you want to be prepared to breeze through many medical "conceptual" topics that trip up other med students
- you like understanding how things work, instead of just memorizing how they work
- you can keep your sanity 🙂

ADCOM's aren't going to cut you much slack on GPA for being an eng major, but many of them do love to see eng applicants with good stats. Gives them a very warm and fuzzy feeling that you will excel in med school, especially if you've proven you can handle standardized exams with a good MCAT score.

 

[Revenant]

Any undecided's in this topic. Do not go into engineering....especially if you want to pursue medicine.

Run away! Run far far away! You will most likely hate it! It will most likely tank your GPA! Your professors will most likely be terrible! Your social life will most likely hit the skids! You will hate yourself! Assuming you do not commit suicide during college then you will when you get into industry and realize that you hate your job because there is nothing gratifying about making things more efficient for the sole benefit of your company.

Do anything else. I found that my job at an ice cream place many summers ago was more gratifying than engineering jobs I had worked.

 

[Revenant]

Revenant, sounds like you really hated your major. well i happened to kinda have enjoyed my major, so there must be some difference in opinion there.

And about that 1% thing.. i find it hard to believe. WHere'd you get that number??

I pulled it straight from my ass.

(anecdotal evidence)

 

[jae9970]

I'm going to call Shenanigans on across the board claims that engineers study more/longer hours/more difficult material than any other. As an undergraduate language major, I was required to take 17 credits per semester freshman year and 20 credits per semester sophomore year (daily language classes - German and Japanese in my case); this wasn't exactly a cakewalk, considering we're absorbing the culture, history, and literature of several hundred years, in a foreign language (in Japanese, for instance, we got to learn three different alphabets *before* we got to this, considering they can all be used in the same sentence, dependent on whether a word of foreign origin is used).

The point is that it's easy to get into an argument for any particular major being easier/harder than another, but more often than not, it's not necessarily an accurate picture. There weren't frisbee-throwing liberal arts majors when I was an undergraduate, at least not during the few times when I wasn't studying. 😉

oh i agree. i was just quoting it because i heard it yesterday and it fit the topic well..

i firmly believe that the difficulty of a particular major can vary depending on the person's skill set, talents and interests

 

[ChePibe]

I do not know for sure whether adcomms subjectively put more weight on an engineering app but I can totally corroborate the fact that high GPAs are more difficult to find in engineering than in the sciences. I have done two majors, one in engineering and one in the physical sciences. My engineering GPA ended up being about a 3.6 while my PS GPA ended up being about a 4.0. One of them is average and the other is perfect, you draw your own conclusions from this. On the other hand, I know a lot of doctors who wished they had the kind of training provided by engineering. So it is not a far fetched notion to think that adcomms may put a little bit of extra humph to the app with the engineering degree at least subjectively, if nothing else, it adds to the diversity of the class which is always sought after. That being said you need to get that app viewed by someone to be able to give it this much extra so whatever you do try to keep that GPA high no matter what.

 

[osli]

I'm going to call Shenanigans on across the board claims that engineers study more/longer hours/more difficult material than any other. As an undergraduate language major, I was required to take 17 credits per semester freshman year and 20 credits per semester sophomore year (daily language classes - German and Japanese in my case); this wasn't exactly a cakewalk, considering we're absorbing the culture, history, and literature of several hundred years, in a foreign language (in Japanese, for instance, we got to learn three different alphabets *before* we got to this, considering they can all be used in the same sentence, dependent on whether a word of foreign origin is used).

I routinely had no choice but to pull all-nighters to work on projects for various classes, sometimes multiple times per week. As a second year med student, nothing has yet come close.

When you've been up since yesterday morning and take a "break" to see the midnight matinée of The Matrix before heading back to the lab to hopefully finish before the morning arrives, you know you're probably ready for whatever future academic challenge comes your way.

 

[jae9970]

I pulled it straight from my ass.

