engineers, help me out!

[stickplot]

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so i want to major in engineering, but ive heard that its really difficult to major in engineering and do all the pre reqs for pre med, any engineers out there who can tell me about your experience and how it finished out? recommend engineering?

 

[Perrotfish]

I was an engineer. I worked harder in undergrad than I have thus far worked in medical school (where I'm doing well) to get a sub-3.0 GPA. I needed a high MCAT, an SMP, and a series of small miracles to get me into Medical school when I was done. The addition of the prereqs adds basically a minor to your degree. The good thing was that, when I was done, I knew if med school fell through I had a real career waiting while the bio/liberal arts majors who didn't get into medical school basically had nothing. The downside was, well, it basically took a miracle to get me into medical school because of the engineering degree.

If you're dead set on medicine, I'd recommend against a real engineering degree (AE, ME, Civil, EE, or Chem). Maybe computer science or industrial engineering could work, but anything more is putting yourself at a needless disadvantage. If you're more on the fence about your career, though, it might be worth looking into.

 

[radishrawks]

Although I am not in medical school yet, I can tell you that I believe you have a shot.

It may not be possible to do a traditional engineering discipline such as electrical or mechanical, but I think that it is totally possible for you to be able to do either Chemical or Biomedical engineering.

Currently I am pursuing the Biomedical engineering track; most biomedical tracks require you to take such classes as Calculus, organic chemistry, and physics, which are all needed for taking the MCAT as well as entrance requirements for many medical schools.

Another benefit of studying biomedical engineering is that you will (in most cases) still be taught the traditional core engineering curriculum and in many cases you will be able to find other related engineering jobs if you cannot find one that fits your needs. It's very versatile.

Also, there are many people that major in biomedical engineering that already know that they are going medical, and many times they are quite successful in the transition.

I honestly think that an engineering background will be more useful to you than any others (e.g. Psychology) because the background training will be very very useful to you when taking the MCAT.

Cheers!

 

[confusedchild]

I'm also an engineer myself, specifically Electrical Engineering. I've always been glad I've chosen engineering because I tell all my friends that at least at my school (a UC that pumps out 700-800 med school applicants/year) pre med courses are extremely cut-throat. Engineering may seem tough but in my opinion, engineers a lot more amiable, friendly, and most of them aim to get 3.0+ because that's all you need to get a job. Having a high GPA w/o the ability to pass technical interviews renders an applicant for a job pretty useless and I think this kind of trend has allowed a very positive learning environment to exist in engineering, where students focus more on content as opposed to the final letter.

That being said, I just worked a little bit harder than most engineers and worked extremely hard in pre-med courses to ensure the A, and I've ended up well so far in terms of my grades and I'm almost done (actually a 4th year). I haven't applied yet but I can comment on getting good grades in engineering. If you can handle the coursework (at times it may be tough) and you actually enjoy the stuff, I'd say stick to it. It teaches you a new way to think and makes you stand out as an applicant. For me I'm a lot less stressed in engineering classes than I am in pre-med classes; people are nicer and they joke around before a test as opposed to flipping crazily through flash cards the last 2 minutes.

A few down sides to doing engineering are...
For me, it was hard to finish in 4 years if not impossible. with a fully packed engineering schedule and nearly a year worth of classes added upon to that fullfill med school pre reqs, i gave up the idea of finishing in 4 years. i really wanted to apply last year but i simply can't finish in time. Taking 4.5 years. If waiting out a year is not a problem for you, then it shouldn't be a problem.

like the first person who responded, i also chose engineering coming into college because it was sort of a backup plan. I was still figuring out what i wanted to do, but I figured if I do badly and can't apply to med school, I can be an engineering, and if I do well I've just opened up two doors both of which can provide me personal satisfaction and a good living.

I have a lot of friends in engineering who have decided to do pre-med and my brother included. So stick with it, engineering rules!http://forums.studentdoctor.net/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=7694945

 

[hoopjmpr]

If you're dead set on medicine, I'd recommend against a real engineering degree (AE, ME, Civil, EE, or Chem). Maybe computer science or industrial engineering could work, but anything more is putting yourself at a needless disadvantage. If you're more on the fence about your career, though, it might be worth looking into.

