What's more beneficial? Biomedical or Chemical Engineering?

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Sutter

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Hi all,

My name is Sutter and I am currently a Medical School applicant. I am also soon to be married, and thus, have switched my mentality as of late to one that is more practical. Medical school is my main ambition, and I hope to be accepted somewhere this cycle, however, if that doesn't work out, I need to have some sort of gainful employment until I do get accepted.

I worked in finance for a year, and while it was a great job and a wonderful company, the hours are just absolutely ridiculous. There would be weeks at a time when I wouldn't get home until 12, and sometimes our team would be busy making a presentation and we'd go till 4 AM, shower in the company gym, and rush back upstairs to deliver it. While that wasn't more than maybe 2 times a month, the rigor and pace of the business just gets to you. And, I find the industry to be a bit too self-serving for my personal philosophy of life.

I thought for a while about getting an MBA, and joining a Boutique bank, but that would probably just solidify me in an industry I don't want to be in. So I quit my job, and made a clean break! I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to Columbia to study for a one-year Master's in Engineering Program.

As an undergraduate Biology major with a post-bacc in Applied Mathematics, I thought Biomedical Engineering might be the only option available to me. However, after pitching my research proposal, my advisor informed me that I can choose to pursue an MS in Biomedical, Chemical, or Environmental Engineering.


I have to think of the "What if I don't get accepted this year...or 3 years in a row" because I will very soon have a family to think about. So I was wondering what type of engineering would be the best route to go? I'm sure there are some undergrad majors in all three, and I'm just not too familiar with the job market vs salary vs quality of life. I have heard that most engineering jobs are 9-5, which I would think is fair based on the compensation received.


Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Fingers crossed I get accepted this year and don't even have to worry about my engineering degree :)

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Congrats on your scholarship! I think both ChemE and BME are great choicest - I, personally, am finishing up my undergrad in BME but have a lot of friends in ChemE who have loved it.

I would say that part of it depends on the caliber of research professors you could work with on either side - the kind of research you do and who you do it with can help with a leg up later on in industry.

As far as the industry side, I think ChemE has more job options - there are very few positions that a BME can do that a ChemE can't. So, unless you're set on working for a biomedically related company, I would say ChemE. The pay is fairly comparable for both, in my experience.
 
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Congrats on your scholarship! I think both ChemE and BME are great choicest - I, personally, am finishing up my undergrad in BME but have a lot of friends in ChemE who have loved it.

I would say that part of it depends on the caliber of research professors you could work with on either side - the kind of research you do and who you do it with can help with a leg up later on in industry.

As far as the industry side, I think ChemE has more job options - there are very few positions that a BME can do that a ChemE can't. So, unless you're set on working for a biomedically related company, I would say ChemE. The pay is fairly comparable for both, in my experience.

Thanks for this, it was really helpful. I didn't think of the overlap between the two, but now it does kind of seem apparent that one has a slight advantage over the other.

This is embarrassing but I hadn't even heard of environmental engineering prior to being presented with the idea.

"Best" with respect to what?

Basically, options for employment post-grad. I can't bank on an MD acceptance this cycle, so I want to have a good chance of landing gainful employment for however many years are between me and med school.
 
Most engineering grads I know with decent grades hardly have trouble with job offers. It's one of the reasons I chose engineering - many places pay 80k+ starting for undergrads, and I'm sure a masters would put a bump in that.

Environmental Engineering is definitely an option, but from my understanding, many of the jobs there involve government contracts/working for municipalities or the govt. I believe that you need your FE and then PE to do those, but I might be incorrect. I know most Environmental Es and Civil Es take the FE upon graduation for that reason.
 
Hi all,

My name is Sutter and I am currently a Medical School applicant. I am also soon to be married, and thus, have switched my mentality as of late to one that is more practical. Medical school is my main ambition, and I hope to be accepted somewhere this cycle, however, if that doesn't work out, I need to have some sort of gainful employment until I do get accepted.

I worked in finance for a year, and while it was a great job and a wonderful company, the hours are just absolutely ridiculous. There would be weeks at a time when I wouldn't get home until 12, and sometimes our team would be busy making a presentation and we'd go till 4 AM, shower in the company gym, and rush back upstairs to deliver it. While that wasn't more than maybe 2 times a month, the rigor and pace of the business just gets to you. And, I find the industry to be a bit too self-serving for my personal philosophy of life.

I thought for a while about getting an MBA, and joining a Boutique bank, but that would probably just solidify me in an industry I don't want to be in. So I quit my job, and made a clean break! I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to Columbia to study for a one-year Master's in Engineering Program.

As an undergraduate Biology major with a post-bacc in Applied Mathematics, I thought Biomedical Engineering might be the only option available to me. However, after pitching my research proposal, my advisor informed me that I can choose to pursue an MS in Biomedical, Chemical, or Environmental Engineering.


I have to think of the "What if I don't get accepted this year...or 3 years in a row" because I will very soon have a family to think about. So I was wondering what type of engineering would be the best route to go? I'm sure there are some undergrad majors in all three, and I'm just not too familiar with the job market vs salary vs quality of life. I have heard that most engineering jobs are 9-5, which I would think is fair based on the compensation received.


Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Fingers crossed I get accepted this year and don't even have to worry about my engineering degree :)
I'd say chemical engineering.

Disclaimer: I'm a chemical engineering major, and I spend all of my time listening to my professors tell us about all of the different fields the last graduating class went into. Our faculty is really big on telling us that there are tons of fields that look to hire chemical engineers, and chemical engineers have a very easy time getting jobs. Thus, my opinion is probably biased.
 
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ChemE has a more diverse array of jobs, while BME is slightly more limited to careers relating to medicine or applications of materials for the body.
 
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