PREMED : UCSD or BERKELEY BIOENGINEERING?

[JaYwOo55]

help me... im deciding right now between berkeley bioE and ucsd bioE-premed. this is hard to choose. i'm gonna use my major to satisfy most of the pre-med requirements... im not gonna major in biology or chemistry cuz i need a safety net to fall back on in case i get rejected from med school. so, now im trying to decide where to go.

btw, both SD and BERK have given me regents awards.

i like SD because its bioE is topnotch/extremely reputable, great place to live, and i hope to goto UCSD med school.. plus, its practical to drive a car down there. (i hate public transportation) plus, their regents award lets me have priority when picking classes.

i like BERK cuz its more reputable overall. its bioE isn't nearly as reputable though because their program just started a couple years ago. what i hate most is that their regents award doesnt give me priority in picking classes. i also have a little problem with their curriculum because it seems to focus more on mechanics and engineering instead of biology etc.

okay, so what would be better for me considering that i plan to try for med school.. one of my main concerns is: where will i be able to get a better GPA? whats competition like at these places? my goal med school is UCSD.

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[cytanaka]

I'm a Berkeley molecular cell bio major, but have a lot of friends in BioE here. Yes, the UCSD BioE is better, but I would choose Cal and major in biology instead. Here's the problem with BioE:

A lot of my friends in BioE are having some problems getting jobs because they say that the program doesn't make you particularly knowledgable about anything. I don't know if this is true, but judging by the classes for BioE, i'd say it is. Also, I don't know anything about UCSD bioE.

Also, Cal BioE's have to take harder classes (with EECS majors....). All the pre-med bioE's took a hit in their GPA to some extent, or had to work extra hard. I'm not sure if adcoms are gonna realize BioE is harder, but I haven't seen any bioE's do tremendously better as far as acceptances vs MCB.

If you're looking for a fallback, MCB will still give you plenty of marketable skills and knowledge to get a job. Unless you're particularly interested in bioE (which you could still kinda do as an MCB), come to Cal, which has a better straight up bio program.

these are my opinions that i've gotten after four years, so do what you will with them. hope it helps.. . Go Bears!

 

[jeffsleepy]

the UCB bioengineering program is basically take whatever classes you want. You do have to take quite a few of them however. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to get a better GPA in SD than Cal.

 

[JaYwOo55]

im wary about switching to biology... what happens if i dont get into med schooL?? what kind of a job can solely a biology major get me?

 

[Retro]

You are right; a biology degree without med school probably will land you in mediocrity: 1) grad school (then post-doc, then blah blah blah, hell on earth, in another word); 2) technician jobs (around 23K to 30k, tops at 40K); 3) teach high school (need to take teaching courses, around 30K). 4) consultant jobs (usually require Ph.D. in biology, and dependent on economy, 50-80K). 5) Patent law (work for government as patent examiner, or go to law school and be a patent lawyer 100K). 6) Optometry school. 7) Dental school. 8) Chiropractor. 9) Podiatry. 10) Be what all you can be, in the army. But BioE is a weird major; why not ChemE or EECS, you have take a lot of overlapping courses anyway? ChemE are the most versatile; I have friends who work for Semens as a material science engineer (make motherboards or something like that), I have friends who work for software companies as programmer, and I have friends who work in oil refineries factors. BioE tend to have a hard time finding a job because it is so non-specific.

 

[JaYwOo55]

hmm... ive been hearing that a lot lately... if i were go switch to chemE, should i goto berk or sd?

 

[Chronotropic]

I would hardly consider those things retro listed as mediocrity.

As far as what to do with a bio degree. As long as you are resourceful and intelligent you will be fine. Grad school is a great opportunity whether it be to improve one's med school application or as an alternate career. A masters degree will open many doors.

Check out US News top grad schools book. You could go into forensic science or government intelligence. A PhD would probably help but I'm sure a Masters with a few years of experience will do fine for most jobs out there.

 

[PrettyPlease]

There seems to be a big problem here

Why are people telling this kid what to major in based on job opportunities in case he doesn't get into med school?

Engineering is tough. It takes a lot of effort to keep a good gpa to get into med school. if he puts that same effort into bio, he'll have a 4.0. do research and extracurriculars and you'll get into at least 1 med school.

Do you want to be a doctor or an engineer or something else? Wait until you take classes in college before you decide. If you want to be a doctor, you'll work hard and you'll become a doctor. If you don't get in after your first try (if you get upwards of a 3.7, you'll prolly get in), then you'll apply again and again.

If you go in and major in engineering in case medicine doesn't work out, you're digging a hole for yourself. Your gpa in engineering is going to be lower and it's going to be a self fulling prophecy that you won't get into med school.

 

[cytanaka]

Yeah, i agree with prettyplease. What it all comes down to is what you're interested in. You'll get into med school if you really want it bad enough, so pick your major based on what you're interested in. When you're studying Junior/senior year, you want to enjoy what you're doing. Don't start getting into the mentality of what you're gonna do IF you don't get into med school; either decide you're going to med school or aren't. You work hard enough at it, you'll get in somewhere. So, major in what interests you.

That being said, Berkeley overall has a better reputation than UCSD, which is still a great school of course. It sounds like you're more interested in biology, so what the hell: major in bio, and take bioE classes as electives if you really want to. It'll be easier to do well, you'll learn things more applicable to med school in my opinion, and it's a great program. Berkeley engineering is pretty hard core, and chemE and chemistry are really really hard.

So, if you like biology and want to be a doctor, cal mcb is a good route in my opinion.

