Biology Junior, want to go into ME

Hello, wanted to come here because I really need some advice. So I’m currently a Junior Biology major, was originally premed but no longer interested in becoming a physician, and I have fully realized I do not want to go into wet lab research for biology. I want to do mechanical engineering and go into the product design/development field, and ideally go into robotics. This is what I should have done from the beginning but my insecurities going into college drove me away from pursuing a math-heavy field like engineering, but I now fully realize that it was the right career for me.

Anyway, over the past month or so I’ve been trying to figure out what to do, the advisors at my school have given me some decisions to dwell on but I’m still up in the air about things. Here are essentially my choices:

  • Stay an extra year in college and finish a Biomedical Engineering degree just so that I have the engineering BS to go into a mechanical engineering MS
    • Take two math courses and perhaps a few Mechanical Engineering electives, graduate with a BS in Bio then move onto a mechanical engineering MS
    • Finish up my Biology degree (have about 3 bio classes left and the rest is physics and calculus), then start another BS degree in mechanical engineering at the same school - this would be the cheapest option, as I have enough money left over from my scholarship refunds to pay for another BS easily.

As far as my credentials for grad school go. My GPA is solid and I don’t really expect it to drop as long as I don’t do anything stupid - it’s currently a 3.97. My extracurriculars are all med school focused stuff, so I have more than 100 hours of physician shadowing, I volunteer at a church (Honors college requirements), and I’m in my school’s Honors College. I do plan on trying to learn Python this Summer if I have the time. I go to an okay state school (FIU), nothing amazing though. Apart from my hobbies that’s about it.

I really just want to hear some opinions to help me narrow down what I’m going to do, I appreciate any advice anyone can give me because it feels like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place currently. I spend every moment stressed out about this decision so I really need help.

Thank you.

I think there are at least three points that are worth making.

First of all, if you don’t want to go into the medical field, then you should indeed make this change in majors. Mechanical engineering is a solid and rewarding career, and there are jobs. Medicine is something that you should only do if you really want to do it. You have a lot of life left, and you should not spend it all doing something that you don’t want to do.

Also, given your high GPA, assuming that you can get accepted to the new major at your current university, changing your major into engineering is a simple matter of time, effort, and money. If you can afford the extra time in university, then you are in good shape. To me it looks like your high GPA will help a lot.

There are a lot of courses in engineering that require prerequisites. As such it takes time to complete the engineering requirements. It sounds like you need to sit down with the right professors at your current school and figure out the best path for you to end up with a bachelor’s in engineering (whether mechanical or biomedical). If I were in your position I would figure out what it would take for a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and figure out what it would take for a degree in biomedical engineering, before deciding which to do.

Dang well unfortunately I spoke to my general advisor today and he told me that I can’t apply for a double major because I have too many credits already. If I wanted to do another bachelor’s I would have to reapply after graduation. Not really sure what I’m gonna do atm. I have another scheduled appointment with an engineering advisor next week so hopefully I can get some help there.

Unfortunately some schools set a maximum on the number of undergraduate hours you can take and many of the hours you’ve already taken won’t apply to engineering. Did you take the highest level calculus series that your school offers (most biology majors don’t)? Calculus based physics (again, most biology majors don’t)?

Unless you took the math and physics courses for engineering majors (as opposed to those for biology majors), you may need to spend extra time retaking them, which could require taking more than the usual number of credits and semesters before completing.

https://onestop.fiu.edu/classes/excess-credits/ indicates that there will be higher tuition (basically double tuition for credits beyond 110% of the number needed to graduate in your major).