*I originally posted this in the Graduate Section, but I believe it was the wrong location for it. Please let me know if that was incorrect. Thank you.
Hi everyone, while working on my graduate degree I realized a passion of mine is in the field of biomedical engineering. Although I believe my biomedical side is my foundation, I do not have any engineering experience. I’m finishing up my MPH this upcoming May, but I’ll be staying in my current location until end of 2016 (while my fiancée finishes her degree). Which gives me approximately two years to build up my application. I’m fairly driven, work and academically, thus I would ideally want to apply to a few higher ranked universities. As of now I want to apply for a graduate degree in biomedical engineering, but possibly work on a Ph.D. afterwards. From everyone’s vast experience in the application process and the field I have a few questions:
- Are my GRE scores good? I took them in the beginning of 2013, so would they be good still when applying for Fall 2017 or should I retake them?
- I plan on taking undergraduate engineering courses at my state university to meet minimum qualifications. In addition to what is required, are there any in particular you would suggest looking into?
- I was originally in a BS/MD program as an undergrad, but I decided to leave after the second year. However, because I was guaranteed a seat at a medical school, I did not try as hard in a few of my courses (a few B's including in anatomy and physiology, and one C) as you can see from my undergraduate GPA below, but I did fairly well in my latter years. Will this hurt my application? If yes, any suggestions on how to improve this image as a whole?
- I work as a full time employee as a Biostatistician for the state and plan on continuing. I can reduce the number of hours I work weekly if I want to, so would you suggest picking up job related to biomedical engineering? If yes, what kind of job should I look into?
- Below is a brief overview on my academic and work experience. Is there anything you believe I am lacking?
- Do you have ANY suggestions for things I should do in the upcoming two years to improve my application?
Thank you for taking the time to read through this! I know this is a lot of questions and information, but I highly appreciate any feedback I can get! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
GRE:
Quantitative: 99th percentile (170)
Verbal: 73rd percentile (157)
Analytical Writing: 49th percentile (4.0) (clearly not my strong suite)
Undergraduate: State University
Bachelor: Science
Minor: Biochemistry and CASAT
GPA: 3.45
Graduation: 05/2013
Graduate: State University (Same as Undergraduate)
Master of Public Health (Emphasis: Epidemiology)
GPA: 4.00 (Expected)
Graduation: 05/2015 (Expected)
Work Experience (Professional only):
Wet lab research (1 year)
Biostatistician (1 year) (continuing)
Research:
Poster and Conference presentations
2 research papers (to be published in the middle of the summer)
Extracurricular Activities:
VP of Graduate organization
Many undergraduate organizations with leadership positions
Volunteer at my local church
Programming:
SAS (Statistical Analysis Software): No certification (yet)
Java (High school and self-taught)
*I can pick up programming languages fairly quickly