Should I switch from BME to Biology?

[Georges10]

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So I am an incoming freshman to UT Austin and I am sure I want to go to medical school. I was accepted in BME but I have heard students there now say that it is the hardest major to get a high gpa in and that it is hard to find room in the major schedule to fit in premed prereqs. Though Bio is not easy at UT by any measure, I would say that relatively it is more manageable than BME. I would spend more time on extracurriculars as well. Is my logic valid or am I missing something?

 

[med03]

People will tell you their opinion on any decision, but at the end of the day it really just comes down to what you’re interested in and what you believe will prepare you best for medicine/life. If you’re interested in Bio then go for it!

I have friends who were premed 3.8 engineering students and I have friends who were “premed” 3.0 bio students. At the end of the day it’s all about work ethic, what you prioritize, and what actually interests you!

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

You haven’t even started college yet...yes engineering can be difficult to keep up a good gpa but we don’t know your strengths and weaknesses, you could really excel in BME but struggle with the Bio classes.
Freshmen should be using their first year to figure out what they really want to do in college.

 

[vy2005]

It’s a tough call. It may not be popular here but I have seen bio and BME at UT Austin and in general bio GPA’s are higher. That said, if you decide to go another route a BME degree will probably serve you better than a biology one.

 

[dr derp]

As a BME premed, though at a different large state school, I probably wouldn't have done it again and gone for a major like Neuroscience but only because I'm pretty confident that I want to practice medicine now unlike as a freshman. It was a lot of extra time and effort in engineering classes that didn't end up being necessary since I've been fortunate enough to make it in. That said, I did still find the curriculum really interesting so maybe that and the fact that I figured I might be able to get a job if I didn't want to do medicine probably motivated me too. If you find another major that you're interested in that allows the premed prereqs to fit in decently, then I say go for it. But if BME is the only one that fits that and you think you'd be miserable studying anything else, of course go with the BME. In the end, it's not the end of the world if you do have to switch later on either.

 

[glassesvar]

If you're 100% sure you want to go to med school bio would be easier to get a higher GPA in (which is important). But people change their minds a lot. It's better to have a degree like engineering in that situation than something like bio where you won't be able to get job.