I do some college advising, and I thought this might be an interesting topic. When I went to JHU (which I strongly would not recommend for premed), maybe 5% of the premeds were BME, and it seemed like all the BME students were premed. I knew one guy who was worried about getting in and said U Maryland med school who take you with a 3.2 in BME from JHU. Another seemed to be doing really well and went to Yale Medical School. I heard later someone said you needed a 3.75 in BME from Wright State to “get in”.
It seems like you need a lower GPA with BME, but maybe med schools don’t adjust enough. The math, physics, and engineering required classes are typically graded at about a .2.5 average, and the work load is difficult. It might be good if you are good at math and physics, and it might be more straight forward, and have a better premed atmosphere than other majors. Also, some people may be able to “get in” easily or be OK with dental school or whatever.
Many high school student on CC say they want to be BME and premed. Is this a good option? Is it easier or harder to “get in” with this major if you are good at math and engineering?
The average GPA for an admitted medical student last year–3.7
You should also buy access to MSAR–which has detailed data on the stats of admitted students at every US allopathic medical school.
A 3.2 would put an individual below the 10th percentile for GPA of admitted students at UMD SOM. For this person to gain an acceptance there would have be a whole lot of compensating/mitigating factors involved. Remember that med school admission is holistic and always involves looking at the big picture both about the individual and the incoming class balance.
Some general observations--
1) Adcomms do not care what your undergrad major is so long as
a) it's not vocational
b) you've completed all med school pre-reqs
2) "Hard" majors like engineering, physics, mathematics do NOT get any special leeway w/r/t GPA for med school admission
3) A much higher than average MCAT score does not compensate for a lower than average GPA.
[quote]
Is it easier or harder to "get in" with this major if you are good at math and engineering?
[/quote]
Engineering majors are neither favored or disfavored in med school admissions.
The GPA expectations hold for everyone without much consideration for their major. A few med schools may allow slightly more leeways in GPAs from "hard" majors from a few specific colleges that the adcomm is familiar with--but this is very idiosyncratic and not something that can be counted on.
[quote]
They want to be BME and premed. Is this a good option?
[/quote]
It can be for the right student. BME has significant overlap with required pre-med classes. BME also provides an excellent Plan B career should the student not gain an acceptance to med school. And every year 60% or more of med school applicants are rejected from every single medical school they apply to. Every pre-med needs to have a Plan B.
FWIW, I know of a number of engineering (math,physics,computer science) grads who went to medical school, including both my daughters. All of them had GPAs as high or, in most cases, higher than their non-science major classmates.
I was just asking. The 3.2 GPA from Hopkins in BME was a long long time ago. Grades are probably different now. Also, a 3.5 GPA in regular premed at Hopkins is often good enough now, according to what I have seen on CC.
Note that JHU’s grads matriculate into a variety of medical schools, including state public med school which have a substantial in-basis and osteopathic medical schools which often to have lower GPA/MCATs than allopathic schools.
Also note that 15+% of JHU’s matriculating pre-med represent UiM (under-represented in medicine) applicants. UiM applicants are often admitted to medical school with lower stats than other groups.
I do have a relative who attended JHU as undergrad with a not-so-good (3.2?) GPA, went thru a SMP then got into UMD med school (in-state) and now is a resident. She said JHU pre-health office told her that med school Adcoms understand difficulty in JHU course/grading (this is also proved true when I heard that directly from GTown adcom), a 3.2 GPA from JHU combined with a high performance in SMP will get her into a med school. Of course, that’s more than 5 years ago when she applied, maybe the bar is higher now.
In general, rigorous/strict engineering curriculum is NOT a good choice for pre-med because it leaves very little room for mistake/retake. Choose the most flexible major and the one you enjoy is the key. Remember your end goal is to get into any med school, doesn’t matter how you get there or what major is.
I was there 35 years ago, and I was told then that UMD would generally would take someone with a 3.2 in BME in state. I wasn’t making anything up. I was just asking not saying a 3.2 would get you in now. However, I would not recommend Hopkins or BME for premed.