(anecdotal evidence)

Thought so. Maybe next time, you'll be kind enough to refrain from stating something as a fact when it's pulled outta ur ass?

Any undecided's in this topic. Do not go into engineering....especially if you want to pursue medicine.

Run away! Run far far away! You will most likely hate it! It will most likely tank your GPA! Your professors will most likely be terrible! Your social life will most likely hit the skids! You will hate yourself! Assuming you do not commit suicide during college then you will when you get into industry and realize that you hate your job because there is nothing gratifying about making things more efficient for the sole benefit of your company.

Do anything else. I found that my job at an ice cream place many summers ago was more gratifying than engineering jobs I had worked.

i hope most readers here will be smart enough to recognize the bias of this post.

 

[Quix]

I routinely had no choice but to pull all-nighters to work on projects for various classes, sometimes multiple times per week. As a second year med student, nothing has yet come close.

When you've been up since yesterday morning and take a "break" to see the midnight matinée of The Matrix before heading back to the lab to hopefully finish before the morning arrives, you know you're probably ready for whatever future academic challenge comes your way.

That sounds like me a few years ago - Monday through Thursday: take post-bacc courses and pre-reqs, teach three classes, research and write my dissertation; Friday - Sunday: work 40 hours at the hospital (Class + 8 hrs, 16hrs, 16hrs), wait until the semester is over to have a day off, repeat for three years.

 

[Meatwad]

I do not know for sure whether adcomms subjectively put more weight on an engineering app but I can totally corroborate the fact that high GPAs are more difficult to find in engineering than in the sciences. I have done two majors, one in engineering and one in the physical sciences. My engineering GPA ended up being about a 3.6 while my PS GPA ended up being about a 4.0. One of them is average and the other is perfect, you draw your own conclusions from this. On the other hand, I know a lot of doctors who wished they had the kind of training provided by engineering. So it is not a far fetched notion to think that adcomms may put a little bit of extra humph to the app with the engineering degree at least subjectively, if nothing else, it adds to the diversity of the class which is always sought after. That being said you need to get that app viewed by someone to be able to give it this much extra so whatever you do try to keep that GPA high no matter what.

After reading you had a 3.6 in Engineering, and a 4.0 in a physical science major, I stopped reading and checked your MD apps profile. I'm subsequently not surprised by your utterly ****ing amazing science scores on the MCAT.

 

[Revenant]

Thought so. Maybe next time, you'll be kind enough to refrain from stating something as a fact when it's pulled outta ur ass?



i hope most readers here will be smart enough to recognize the bias of this post.

No, I'm confident with the conclusions. The engineers I all know have no idea why they even chose the path they're on.

As for the perceived bias....I would say that's a realistic assessment of the realm of engineering. A worthwhile field if one is a masochist or has suicidal tendencies but never had the total motivation or balls to jam a knife into their wrist and pull upwards on their own.

 

[ChePibe]

I routinely had no choice but to pull all-nighters to work on projects for various classes, sometimes multiple times per week. As a second year med student, nothing has yet come close.

When you've been up since yesterday morning and take a "break" to see the midnight matinée of The Matrix before heading back to the lab to hopefully finish before the morning arrives, you know you're probably ready for whatever future academic challenge comes your way.

My thoughts and personal experience exactly.

 

[jae9970]

I routinely had no choice but to pull all-nighters to work on projects for various classes, sometimes multiple times per week. As a second year med student, nothing has yet come close.

When you've been up since yesterday morning and take a "break" to see the midnight matinée of The Matrix before heading back to the lab to hopefully finish before the morning arrives, you know you're probably ready for whatever future academic challenge comes your way.

true, projects take many many hours to complete.. but thats why they are assigned a month or two before the deadline. i don't understand why someone will have to stay overnight at all to finish projects? Not trying to brag here, but my engineering curriculum never forced me to stay overnight in my four years of study.

