pre-med/engineer?

[LAman10]

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Biomedical engineering ftw

 

[vin5cent0]

My univ only has one engineering major (composite), so I chose Biology. I always regret not going to a different univ. and doing some sort of Chemical/Biological engineering as that stuff tends to interest me, but no dice.. not starting over again.

 

[Philly Med]

I've been reading some of your posts, you've gotta be either one of the most conceited or the most sarcastic SOB I have ever come across. If you're sarcastic, then I must be mistaken.

On the other hand, sarcasm is my second language as well

As a BS/MS Chemical Engineer, I couldn't agree more. Also, on a personal note, I find it kind of strange that money was brought up in this thread. 😎

Not to be rude, but I hope it's not the money that draws some of you to medicine!

 

[vinniekan]

As a BS/MS Chemical Engineer, I couldn't agree more. Also, on a personal note, I find it kind of strange that money was brought up in this thread. 😎

Not to be rude, but I hope it's not the money that draws some of you to medicine!

I have heard from a lot of pre-med engineers that Engineering is a good career to fall back on. I feel that if medicine is your ultimate goal, and you're doing engineering in the meantime to just fill the gap year(s), you might as well get the most $$$ out of it right? at least thats how I feel since I have no desire to continue in Engineering (even tho I have to, cuz that's the only career that I'm really qualified for at this point)

I have never heard of one of my peers who is a ChemE going into work for Exxon because they love working with oil sooo much haha, it's all about the $$$ at that point (80k is a lot to start at the age of 22)

Of course, we're all going to medicine to save lifes/help people/get madd respect

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

I have heard from a lot of pre-med engineers that Engineering is a good career to fall back on. I feel that if medicine is your ultimate goal, and you're doing engineering in the meantime to just fill the gap year(s), you might as well get the most $$$ out of it right? at least thats how I feel since I have no desire to continue in Engineering (even tho I have to, cuz that's the only career that I'm really qualified for at this point)

I have never heard of one of my peers who is a ChemE going into work for Exxon because they love working with oil sooo much haha, it's all about the $$$ at that point (80k is a lot to start at the age of 22)

Of course, we're all going to medicine to save lifes/help people/get madd respect

Yeah, its going to suck going to school again. Right now I am enjoying my huge master bedroom and having the free time after work to work out and play video games. I'm going to have to give all that up and live in a tiny little apartment near campus when I get accepted.

 

[FlowRate]

Too epic, words are not necessary. BTW, petroleum engineering are chemical engineers that work for oil industries.

Uncle has connections with oil companies. If I don't get into med school, it's a solid fallback.

(Chemical Engineers represent)

 

[movax]

Electrical / Computer Engineer here. If you drive a car with a keyless entry system, I probably wrote the software running it 😉

Terrible choice for maintaining a decent GPA, but its what I like to do.

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

I'm quite impressed with how many Engineers are are on this Forum. Are you guys all just lurking or what?

 

[eryaman]

Chem Engr here as well...it's a great major for those interested in applications of Engineering to Biology (aside from, of course, BME). At the undergrad level, yes, most people go work for oil/pharmaceutical/food/chemical plant, but lots of the professors do research pertaining to Biology.

Back to studying Thermo. =P

 

[movax]

I'm quite impressed with how many Engineers are are on this Forum. Are you guys all just lurking or what?

Nope, applying. I'm complete with my CE coursework, just have some Biochem and EE coursework and thesis to finish (~80 credits) and in March I'm done, and hopefully off to med school somewhere in the fall.

 

[Engineer2MD]

I'm quite impressed with how many Engineers are are on this Forum. Are you guys all just lurking or what?

Yeah, guess I'm the only Nuke. (My dad was a ChemE though!)

 

[kpittma]

Chem Eng. here! Courses are tough, but I think I will enjoy the reduced shock factor when I get to med. school. I am also one of those that the engineering classes actually bring up my GPA. Engineers rule!

 

[wsc2879]

BME major with a 3.94 GPA. I am a junior now. thanks.

 

[wsc2879]

r u at Penn State?

 

[TopSecret]

A liberal arts degree is simply worthless nowadays. Certainly not worth more than $120,000.

You're better off with vocational training (e.g., plumbing, auto mechanic, court recorder, etc).

Edit - I should also mention that the education bubble will start imploding when student loans and grants dry up. Vocational training will become more popular as a result.

 

[whoisthedrizzle]

I've been reading some of your posts, you've gotta be either one of the most conceited or the most sarcastic SOB I have ever come across. If you're sarcastic, then I must be mistaken.

