Best non-cheme major for drug design/chemical (pharmaceutical focus) engineering

College Majors Science Majors
1

Hello,

I am a sophomore pre-med student at Cornell. Initially, I was on a bioengineering track, but what I realized along the way was that I was more interested in developing and designing drugs than making devices and artificial organs. Also, I loved Orgo I and got out with an A+. I started to doubt that bioengineering was was right in light of my interest in making pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals, which would be my backup if I don’t go to med school or something that I would research as a physician-scientist. Thus, after college, if I don’t go to med school, I would probably like to get a masters in Chemical engineering to combine my love for chemistry with an engineering mindset so I have both as tools under my belt and widen my career options, which I don’t see as a problem because ChemE’s also do a lot of applied chem and biochem research, at least at cornell. what would be the best major to allow me to have the knowledge to rationally design drugs and biopharmaceuticals and potentially get a masters in cheme? It’s too late for me to major in cheme, but would chemistry, biochem or bioengineering be best as alternatives? sorry for the rant and potentially disorganized thoughts, but any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated!!! :slight_smile:

2

For medical school, biochemistry is definitely your best bet.

3

would that still allow me to do drug discovery in the future and potentially get a cheme masters?

4

Wait, are you currently in bioengineering? If so, why would it be too late for you to do chemical engineering, if you’re only a sophomore?

Along those lines, there are two things to keep in mind: 1) chemical engineering is more engineering than chemistry, and 2) chemical engineering careers tend to be focused on areas such as process development and manufacturing, not drug design or drug discovery. If you want to be involved in drug design and/or drug discovery, a major like biochemistry or pharmacy would be more suitable. Moreover, engineering majors tend to end up with a lower GPA, which will hurt your chances come time for medical school applications.

If you want to keep the option of a ChemE Master’s degree open, major in engineering–preferably chemical engineering (obviously), but any engineering discipline is better than a non-engineering discipline.