My parents wanted me to do engineering to have a job in case medical school fell through; I really wanted to make them happy so I went with it. Retrospectively, going into engineering was the worst GPA decision I have made, and at the same time the best in terms of developing critical thinking and work ethic.

I went to a Duke for biomedical engineering with perfect entrance scores; I wound up transferring after 2.5 years with a 2.6 GPA - it was a financial and academic nightmare. Just be aware: if you go to a top school - many of these kids come from extremely affluent feeder schools that have actually taught them half of the classes they are "retaking" for a degree; also, cheating is highly, highly prevalent so if you're not in the right social clique, you might have to work like a beast.

My experiences at a lower ranked public instituation have been somewhat better, but overall similar; I've managed to hold down an average of 3.7 in EE with computer science (but alas, too late!) I say this with your best interests at heart: if you love engineering pursue it, but be aware that it will take your entire social life and work ethic to do very well in it.

However, the "high" you can get from succeeding in this rigorous field is really rewarding; if you do destroy your GPA - you will be forced to develop the social skills of the desperate - going to office hours, talking with professors, doing all those "extra" projects. It will also knock out most of your ego and leave you highly receptive to the needs of your future patients. I can honestly say I am glad for my academic record, even though I know my life is "harder" in some aspects as a result. Few things are worth fighting for that come easy, just remember that.

 

[RnD4Lyf]

My 2 cents:

My recommendation is that if want to do your undergrad in engineering, then by all means go for it. To me, engineering is the type of major that you have to have some spark of passion for or else it will just leave you exhausted. Furthermore, I believe any of the engineering majors could be prove a solid basis to continue on into medicine as all engineering fields teach problem solving and critical thinking skills. Lastly, I'm not finding it exceptionally hard to complete pre-med requirements in between my engineering classes though I do plan on taking a year or 2 between graduating and applying to med school while I finish all my pre reqs and work a bit as a full time engineer. Hope this helps.

 

[fizzle]

Try bioengineering. I didn't even pay attention to med school pre-reqs, and voila! They were all done anyway because of my major requirements 😀

PS: You need a certain mindset to do well and enjoy engineering. If you have that mindset, engineering can actually be easier than a major like biology.

 

[Wants2give]

Try bioengineering. I didn't even pay attention to med school pre-reqs, and voila! They were all done anyway because of my major requirements 😀

PS: You need a certain mindset to do well and enjoy engineering. If you have that mindset, engineering can actually be easier than a major like biology.

Thats funny. You say that like Bio is an easy major...

 

[stickplot]

thanks for the replies guys appreciate it. Yeah i mean ive always wanted to major in engineering, but med school has always been a dream to me but at the same time if I end up not going I want something to fall back on. Taking all this information that you have provided me with I might consider biomedical, or computer science.

 

[fizzle]

Thats funny. You say that like Bio is an easy major...

No, it's not, but engineering definitely involves a heavier courseload...at my school, the major requirements for bioengineering pretty much cover all the courses required for a biology major (both lower and upper division courses and all). Now add engineering courses to that, and it definitely doesn't get any easier. As a result, all of my friends in the biology major were double majoring in some other area like psychology or English, while I could barely complete the bioengineering requirements in my four years.

 

[surftheiop]

Thats funny. You say that like Bio is an easy major...

Atleast in Bio you know if you put in the time and memorize you will do fine, not so in engineering (heck there is no point in even trying memorizing, tests are open book and the book doesnt even help). Also engineering problem sets are ridicolously long and if you try to do them alone your basically doomed.


This is my take on engineering and pre-med (well not really my take, more of a summary of the opinions of a bunch of MD's i know, a couple of which are professors at med schools/ have been on admissions commitees)

Doing engineering as an undergrad will make it much more difficult to get into med school because anyone who makes a 3.0 in engineering could have easily made 3.5 in almost any other major. Medschools know this to a degree but they get so many applications they still have to make some sort of GPA cutoffs that hurt many engineers.

BUT if you do manage to make it into medical school:

to paraphrase a medical school professor I know

"Engineers almost always make some of the best physicians, they might struggle some with memorization in year 1/2 ,but they tend to really start to excel in 3/4th year and often overtake most of the traditional pre-meds by graduation"

So in summary, engineering will make it a huge pain to get into med school but will probably make your better doctor in the long run.

