<p>Would it be possible to get into graduate school for Biological/Biomedical Engineering with an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry or Molecular Cell Biology? Do you HAVE to do engineering in undergrad to get into grad school engineering? Do grad engineering programs care about your undergrad major? Are you required to take certain courses in undergrad to prepare you for a grad engineering program?</p>
<p>It seems to me that students in BME grad school come from a variety of backgrounds (but obviously science/eng). I wouldn't say there are certain undergrad courses required to be accepted into BME grad school, but I think it's a smart idea to get some math/general engineering background. </p>
<p>I know someone who was a bio major and is now working toward a BME PhD, and he seems to be somewhat behind in math and mechanics. I think it's a good idea to figure out which part of BME interests you the most, and take a course or two in that area to prepare (signals, mechanics, bioinformatics, etc), along with some advanced math. While it's possible to take some of these courses in grad school, it'll slow you down, and I think the preparation will definitely help your chances at admission... partly to show interest, and partly to show you can continue your education at the graduate level, without having to go back and take courses with the undergrads.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, laurezer.</p>
<p>It's a lot easier to go from Engineering undergrad to Biological Engineering grad than to start with a biology/biochem background. The main reason is that biology/biochem covers very little of the required math and physics.</p>
<p>You can definately do BME/BE with a more bio heavy background, but you will suffer in the first year (just like a chemistry major who does chemE for graduate school). </p>
<p>If you are considering BME/BE, I would recommend you at least take a course in ODE/PDE (after taking a course in linear algebra and another in multivariable calculus) and one in thermodynamics (take a course required for chemistry or chemE majors, NOT "thermo for biologists"). If you want to do biological engineering (esp. biomaterials, tissue engineering, drug delivery, etc) and your school offers a lower division "intro to materials science" course, that would be useful, as would a class in mass transport.</p>
<p>While these classes would be very useful, you could also do research in that area (a lot of molecular biology folks do programming work in computational biology labs).</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info...I'll keep it in mind. Anyone else with any input?</p>
<p>Try to take a differential equations class...if you have had Calc I, you should be able to pick it up pretty fast.</p>
<p>Besides that, if you have an introductory bioengineering course or something at your school, you might want to think about taking it.</p>
<p>JHU only requires general bio I and II, orgo I, and differential equations for their program.</p>