I have reached a fork in the road...What should I do???

[tharealest]

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So I am a sophomore engineering major who has ultimately made the final decision to do premed and apply to medical schools. Now I need to take 2 semesters of bio, gen chem II, 2 sems of o-chem, a biochem, and anatamy class.

I have two options. The first is to stay in engineering and take some classes, like o-chem during the summer and the others throughout the normal school year. I'm pretty sure taking important classes like o-chem during the summer isn't recommended, because the pace of the courses are very fast, and going that fast won't be beneficial for the MCATs and earning a good grade in those classes. The thing is engineering is very time consuming, and throw in engineering labs along with chem/bio labs and I don't know if I can keep my grades up along with having enough times to study for the MCATs and also volunteer/get clinical experience. So it's either take those classes during the summer or during the school year. Even if I took it during the school year, I would probably have to stay an extra year or a year and a half.

Another option I have to to change majors. I was thinking something like biochem or chem, where some of the classes I have taken, like Calc I-III will count as credits.

One thing that is playing a major role in my decision is how admissions will view my engineering major. Do you think they give more leniant considerations to engineering majors GPA wise? I had a 4.0 going into sophomore year (taking classes like calc, physics, gen chem I), then after taking true engineering courses this semester, my GPA fell to around 3.7-3.8ish. Should this be a concern if I stay an engineering major...in the fact that these engineering courses will kill my GPA and time to study for premed courses/MCATs? But on the other hand, I don't think it is safe either to say that my chemistry classes will help me earn better grades.

Basically I need the insight and opinion of you guys. What is the best course of action I can take right now? Thanks a bunch!

 

[shawty ya'head]

what up man

i was a dual engineering major (bioengineering and electrical engineering) major at a prettty tough school (penn)

i did 1 FULL summer (3 classes 1st summer sessoin and 2 classes 2nd summer session) and finished in 4 years. i finished with 2 majors, 2 minors and pre-med and took the MCAT this august (i graduated in may).

it was very tough to schedule the mcat in during the school year or one of my packed summers. the other 2 summers i reserach or did some significant 'med school applicant' activity. i also went abraod one semester.

what i'm saying is, it can be done. you can def work a way through it. and I"M SURE med school admissions committees will realize your eng degree and take that into account. just do the best you can. i ended up with a 3.6.

my interview this season has been average thus far due to my AUG MCAT i believe. i've gotten 2 rejz (UVA, NW) w/o interview. 1 rej after interview (TEMP). and 3 interviews lined up (wake forest, penn state, maryland) and 12 schools to hear from.

if you need any more info, let me know. i say stick with eng, do well, and you should be fine. dont worry about gpa slackin' a lil' bit (by lil' i mean keep it atleast 3.6).

gluck

 

[coincidental]

Do what you truly enjoy. If you like engineering, stick with it. It won't hurt you. I've got a approx 3.6 in biomedical engineering and three acceptances already.

But, I have been so miserable this semester. Once I got in, I just lost all will to struggle through these difficult, and often boring, classes. In retrospect, I probably should have switched majors to something I enjoy more a long time ago - I doubt it would have affected the overall outcome that much and I would have been happier. Why I stayed is a long story.

So, if you like engineering, great! It'll provide a great problem solving background. But you don't need to suffer through it if you honestly don't like the material and are certain medicine is for you.

 

[SailCrazy]

I have reached a fork in the road...What should I do???

Take it! 😀




Oh yeah, I agree with the sentiment of the previous replies. If you like engineering and can keep at least decent grades. Do it. Definitely don't feel like you have to switch majors just to go to med school.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

So I am a sophomore engineering major who has ultimately made the final decision to do premed and apply to medical schools. Now I need to take 2 semesters of bio, gen chem II, 2 sems of o-chem, a biochem, and anatamy class.

I have two options. The first is to stay in engineering and take some classes, like o-chem during the summer and the others throughout the normal school year. I'm pretty sure taking important classes like o-chem during the summer isn't recommended, because the pace of the courses are very fast, and going that fast won't be beneficial for the MCATs and earning a good grade in those classes. The thing is engineering is very time consuming, and throw in engineering labs along with chem/bio labs and I don't know if I can keep my grades up along with having enough times to study for the MCATs and also volunteer/get clinical experience. So it's either take those classes during the summer or during the school year. Even if I took it during the school year, I would probably have to stay an extra year or a year and a half.

Another option I have to to change majors. I was thinking something like biochem or chem, where some of the classes I have taken, like Calc I-III will count as credits.

One thing that is playing a major role in my decision is how admissions will view my engineering major. Do you think they give more leniant considerations to engineering majors GPA wise? I had a 4.0 going into sophomore year (taking classes like calc, physics, gen chem I), then after taking true engineering courses this semester, my GPA fell to around 3.7-3.8ish. Should this be a concern if I stay an engineering major...in the fact that these engineering courses will kill my GPA and time to study for premed courses/MCATs? But on the other hand, I don't think it is safe either to say that my chemistry classes will help me earn better grades.

Basically I need the insight and opinion of you guys. What is the best course of action I can take right now? Thanks a bunch!

Honest advice: unless you are absolutely set on BME as your final career goal, do the easier science major. It will be respected a little bit less, with physics garnering nearly equal respect, followed by chem/computer science, and then bio sciences, but it will be much easier to get the high grades you need to get into the top schools (if that's what you want).

The system sucks, so it doesn't really pay off to major in something really tough if they don't appreciate it. If it interests you, just self-study, but I suggest you do a less-time-consuming science major instead. Have you considered physics or chemistry?

 

[kgboy]

I was in a same situation last year. Instead of taking either options you mentioned, I took a different one. I decided to take one more year for undergrad and graduate in 5 years. I didn't have to take 3 engineering + 2 premed classes per quarter like I had to if I decided to graduated in 4. Now, I'm taking 3 classes per quarter, researching, and volunteering while studying for mcat. It sucks staying one more year while all your friends are graduating, but doing this made it so much better in terms of workload. If you really want to goto a good med school, staying one more year in undergrad might not be too big of a sacrifice.

 

[Medikit]

Do what you enjoy AND get a high GPA.

 

[PublicEnemy]

Take it! 😀

immortal words of yogi berra.

you can get into med school no matter what you do. but having the highest grades possible, especially in the prereqs helps tremendously, regardless of what your major is.

if you're not married to your major, and you think it'll be easier to take all the pre-reqs on time and schedule yourself time to take the mcat, really consider switching.

but if you really like your major, and its what you want to study, don't sacrifice that. you can work around it. but either way, you can't really on any perceived leniency coming from an engineering background or any background, grades and mcat scores speak for themselves.

it sucks, i know, i was bme. but its true.