 

[Revenant]

I remember pulling my first all-nighter. A research paper on 1984 that I began 12:00 at night when it was due 8:30 that morning.

Hilariously enough that experience was still 100x more fun than anything I've done in any of my engineering classes ever. At least Orwell is somewhat interesting.

 

[Dave_D]

For me language classes are the only good part of my day. Then I get into engineering and want to kill myself. Go figure.

Wow, if it's true that something as horrid as language class is the best part of your day then the rest of your day must be vomit inducingly bad. 😀 (I know, I talk too much about how much I despised language class and basically consider it a form of torture that should be against international law.)

 

[Revenant]

I enjoy Spanish, philosophy, and especially political science. Unfortunately I have no space in my curriculum to spend on those.

 

[Quix]

I enjoy Spanish, philosophy, and especially political science. Unfortunately I have no space in my curriculum to spend on those.

This is the fun part about being done (in principal) - I can sit in on any lecture I think will be interesting. I had some free time over the summer and took in some Genetics, and was going to listen to lectures on spacetime and light, but the class was canceled. If I end up not getting in and consign myself to academia for the foreseeable future, I will be thoroughly abusing this ability for classes in art history, history, and anthropology (to spice up my philosophy lectures).

 

[Blade28]

Engineering can turn your GPA to **** in a heartbeat...

So true.

I was a bioengineering major in undergrad and those major-specific classes just kicked my butt. All the other classes (especially bio, chem, biochem, etc.) helped bring my GPA back up.

 

[osli]

true, projects take many many hours to complete.. but thats why they are assigned a month or two before the deadline. i don't understand why someone will have to stay overnight at all to finish projects? Not trying to brag here, but my engineering curriculum never forced me to stay overnight in my four years of study.

I had plenty of classmates that never pulled all-nighters either. But then, they really did nothing but study and keep on top of things. I guess that does help. 🙂 I enjoyed a variety of activities and sometimes that did crunch time for projects. I also think the particular degree, school, class, and professor has a lot to do with that. Many semesters went by without any demanding projects, but every now and then we got our asses handed to us. Likewise, during the times that I was able to party I'd notice that my friends in CpE or ChemE were busting their butts on projects, and vice versa.

But the biggest factor was being on a team that designed, built, and raced vehicles in collegiate competitions, which wasn't technically part of any class. Well, I did get directed study credit for some of that in graduate school. When you're in the shop or lab 12 hours a day 6-7 days a week for months, it doesn't leave a lot of time for coursework. So I guess many of the all-nighters were my own damned fault. 😉

Definitely prepared me well for med school though.

 

[saidel273]

Nope, usually 8-5, maybe 8-6 or 7 if something critical needs to be done. But this is rare.

Rarely do engineers work long hours. Read above. Standard 8-5..

From my own experience, engineers tend to work very long hours. If you work for a company whose headquarters is in Japan, Germany, you can expect to work for very very long hours. If you work in manufacturing, expect to pull 70-80 hours...

If you work for a big corporation and you are the new guy who doesn't do anything, then you can do this 8-5 schedule. But you should expect that you will be one of those disposable employees.

 

[mrjbb]

Although this may not apply, don't choose your bachelors degree or course of study just because you believe it may actually amplify your chances of getting into med school.

You should choose a major your happy with and ACTUALLY enjoy.
Thus if you don't gain an acceptance you have another alternative (use your bachelors to make money without completely being miserable..😉).

Now, if you're an Engineering major you might receive a little "leeway" because your not the common or traditional pre-med who majors in bio or chem. This my friend, makes you stand out.

You should weigh the pros and cons of both paths and degrees.

You should ask yourself: What will I ultimately gain (besides an acceptance..lol) if I choose to go with engineering or bio? All I'm saying is to try and see the big picture in life.....Good Luck....😀

 

[Cataract]

Do your research about the engineering curriculum; people here are painting that degree with broad strokes. Not every engineer is crunching diffeq problems daily and pulling all nighters. Biomedical engineering for me involved interaction with surgeons performing live surgery, performing my own heart surgery on a live pig, courses at a medical school, and an bioengineering lab course that introduces you to research methods and techniques.