On the other hand, sarcasm is my second language as well

It's conceit.

Re: engineers in med school, i've only been here for a month, but it seems like phys. science majors are having an easier time with school. The hardest part for us is getting in.

 

[erikreinertsen]

ChemEng BioMed option at UCLA here, and praying the upper div curve helps more than hurts. But I got BioEng research so that'll help 🙂

 

[MBHockey]

It's conceit.

Re: engineers in med school, i've only been here for a month, but it seems like phys. science majors are having an easier time with school. The hardest part for us is getting in.

Interesting.

 

[Hawaiianhost1]

I'm a third year electrical engineering major currently taking 19 credits at my university, 3 credits online at a community college, and taking the Kaplan MCAT course online (yes, all of that in one semester). I took a full load ever since my freshman year, taking 12 credits of bio, 8 credits of gen chem, ochem, and phys on top of all my EE courses. Life pretty much sucks right now...does anyone have any advice on how to improve my chances on getting into med school? I know engineering distinguishes us from the rest of the applicant pool but what else can increase the chances?

 

[medfan303]

Hey all, great to see all the engineers here. I'm an ECE (Electrical & Computer Engineering) major. I did 3 internships in computer/software engineering, and have now been working full time as an engineer for a few months. I think if you want to do medicine and engineering, make sure to finish your prereqs in college...GPA is a big issue too, I need to raise mine just because of engineering and all the heavy math courses we had to take.

Also, I would never choose BME, it is too new a field and you need more school to actually use it as a fallback for a job (MS). If you are interested in BME as a fallback for premed, think of pursuing one of the original engineering degrees and then specializing by taking BME courses. This way you can qualify for a lot more jobs and won't be restricted in case medicine doesn't work out or you need more time to improve your app.

e.g.
-Imaging/Devices (ECE with BME minor??)
-Biomechanics (ME with BME minor??)

I know a lot of my friends who went for jobs senior yr as BME majors had trouble finding them, and also trouble competing with salaries for other eng. degrees (EE/ME/CE). BME just does not seem to be a wise choice but that's just my 2 cents.

If I were to do it all over again though, I would definitely not do engineering, I'd probably do CS (since it comes more natural to me). The bio majors at my school didn't have to take any advanced math (Diff Eqs, Multivariable Calc, Discrete Math, Lin. Algebra). Bio classes were easy (A/B easily), whereas the engineering courses it seemed like climbing Mt. Everest in order to avoid C's. And the worst part about engineering? The labs!!!!!! Like in gen. chem the labs were way easier, it was almost taught by faculty. In engineering, the labs were like mini projects..build this, build this, and test this, build some more...produce actual output not just running simple experiments and typing up a lab report about it.

Okay I'm done releasing 🙂

-Medfan

P.S. Interesting to note majority of Premeds are ChemE's, probably because GenChem/Orgo is part of the reqs???

 

[Jfz]

I disagree, i think BME is an excellent field to get into right now, that kind of thing is exploding right now

 

[BMEZephyr]

You'll be sitting around most nights pissed off at all the business majors who are out drinking.

The thing you might want to consider is from what I hear, the market is saturated with BMEs because its become the "sexy" engineering field, so there isn't as high a demand for them. ChemE demand is still strong. You might find once you get into it that you don't want to go to med school, so an engineering degree is a better second option than most people's first options.

Very true. You'll just be pissed in general.

We just hope the med. school market for BMEs doesn't get saturated to the point where it becomes a challenge to get accepted.

 

[erikreinertsen]

Quick update for those of you interested in how the job market is feeling. After numerous career fairs / talks with industry liaisons and recruiters, apparently ChemE / EE / MechE's with bio background are in much higher demand than a regular "bioengineer". The major is honestly too new and not well integrated enough (at least at UCLA) for it to be respected.

Anyways, upper divs are great. Math and real thinking > memorizing a pile of flash cards. But hey, I guess a differential diagnosis involves both of those skills.

 

[erikreinertsen]

Quick update for those of you interested in how the job market is feeling. After numerous career fairs / talks with industry liaisons and recruiters, apparently ChemE / EE / MechE's with bio background are in much higher demand than a regular "bioengineer". The major is honestly too new and not well integrated enough (at least at UCLA) for it to be respected.

Anyways, upper divs are great. Math and real thinking > memorizing a pile of flash cards. But hey, I guess a differential diagnosis involves both of those skills.

