Applying to Biomedical Engineering M.S. Programs with no Life Science Experience...

Graduate School
1

Hi all,

I’ll be applying to Biomedical Engineering M.S. programs soon, but I’m a little worried that my lack of life science (biology, organic chemistry, etc.) experience will keep me from getting accepted to the schools that I want to go to. I graduated as a mechanical engineer, so I have the engineering aspect of BME down.

I’m applying to:
Dartmouth College
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (my #1 choice)
Northeastern University
Tufts University
UConn
Purdue
University of New Haven (its a new bme program, has a really high acceptance rate)
University of Alabama at Birmingham (local school)

Will not having any life science experience significantly reduce my chances of getting in to WPI or the other schools? Or would it be no big deal for me to just take the required courses when I get admitted?

Thanks!

2

That likely depends on what sort of subfield in BME interests you. If you are looking to do something like medical devices, it shouldn’t be an issue. If you want to do something with much more of a bio flavor to it, then they may want you to do some make-up courses.

3

Yeah, medical devices would be my first choice, and biomechanics my second. To be honest, I’d rather not take any courses now since I’m trying to save for grad school, prepare my applications, and find an unpaid research position (which is actually harder than I thought lol).