When I was there, most of the premeds fathers were doctors and were buying them in. There weren’t that many URMs or people from backward states or rural areas for easy instate. I agree that if you are unhooked, you can’t assume that it is so easy to get in from top 50 schools as the admission percentages they publish imply.
As Andorvw indicated, the school is generally very intense and hard grading. They had just eliminated the honor code because most of the premeds had been openly cheating in groups. Most of the premeds forged their advisers schedules, as the advisers weren’t interested and they got informal advice on what classes were easier. That’s just a little bit of it, but I don’t know what premed was like as similar level schools, and Hopkins is probably different now. However, I would not recommend it for premed, as it is too tough, and has a bad premed environment.
We see many here as well. My feeling is that students are so paranoid about the competitiveness of med school admissions that they’re choosing majors that they think will impress adcoms. BiomedE sounds like “impressive” to a high school or young college student. It sounds like they’re finding cures for cancer.
What really happens is that many in eng’g disciplines ends up with GPAs that are too low for med school. We haven’t seen situations where JHU engineering majors are given a pass for a lower GPA
“When I was there, most of the premeds father’s were doctors and were buying them in. There weren’t that many URMs or people from backward states or rural areas for easy instate.”
I may be misunderstanding your post. Please clarify. Are you saying that now there are URMs, people from backward states and rural areas that get into easy instate schools now, as opposed to in the past?
You’ve got to go with current info, when advising current hopefuls. And not what random CC-ers (kids) report. Nor anecdote. The right advice is right.
And so many BME wannabes cite wanting to invent the next great prosthetic limbs. They could benefit from understanding the role of an engineer, the vast sorts of projects they work on. Not gaming for a med school admit, when they;re still in hs.
~BME grad from JHU~ The new minimum they advise BMEs for med school admission is at least a 3.4, and that’s just any med school not the top ones. A minimum of a 3.4 in engineering sounds really difficult but most of the BME classes are curved to an A-/B+ unlike the generation before which were curved to C+/B- because there was too much pressure from alumni struggling to get into grad school with lower GPAs. BMEs don’t get a pass with lower GPAs, it’s just they tend to have applications that shine in holistic review because of higher MCAT scores and insane extracurriculars. At the end of the day I don’t think BME is as bad as you folks make it out to be. Only the people who had trouble with it are going to seek confirmation online from others.
I would like to emphasize the options available under the “plan B” with a BME approach. I had a graduate student roommate who did not get into a med school with his BS premed/physics major from a very respected LA college. He pursued an MS degree in ME and was accepted at all three med schools he applied to upon graduation with his MS in BE. I would also suggest that today’s developments in medical equipment technology put you at possible educational advantage in this area because of your technical exposure.
JHU’s reputation in BME is, arguably, at the top of the list, but you still need to allow for a comfortable fit when choosing a premed approach. :bz
I was wondering, because so many kids on CC say they want to do BME for premed.
I didn’t mean to imply that a 3.2 would get you in now. I would make sense that you needed a 3.2 in BME from JHU way back when, but you need a 3.4 now. My understanding is that a 3.5 in other premed majors generally gets you in from JHU now, which is reasonable considering the intensity of the school.
For BME, even if BME classes are graded higher than before, you need to take a lot of introductory math, physics, general engineering, and engineering classes in other departments that may be graded at about a 2.5 average.
When I went to Hopkins, there were not that many URMs or students who could get easy instate admission. I would assume that was typical or similar level schools, and hasn’t changed too much.
Most of the premeds at JHU then had fathers who were doctors and were probably bought in and would be bought into medical school if necessary. Some of the top LACs show extremely high med school admission rates, but that may partly be because their parents are doctors and/or they have money and/or connections.
Tit for tat donations for med school admission are flat out illegal and have been since the 80s. Med schools will lose their accreditation over stuff like that. As recently as 2008 a Dean got sacked over admitting the son of politically connected friend. (The admission was revoked once the LCME got involved.)
All big donations to the charitable organization associated with any med school must be accompanied by a letter from a lawyer and an accounting firm attesting this is a “no strings” gift. And the LCME inspects the books of all med schools periodically to keep everyone honest.
Btw, the going price for a med school courtesy interview is in the $10M range.