Biomedical Engineering and Medical School

<p>I know it's been a while since I've posted here, but I have a few questions regarding biomedical engineering, getting accepted to the program, and medical school. </p>

<p>I plan on majoring in biomed engineering, but my worry lies in the fact not everyone is accepted into the program. At other schools I was accepted to, the major is guaranteed and there is no applying after a semester after taking a ton of weed-out courses. So my question is: is Tufts worth it for BME if there's a chance you don't get into their program?</p>

<p>Secondly, I understand that engineering majors usually have lower GPAs, which I'm wondering may look bad for applying to medical school. When you're simultaneously taking calc, chem, physics, and other engineering classes, there's no way any sane person can successfully get As in every course (there's just too many to worry about). When you apply to med school, will adcoms see you're an engineer and give leeway because of this?</p>

<p>Thanks to all who respond, happy spring!</p>

<p>buuumppp…anyone out there that can help me?</p>

<p>Where on the website does it explain how people got into the BME undergrad program? I thought you just applied to the College of Engineering and declared it like any other major?</p>

<p>They only take somewhere around 15 students out of the freshman class for the first major in BME. I think it’s relatively easy to get a 2nd major in BME (not uncommon with a first major of EE or ME or Biology).</p>

<p>I would disagree with “When you’re simultaneously taking calc, chem, physics, and other engineering classes, there’s no way any sane person can successfully get As in every course (there’s just too many to worry about)”, although I never took organic chemistry. It definitely is more difficult than being in the school of Arts and Sciences, though. I don’t know much about medical school admissions but I’d like to think they weigh the relative difficulty of each student’s degree program when considering their GPA.</p>

<p>I think they upped the number of spots for a first major in BME to 20. Also, the kids who get into BMEs are generally the sort who are smart enough to do really well anyway. Every BME-first major I know has >3.7 GPA.</p>

<p>

What do you mean by this? If you mean is it worth it to do a second major in BME? I would say no; you simply don’t get the same exposure to the program and to the six semesters of required research. But nothing is stopping you from putting together the parts of the research and coursework that interest you on your own separately from whatever MechE or EE major you decide to take.</p>

<p>

Emphasis my own.</p>

<p>Um, yeah, it’s darn near impossible to get the As that you need for med school while taking the slew of science courses - and it’s doubly tough, since if you’re good enough for BME, you would be at the top of the curve if you were taking the same course load as A&S students. </p>

<p>Yes, some medical schools will take difficulty of major into consideration, but it (IMHO) does not account for the huge disparities in GPA and ability. Talk to the pre-med adviser to get hard numbers about medical school admissions with an engineering major</p>