 

[Quantum Mecha]

Electrical Engineering right here!

 

[MBHockey]

I'm a third year electrical engineering major currently taking 19 credits at my university, 3 credits online at a community college, and taking the Kaplan MCAT course online (yes, all of that in one semester). I took a full load ever since my freshman year, taking 12 credits of bio, 8 credits of gen chem, ochem, and phys on top of all my EE courses. Life pretty much sucks right now...does anyone have any advice on how to improve my chances on getting into med school? I know engineering distinguishes us from the rest of the applicant pool but what else can increase the chances?

Clinical experience isn't only something that will help, it is essentially required.

 

[mahnster13]

Biomedical. I find it kind of funny when some premeds complain that they have more than one science class in a semester....science is all I take, I have like 120 credits and maybe 18 of those are non-science....

where is your profile pic from? 😍

 

[Morsetlis]

ME, EE, and CE are solid majors. I don't even know wtf a BME is supposed to do for a job, heh.

 

[surftheiop]

ME, EE, and CE are solid majors. I don't even know wtf a BME is supposed to do for a job, heh.

In most cases its a pre-PhD or pre-MD degree.

Although you do get some people double majoring ECE/BME or ChemE/BME which are extremely desirable biotech combo's.

 

[Kickback]

In most cases its a pre-PhD or pre-MD degree.

Although you do get some people double majoring ECE/BME or ChemE/BME which are extremely desirable biotech combo's.

👍 BME by itself is not a good undergrad degree if you want a great job out of school with your BS; you're pigeon-holed into a field where almost any other engineering specialty can get into.

While I'm posting here, I might as well say that I am transferring to my in-state engineering school to save some serious cash, and changing majors from BME to ChemE with an emphasis in biochemical engineering, with a minor in bioinformatics. Plus they have some nice research that I can get involved with in biomaterials!

Oh, and nice thread necromancy asking where someone got a profile pic... 🙄

 

[surftheiop]

While I'm posting here, I might as well say that I am transferring to my in-state engineering school to save some serious cash, and changing majors from BME to ChemE with an emphasis in biochemical engineering, with a minor in bioinformatics. Plus they have some nice research that I can get involved with in biomaterials!

Are you planning to be an MD or to work in industry? if going for MD (which is my guess given this is SDN) then I think its much better to stick with BME

 

[Kickback]

Are you planning to be an MD or to work in industry? if going for MD (which is my guess given this is SDN) then I think its much better to stick with BME

MD/PhD, actually. So I could end up in industry!

I would really love to stay at my current university, but with parental support it will literally cost me more than $50K to finish my degree, and at my in-state it will cost me nothing.

 

[ams83]

👍 BME by itself is not a good undergrad degree if you want a great job out of school with your BS; you're pigeon-holed into a field where almost any other engineering specialty can get into.

So true. I have an MS in BME and biomedical companies would prefer EEs or MEs or ChemEs just as much, if not more, than BMEs. On the other hand, non-BME companies will not hire BMEs for their engineering positions. It seems like the only way to get a job is to get a pretty sweet internship while in school and this MAY lead to a permanent position. My non-BME friends, on the other hand, are getting job offers from every direction.

That being said, BME is a pretty cool degree and the stuff I learned was pretty interesting. It's a more research based degree.

I better ace my next MCAT...

 

[ParthVader]

Biomedical Engineering here as well. Most of the BME premeds I know regret majoring in BME. Engineering classes are hard, but if you're interested in them you don't mind putting in the work... I don't think engineering classes have really hurt my GPA at all.

 

[FlowRate]

Engineering and Pre-Med sucks. ChemE here. I love engineering, but I hate how much I'm missing out on due to the massive amounts of homework. I don't think my major will end up helping me in the long run. In fact, I think my GPA would definitely be a little better with MUCH less work if I were biochem/biology/whatever. Then I would have better EC's. In other words, I think my application would be STRONGER if I wasn't an engineering major.

 

[Morsetlis]

Engineering major pre-meds are insane.

 

[Hawaiianhost1]

Electrical Engineering here. I don't recommend taking EE + premed if u are planning on graduating in 4 years. I'm doing it - and its beyond difficult (understatement). No life, no parties - just studying 24/7. But, I'm sure it will all be worth it one day. Good luck to all you fellow engineers!

 

[lorenzomicron]

I'm an engineer, of course my data is accurate. Come on now.

Biological Engineering here.
Not sure what I'm going to be doing, but hopefully i get to do continue research during medical school.