 

[Retro]

JayWoo55, if you want to go ChemE, definitely come to Berkeley (top ranked), and chances are Chem E won't land you into med school because the average GPA is around 2.8 for ChemE (well, 5 years ago, that was the average, don't know about now). Like others said, you really have to decide between Engineering and med school. Unfortunately, you have to make up your mind now because to do ChemE, you have to apply to College of Chemistry at Berkely, which is separate from College of Letters and Sciences for MCB majors. But of course, you can always transfer from ChemE back to MCB later when you want to do pre-med again; but the ChemE organic chemistry requirement requires the Chem 112 series, which is a lot harder than pre-med O chem classes, and likewise for physics and the extra math classes; so you are really taking a gamble with ChemE if you are going into this major with pre-med mentalities. I knew at least three people who had exactly the same thoughts as you, i.e. ChemE or premed, and stat showed that all of them went into ChemE and then never applied to med school. So choose wisely.

 

[JaYwOo55]

sigh... im just a high school senior and faced with a life changing decision! stressful!!!

 

[14931]

i am a ch e major and i only majored in it cos i like engineering, but i see my gpa now and sometimes i wonder if i made the right decision, whatever you do, dont go to engineering cos you think its a back up, many many people drop out of engineering. what is so difficult for you to choose? college is a period where you are supposed to grow and learn, choose one where you will be most comfortable, choose one where you will have a lots of support, choose one where you see yourself happy, only if you choose this college will you have the will and encouragement to do your best, good luck

 

[An Yong]

Right now, I'm sorta following the path your considering, and its a mistake (trust me)! I chose math/computer science because I thought it would be nice if I had something to rely on in case I didn't get into medical school. So far I've been EXTREMELY lucky in that I've been able to keep my GPA at a decent level, but I had to work my tail off for it (no social life whatsoever). In hind sight, I think I would have been 10x more happier if I chose something that I had an interest in (biology/chem/bcmp/anthro/etc...) because I now realize that even if I didn't get into medical school the first round, I'd try and try again until I did... so majoring in something that would help me "in case I didn't get into medical school" was irrelevant.

 

[JaYwOo55]

go bears

 

[JaYwOo55]

any UCSD alumni here?

 

[pyra]

I did bioeng at ucsd. It really depends what you like. For me, I thought bioeng was easier than bio just because I liked the subject. The classes are curved at ucsd too, so it is probably easier here at ucsd than berkeley (I don't know for sure because I never took any classes at Berkeley). UCSD has a premed bioengineering program so it's quite easy to fit in your premed requirements with the major requirements (just make sure you go to Warren). I will be happy to answer any other questions you have about bioeng at ucsd.

 

[JaYwOo55]

is it easy to get a job with just a BS in bioengineering?

 

[pyra]

I don't know about ABET or Biotechnology Bioengineering majors, but for the premed bioengineering majors, the major is geared toward students applying to med school, not looking for jobs in industry. It was not too hard to find a job in industry but it is mostly technician types of jobs, or lab jobs that bio majors usually have (however, bio majors do have the advantage of having molecular bio and other bio lab classes that we do not have). None of them really interested me too much so I ended up working in a hospital. If you really want to have a chance in the job market then I suggest the numerous opportunities that UCSD bioengineering dept offers such as independent research, internships, working with industry while you are in school, you will have a much better chance at finding a job that you like. One of your internships may even lead to a job after graduation, you never know!

 

[Woots32]

I don't really feel I'm qualified to answer this question, considering I chose my med school because someone told me they had the best number of bars to students ratio in the Big 10.

 

[JaYwOo55]

okay.. i've sent in my SIR... GO BEARS!!!!!!

 

[Tamomo]

Dude....I was an international business turned history turned computer science turned biomed EE turned anthropology and biochem major.

You have to study what you enjoy and love and not what will make you the bling if you don't get into med school.

FIRST...decide if you want to be a doctor or engineer. Engineering depts. don't care about GPAs or med school, they just want to produce competent engineers for industry or research. Two of my friends in undergrad were biomed EE; even though they liked the subject matter they cursed themselves for going into it. They both would rather be doctors than engineers but made the distinction too late. One had to go to the carribbean and the other had to shell out like 40K for Finches AP program only to pay 50K for 4 years there after he got accepted. Engineering programs are not conducive to high GPAs. Three years ago a student with a perfect 4.0 in EE graduated and during graduation practically every professor spoke on his behalf because he was the first person to graduate with a 4.0 since the 1930s in engineering from my school.

SECOND....study engineering ONLY if you find it interesting and would want to put in the effort to do well. Trust me the pre-med classes are "easy" compared to upper level engineering classes

THIRD....all types of people find success with degrees that some people might find useless. It just takes patience and ingenuity.

 

[JaYwOo55]

that is QUITE a story.. i think i've made up my mind and will pursue MCB and pray i get into med school.. i dont think i'm cut out to be an engineer

Originally posted by Tamomo
Dude....I was an international business turned history turned computer science turned biomed EE turned anthropology and biochem major.

You have to study what you enjoy and love and not what will make you the bling if you don't get into med school.

FIRST...decide if you want to be a doctor or engineer. Engineering depts. don't care about GPAs or med school, they just want to produce competent engineers for industry or research. Two of my friends in undergrad were biomed EE; even though they liked the subject matter they cursed themselves for going into it. They both would rather be doctors than engineers but made the distinction too late. One had to go to the carribbean and the other had to shell out like 40K for Finches AP program only to pay 50K for 4 years there after he got accepted. Engineering programs are not conducive to high GPAs. Three years ago a student with a perfect 4.0 in EE graduated and during graduation practically every professor spoke on his behalf because he was the first person to graduate with a 4.0 since the 1930s in engineering from my school.

SECOND....study engineering ONLY if you find it interesting and would want to put in the effort to do well. Trust me the pre-med classes are "easy" compared to upper level engineering classes

THIRD....all types of people find success with degrees that some people might find useless. It just takes patience and ingenuity.