<p>Okay, so I'm a student at Lehigh University (sophomore), and I'm having a terribly tough time choosing my major. I've always enjoyed and held a slight edge in math and science, I guess because I like learning how things work and using logic to solve puzzles. On the flip side, I have always enjoyed other courses as well, given that a liberal arts curriculum is what you're forced to take throughout grade school. (Well, I hate english... but I don't mind Economics and Social Studies so much... but frankly I can't see what I'd do with a major in any of these... perhaps a minor in social psychology would be interesting, though)....</p>
<p>ANYWAYS... I believe I'm stuck deciding b/w the three majors in the thread title. I ruled out other ones, such as ChemE, pharm chem, etc... because frankly I haven't been enjoying chemistry itself too much. So I think these life science-y majors are where I'd like to focus. That said, I don't necessarily know what I'd like to do in the future... I definitely want to pursue more education, either grad school or medical school. </p>
<p>Based on this information... any thoughts/advice? Plus, if you need more info or have any questions please ask so I can get the best advice possible.</p>
<p>Thanks so much =]</p>
<p>Calctalc,</p>
<p>First and foremost here come my medical school/engineering speech–Medical school admission is primarily based off of your GPA and then your MCAT score. With that said, pursuing an engineering degree and being pre-med will be difficult, not because the premed courses are hard (they’ll be a cinch compared to your engineering courses) but because it’ll be very difficult to maintain a competitive GPA for medical school. Keep in mind that you’ll be competing against many near perfect 4.0 Biology or liberal arts majors–while your engineering credentials will be unique and will help in your application, there is very little leeway in your GPA. This isn’t really meant to scare you but just to let you know what you are up against. </p>
<p>So lets get back to business. If you major in Biochemistry or Molecular Biology, chances are you’ll need to pursue higher education (PhD or MD) for any real chance at a career in said field. BME on the other hand can provide job opportunities at BS and MS level. In terms of difficulty, I’ll say that BME is harder just due to the engineering aspect. </p>
<p>Anyway here are some questions I want you to answer</p>
<ol>
<li>What career paths are you interested in PhD? DO? MD? DVM? MD/PhD?</li>
<li>How do you like lab (bench) work and research?</li>
<li>Would you be interested in a interdisciplinary field (like Biostatistics or Public Health)?</li>
<li>It seems you like biology but not chemistry–the two fields are interrelated. Why biology and are there any other subjects you enjoy?</li>
</ol>
<p>I understand Engineers have a harder time upholding a strong GPA, however isn’t that a known fact and wouldn’t that be recognized by medical school admission staffs that an engineer with a decent GPA is on par to a liberal arts major with a near perfect GPA? Currently as a sophomore engineer I do have a 3.8 GPA, which as far as I can tell is decent compared to my engineer friends.</p>
<p>Anyways, thank for looking so much into this… and here’s some answers for you…</p>
<p>1) Not so much PhD, because I feel that if you have a PhD you go into teaching it seems. That’s a bold assumption, so please disprove me if that’s the case. A masters of some sort would be nice… or an MD obviously if med school is my route.</p>
<p>2) Lab work and research sounds quite nice honestly, given that I like math/science/puzzles… and I don’t necessarily want to have a “static” job at a computer. I like the hands on and dynamic appeal of lab work. </p>
<p>3) Perhaps, but I’d need to learn more about those fields to make a decision.</p>
<p>4) I enjoy most subjects that I take, since I love to learn. And I prefer biology more because I feel it’s like chemistry on a larger scale (physically), and it describes how humans operate. By the scale thing I mean that chemistry… I don’t care so much about reaction rates and electron transfer, I think it’s more interesting to learn how macromolecules function within the body.</p>
<p>biochem is a whole lot of chem. {ChemE has less chem that that} BioE programs at a lot of schools are very ChemEish too. You will at least need OChem for any of the degrees you’d pursue.</p>
<p>Calctalc,</p>
<p>Keep up the GPA! Your junior/senior years will be particularly brutal and you want AT LEAST a 3.6 to be competitive for medical schools. The honest truth is that medical adcoms won’t really give you a lot of lee-way since you are in a harder major–they have plenty of other 4.0s in other fields to choose from. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>PhD don’t need to be teachers and instead are trained as researchers first. Even as a professor you’ll have some class duties but your main time will be spent on writing your R01s, grants and managing a lab. Though an obvious caveat is that tenure-track is very competitive and brutal, probably even more so than medical school admissions.</p></li>
<li><p>There isn’t much job opportunities for MS in Bio or biochem, in fact I bet the vast majority of schools only have the PhD option. You really need to get involved in research right now and see if it suits you. </p></li>
<li><p>You’ll see a whole lot of chemistry in your biochem classes.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Bump.</p>
<p>Btw I’ve been thinking more and leaning now towards BioE or BioChem… and decided that one day I’d like either a M.S. or M.D.</p>
<p>BioE is probably your best bet–you’ll have both the MD or MS as an option that way.</p>
<p>BioE is fine, but many BioE programs require PChem, {at my school, AChem is also required} Just understand that MS/MD in a biological science are very chem-heavy. If you do not enjoy chemistry, you will have trouble moving forward.</p>
<p>Yeah either way you’ll have to deal with some heavy chemistry and biology. I’m more inclined for the BME major because I think that the biochem degree won’t be fruitful without going the full PhD or MD/DDS/DVM path (assuming you want to stay in the industry).</p>