Best undergraduate degree to go with biomedical engineering grad degree

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Hi, I am currently a junior in college majoring in civil engineering. I want to switch my major so I can get into a ph.d program for biomedical engineering. I’ve read the three best majors to get into biomedical engineering are electrical, mechanical, and chemical. Chemical engineering sounds very interesting and I think as a biomedical engineer I would be more interested in projects involving biochemistry vs making AED’s or prosthetic limbs, but my school (Florida Atlantic University) does not offer chemical engineering as a major, so I would have to transfer to a different school where I wouldn’t know anybody, and I don’t think I would be able to get in until next spring so I don’t know what I would do until then.

Will the undergraduate degree I choose have a large effect on what type of research I am able to do in the future?
Should I look into transferring to a different school? or just go with mechanical or electrical engineering?

Thank You

2

It is true that biomedical engineering tends to be centered primarily around those three disciplines. However, you don’t necessarily need to do one of those three disciplines to get into a biomedical engineering graduate program. As long as you think your courses have prepared you well enough for courses that you would have to take as a graduate student, you will be fine.

3

Talk with some advisors at the schools you may want to attend, about requirements for the Ph.D program.

For example, FAU has a masters program in BioEng, talk with one of your advisors about that program. Also reach out to UF and USF (as two examples of in-state schools with Ph.D programs in BioEng) about their requirements. Ask which electives you need to take, etc.