 

[mmagnett]

engineering is the best. do it.

 

[BluntSurgeon]

Almost every bioengineer I know that went on to medical school is excelling in ways their WBM (worthless bio major) classmates could never deam.

/engineering elitist

 

[starfishprime]

engineering is the best. do it.

Partially agree. I think majoring in physical science (chemistry or physics - ideally both) provides the rigorous theoretical background upon which one can build independently. I claim my practical skills in mechanical, aerospace, electrical, and automotive engineering as evidence. (As it were, those are the disciplines one must absorb to build a functional car prototype.)

For purposes of future physicians/scientists/lawyers/etc, engineering degrees (technically first professional degrees) are too focused on practical job skills.

 

[yessira]

Bioengineering, I think, is the best major you can have before applying to medical school. Not only does it sound impressive to medical school admissions, but it also gears you for the MCAT. Bioengineering is problem solving using knowledge of biology, chemistry and physics. When you join a research lab, you read scientific papers and even write your own. When you add all of that up, its the entire MCAT.

 

[surftheiop]

For purposes of future physicians/scientists/lawyers/etc, engineering degrees (technically first professional degrees) are too focused on practical job skills.

This could be dependent on each school but my school's engineering department definately isnt this way. The departments definately structure the curriculum in such a way that they are most preparing someone for going on to get PhD moreso than training engineers (thats what internships are for).

The first three years are almost completly theoretical/basic science and senior year you take two classes that might fit your description, one class where you learn unit operations and one class where you design an entire chemical plant.

Besides that everything we take is basic sciences and math.

This is the core of the chemical engineering curriculum:

first intro stuff:
Single Variable Calculus
Multivariable Calculus
Differential Equations
Intro Chem 1/2
Intro Physics 1/2
Into Biology
Organic Chemistry 1/2
Calculus based statistics

Then classes for the major

Quantum Mechanics
Physical Chemistry II
Fluid Mechanics (w/ Tensor Calculus)
Thermodynamics (essentially physical chem III)
Heat and Mass Transfer (essentially Physical chem IV)
Reaction Kinetics and Reactor Design
Analysis of Seperation Processes

Then senior level stuff
Chemical engineering lab
Chemical Process design

Electives you take if you want biomedical type focus

Physiological Engineering
Engineering Principles for Drug Delivery
Cellular Principles of Biomedical engineering

 

[chief illiniwek]

If you think you would enjoy engineering, then do it. I am an engineering student at one of the top programs in the nation, and while it has been difficult, I am very happy i chose this path. My two pieces of advice: be sure to do some type of scientific research; and get alot of clinical experience. As an engineering student, it is hard to prove to Adcoms that you want to be a physician unless you have these things to back you up. I neglected them and am paying for it now.

On the other hand, if you are unsure that you will succeed in engineering, just stay away from it. As some have mentioned on here, Adcoms basically know that engineering programs tend to be a little more rigorous than other majors, but I get the feeling that I've been short-changed by some. It's not worth it in that aspect.

Finally, if you do decide on engineering, I am officially supporting Bioengineering as your major.

 

[surftheiop]

If you think you would enjoy engineering, then do it. I am an engineering student at one of the top programs in the nation, and while it has been difficult, I am very happy i chose this path. My two pieces of advice: be sure to do some type of scientific research; and get alot of clinical experience. As an engineering student, it is hard to prove to Adcoms that you want to be a physician unless you have these things to back you up. I neglected them and am paying for it now.

On the other hand, if you are unsure that you will succeed in engineering, just stay away from it. As some have mentioned on here, Adcoms basically know that engineering programs tend to be a little more rigorous than other majors, but I get the feeling that I've been short-changed by some. It's not worth it in that aspect.

Finally, if you do decide on engineering, I am officially supporting Bioengineering as your major.

great advice, though I would expect that the clinical experience is MUCH more important than scientific research as far as importance for engineers goes. Also Bioengineering seems like such an awesome major, i wish i would have found out about it before I was married to ChemE by prereq's