<p>Hey,</p>
<p>can anyone give me any suggestions or opinions on majoring as bioengineering? I'm thinking about going for pre-med, but if I don't make it, I'll get an MB as a back-up plan. Does it sound realistic?</p>
<p>Also, how hard/easy is it to get a job with a bioengineering degree? bioeng + MB?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>The BME prospects question has been asked many times but here is my best summary.</p>
<p>BME is a great major if you want to go into medicine but it might be difficult to find a job with just a UG major, a masters or PhD might be necessary. Of course this all varies from region, program and the student. </p>
<p>
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I'll get an MB as a back-up plan.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Do you mean MBA?
Keep in mind that you need to work a few years if you want to get into a top program (which you do). With an MBA you can essentially get any business/finance related job regardless of your previous major (career switch) or could position yourself to be a manager at a biotech or some medical instruments firm.</p>
<p>oops yeah MBA :P</p>
<p>hm, so let's say I want a major that could either lead me to a managerial position in a biotech company or work as pre-med.</p>
<p>would biology or BME be recommended?</p>
<p>Engineering, specifically BME, is wonderful training for the MCAT and medical school but will be pretty hard on your GPA, the foundation of any Medical School admissions. </p>
<p>Ideally, I'd say go with BME but keep in mind the rigor.</p>
<p>you can try BME at Johns Hopkins? They're #1, so assuming you work hard and try your best to maintain a decent GPA, perhaps even a "lower" GPA [3.6ish range] will be overlooked by the rigor+prestige?</p>
<p>just a thought...</p>
<p>Good Luck man!</p>
<p>Would you recommend doing BME if you don't want to go to medical school?</p>
<p>If going to med-school is a "maybe" and you just want to feel that the path is available for you if you need it, then go with engineering. Otherwise, don't do it... your GPA WILL suffer, or even at the best, it will be worse than what it would be if you did something else. And to get into med-school you need all the GPA you can get... so common sense rules it out.</p>
<p>In general, don't do engineering if you're sure you won't be happy as an engineer. You can move into other fields, thats true... but people with degrees in engineering normally work as engineers, and thats what you should expect.</p>
<p>And thats kind of what makes an engineering degree so good... because in the worst case scenario you'll end up as an engineer. lol, that sounds horrible, but its not so bad because being an engineer is not a bad deal at all... YMMV</p>
<p>I think the best thing for you to do is decide what you are really interested in. Find something that you are passionate about and pick your major accordingly. At least with medical school, your undergraduate major does not matter as long as you have all the necessary prerequisite classes. Therefore, it is only logical to major in something that interests you because, naturally, you will achieve better grades in classes you find interesting as opposed to classes that you have no care for. For medical school and every other graduate school, your GPA is one of the most important factors of your application, so it is definitely important to do well in your classes.</p>
<p>Start trying to read and gain some experience about the medical and business fields. Both require immense time commitments and sacrifices, so simply having the desire to go to medical or business school is not enough. You must be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to succeed in these fields, and this requires a genuine interest and, as some would argue, love for the field. You will be miserable doing something that you do not like, but unlike the above example with your classes, this decision will be much harder to undo in the future. You can (almost) always switch your major, but it is substantially more difficult to switch your career.</p>
<p>I am currently studying BME. I, like yourself, saw myself doing all kinds of things: medicine, law, business, working as an engineer...you name it, I've pictured myself doing it. What I've realized is that experience is the key to figuring out your true calling. This experience can be from something as simple as reading an article, but it really requires knowing yourself and your interests. The one thing that you absolutely know, unequivocally, that you can spend the rest of your life doing is that which you should devote your time and resources to pursuing.</p>
<p>I've decided that I would like to get my master's degree in BME, pursue research in neuroengineering and possible attend medical school later on. The decision was easy once I considered all my options. It was realizing ALL of the options that was the initial problem. Something as specialized and novel as neuroengineering is not something your guidance counselor will likely inform you about; you must take the initiative to find what's out there and make the decision for yourself. Some people may find this trivial and may not give it the attention it requires, but I truly believe it is one of the most important decisions you will ever make.</p>