<p>I'm planning to apply to med school. What would be the best field of eng to do my BSc in?</p>
<p>Biomedical engineering is closely related to medicine.</p>
<p>Well, I can tell you what everyone's going to say right now... The one where you can get the highest GPA!!</p>
<p>You'll hear a lot of discouragement from a lot of people about doing an engineering bachelors as a pre-med degree since it's rough to get a high GPA, and it might put you at a disadvantage in terms of med school applications.</p>
<p>I'd evaluate why you're considering engineering for your undergraduate degree. Is it because you like engineering? Do you really enjoy scientific problem-solving, and are you in all the engineering and science clubs at your school? Or, if not for that reason, are you looking for a major that will look good for med school apps? If you're considering engineering for the second reason, there are probably better ways to shine on your med school apps.</p>
<p>If you really do like engineering, though, there are lots of routes you can go. The obvious ones would be biomedical or bioengineering, since they take you through the biology-related med school prerequisites, but my dad, currently a radiologist, swears by his mechanical engineering bachelors degree, saying it gave him a great understanding of physiology and force/stress interactions and technological applications to medicine. Still, medicine wasn't in the plans when he first applied to college... he was planning on being an aerospace engineer, and I don't think he'd have chosen mechanical engineering if he'd been determined to become a doctor from the get-go.</p>
<p>Why do you feel that engineering's the way to go, out of curiosity?</p>
<p>i've been told engineering is the way to go for me because of my grades in calc and physics. i just figured, as my teachers did that engineering is the way for me...</p>
<p>Wow, mechE to radiology...that's pretty interesting! Do med schools care what you major in?</p>
<p>Chemical engineering or bioengineering provide the advantage that courses required for med school are generally part of the required courses for those majors. You will find that for any engineering major you will have so many required courses or sets of courses that it is difficult to take many electives. Something like organic chemistry, required for med school, is generally required for chemical or bioengineering (but not other engineering programs) and thus you will not be trying to find a place in your schedule where you can fit organic chem as an elective.</p>
<p>So many high school students are told to go into engineering because of good science and math grades without much thought toward whether they would like it or not. Too many times I've met dropouts that had teachers that told them to "go into engineering" don't listen to them. Trust your own instinct. And btw if you start doing bad. Don't wait for it to get better. It won't. I've also seen too many stay in too long.</p>
<p>Ditto to what IJBE said...</p>
<p>(By the by, it's not such a huge leap from mechanical or structural engineering to radiology... It's just non-destructive testing of people, instead of engine components or beam-column connections. ;) )</p>
<p>just do bio-medical and the GPA isn't too bad</p>
<p>Biomedical is considered, at many schools, the toughest of the engineering tracks. It's premed plus all of the core eng. classes. D (fresh) has already had half of her class who indicated a pref. for biomed drop the track. 2 of her close friends are premed and they are dropping the biomed. track. Medical school acceptance is all about GPA. They won't care if you took the toughest undergrad courses. </p>
<p>On the other hand - as a BME you have a better chance at having a life outside of your career. You'll be able to work on medically related projects (prosthetic, cardiac, genetic, etc.) on a daily basis and go home at night to your family! A dedicated physician doesn't always have that freedom.</p>
<p>that's true. also consider chemical engineering since you will get a LOT of the premed requirements already out of the way by sophomore year. orgo, intro chem, cal, physics, bio-biochem, etc.</p>
<p>but chemE is also one of the hardest and many of the pre-meds in my class are no longer pre-meds. the physics is also harder. the chemistry is also usually harder. The premeds in my accelerated chem courses are also having a lot of trouble. They think the acc classes are helping them for the MCATs but really they're just hurting their GPAs. A few smart ones can handle it but chances are good that it isn't for you.</p>