<p>I'm currently in high school and I was researching Colombia University and I came across their BME program. I've searched around for opinions on taking BME for pre-med, but I'm getting mixed answers. Some saying that BME is a really hard major, some saying lots of BME majors get into medical school, and the most confusing thing, some people are saying it has plenty of biology courses and others are saying it barely has any. If I were to keep my GPA high enough, say a 3.7, would I be prepared for MCAT or medical school?</p>
<p>DON’T do BME if you are just looking to get into med school. BME is a tough program and you have to want to specifically do BME or you are going to have a miserable time here (or anywhere else). My favorite quote was from this board (sorry I cannot remember the posters name) : “Doing BME to get into med school is like climbing Mount Everest to get a breath of fresh air.” Yes, plenty of BME’s go onto Med school, and plenty do well. But you have to want it.</p>
<p>I’m not a BME so I cannot speak to the major itself but you can search around on the Hopkins website / Forums and find some info.</p>
<p>The saying: BME for PhD, Biology for MD.</p>
<p>I remember that the poster’s name was “tanman”</p>
<p>He’s full of useful info about the BME program and I think he was a student there.</p>
<p>Actually the quote: “Doing BME to get into med school is like climbing Mount Everest to get a breath of fresh air.” was mine but Tanman did like it a lot.</p>
<p>I’m a huge fan of roberthhid’s quote - I think it captures the essence of what the BME program at Hopkins (and many other schools) is like. That said, this does not mean that you should never consider BME if you’re interested in medical school. The BME program at Hopkins is an amazing program, and if you’re truly interested in BME, then you should pursue it, whether you’re pre-med, pre-grad, pre-i-banker or whatever. </p>
<p>A couple posts that I’d refer you to:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/901046-bme-pre-med.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/901046-bme-pre-med.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/1114010-jhu-biomedical-engineering-2.html#post12303576[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/1114010-jhu-biomedical-engineering-2.html#post12303576</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/1045163-what-sets-hopkins-bme-apart.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/1045163-what-sets-hopkins-bme-apart.html</a></p>
<p>Also, snowflakebernard, BME programs tend to vary a lot from school to school, far more than other engineering programs. Some schools basically send you out to each department to take their classes (Biochem with the Bio Majors, Circuits with the EE majors, Thermo with the ChemE majors) while others like Hopkins teach a lot of those classes specifically targeted to BMEs. There are arguments for both systems but I strongly prefer the latter. So as a BME major at Hopkins, you might not take any classes in the Bio department, but you’ll still get that same material with an engineering twist on it. </p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>