In spite of what people have been saying, I still think an engineering degree is the new premed. Investigate the curriculum and make sure you're interested in the courses. At least for BME, you certainly can use your degree in medicine to improve surgical devices, design implants, or whatever.

 

[BlueCow]

I'm now a sophomore in Chem E. taking the first Chem E class and I don't really like it... so the question is... are there any advantages in being an engineer when applying to med school? Even with a lower gpa, would they value the harder and more challenging courses that engineers have taken? Also the only other reason I'm in Chem E is that if I don't get into med school... I can be a Chem E in the industry somewhere.... but now I'm really thinking of switching to bio major (BS degree if I do 1 yr of research along with it)... can someone shine more light on this dilemma?

If you don't like it you will not do well. If you are good with math and science there is no reason why you should not get good GPA in engineering. Getting good GPA is all about planning, dedicating time to study, and showing interest in a major. I don't think it is any easier to get a 3.8 in biology than a 3.8 in engineering. Each field has its difficulties and its style of studying for the exams. In each area you need to compete with the top students to be the top of the grading curve.

 

[michiganenginee]

the only reason why I did engineering was that I wanted a solid backup if medical school wasnt for me. looking back on my decision, i regret it wholeheartedly. engineering was a tougher major and made me work way harder than i needed to. plus, med schools do not really differentiate by major so a lower gpa in engineering is not the same as a higher gpa in pysch. i would suggest doing engineering only if you have solid reservations about going to medical school.

 

[dragon529]

one more question... the app for med school... does it ask you the hours of volunteer service and shadowing hours you have obtained?

 

[chr123]

I'm a Mechanical Engineer and am currently interviewing. Chemical engineering in my opinion is the toughest engineering program aside from electrical...I wouldn't want to do either.

It's a great path towards med school, but the deck will be stacked against you.

*You need to keep your GPA reasonable. I had a 3.33, but I got A's in all those science classes and my post bacc classes which got me up to a 3.45. Junior level classes; Fluids, thermo, systems, etc, can really tank your GPA. A 3.0 is very respectable and will get you any engineering job you want, but you'll be SOL for med school.

*It's also difficult to find time for all the extra pre-med stuff, like everyone's medical mission trip to africa to cure AIDS.

*You need to like engineering and have a talent for it....you won't be able to squeak by.

*You need a good MCAT to show you really are more qualified than all the dime-a-dozen premed, 3.6, bio majors who have better GPA's than you.

*Bottom line, your stats need to be good enough to get an interview, but once you're there, your degree will be very respected. Even with my "subpar" GPA, my academic record hasn't been an issue. I'm not getting into any top 10 schools, but I'm doing just fine interviewing at state schools.

*Bio med engineering would be a better choice....there are less hard core engineering classes and it'll get you more exposure to the medical field.

*After engineering school, you will be able to think through any problem, but you will have to work really hard to be able to memorize large amounts of information which you won't have much practice at.

If you have any specific questions, send me a message.

 

[dragon529]

I'm talking to the bio advisor tomorrow. But I think I'll be shooting for a BS/MS in biology in my undergrad. I can complete all the req for BS by the end of junior year and so I'll be doing the masters my senior year.

 

[154465]

I was at those Wayne State, MSU, UMich Q&A's and they all agreed that engineering majors get a break. I went to the Q&A sessions twice and both times they stated the same thing. I probably wouldn't major in engineering just for that boost though because usually it's to keep you on par with people with higher GPAs who majored in something else. I'm not making any sort of statement here, I'm just repeating what I have heard.

 

[Mister Pie]

I did engineering because I enjoyed it. Go figure.

My GPA definitely suffered a bit, however.