BME.. not a good choice for major?? Help please!

Hello. I got accepted to WPI (yay) and put down BME as the major I wanted. But recently I read so many posts about how BME isn’t what you think it is and how there aren’t many jobs available for BME majors…

The posts I read suggested majoring in ME or CE… and I’m not sure whether I have enough passion in ME and CE as much as in BME. The reason why I chose BME is because of my love for biology… and how it integrates the “mechanics part”, for example, the prosthetics.

I’m aware that I can major in ME and take BME as a minor and still choose a job that requires biomedical engineers but I just never thought I would major in ME and am quite intimidated by the thought. lol

Another thing is… I don’t really want to be in a business that makes the machines. I want to be a researcher…in a lab… with a white lab coat and goggles!

AHH I’m just really in a dilemma… could someone please help

@snowfairy137 is an engineering major going to WPI. Might know what’s best

From one BME to another, stay in the major that you are in. And if you want to be in research, understand that this means getting your PHD, and staying in school until you are thirty (maybe late 20s at best).

Don’t be scared away by an article. Pursue your passion!

Start college, then see how it goes.

@ConcernedRabbit Yeah you’re right… I should pursue my passion.

Oh, yes, I’m aware of that but I could still get a job while studying for PHD, right?

@mudbloodforlife
Take a look at the actual WPI salary and placement record at https://www.wpi.edu/student-experience/career-development/majors/career-outlook/biomedical-engineering

Look at this earlier discussion on engineering prospects at http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21079475#Comment_21079475

View the Bureau of Labor Statistics data at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/employment-outlook-for-engineering-occupations-to-2024.htm discussion on engineering and note the small BME dot all by itself way to the right. It is off by itself because it is projected to have the highest growth rate in the engineering world by a very wide margin (23.1%). The BME dot is small because it is estimated that they will not require a large number of majors (only 27,200), but that is a dramatic growth for a small field.

As new fields of engineering develop, they split off from the more established departments. Physics gave birth to EE, and EE had to fight for it. The first EE building built in the US is also at WPI. ME is responsible for a lot of the development in BM, but so are ChE, EE and the life sciences. As the field continues to develop, the interdisciplinary nature of BME becomes more complex and apparent. Sometimes the parents don’t like to see the children leave home. They don’t like the loss of control of their offspring and they don’t like the competition for resources within the institution. A lot of this is academic politics. This is another step in the ongoing evolution of engineering.

No one says you MUST be a BME. As far as I know, you are not wedded to your major in the first year unless you stop taking math and science, but planning your program (with an advisor) is also part of your job. You will learn better if you know how studying the selected material relates to the solution of real problems.

Hope this helps. Don’t panic!

:bz

Does WPI offer a mechanical engineering BS with a specialization in BME? Many many years ago I was in your situation and was forced to obtain a BSEE with specialization in BME. Many of my upper level EE courses were biomedical instrumentation classes and not straight EE courses, which I appreciated. The good thing was the my degree said “Electrical Engineering” and I was able to get hired at a medical device company that typically did not hire BMEs. I guess, what I’m asking, is have you looked at the actual course catalog for ME if there is a specialization option? Maybe seeing all of the courses wouldn’t be so intimidating?

Btw, it often seems many kids don’t know what BME is. They think they’ll invent the next advanced prosthetic device or something else that changes the world’s quality of life. But you’re part of a team, you could end up doing work that’s only a part of the end goal product.

Start on this path, if it’s meaningful. It’s not about some hs senior notion of “passion,” locking yourself in. It will pay to go with an idea and an open mind.

@lookingforward Hmm… just curious…why would being a part of a team or working on a part of an end goal product not be changing the world’s quality of life?

And could you please elaborate on what “some hs senior notion of ‘passion’” is?

@retiredfarmer wow, I was panicking a bit but thank you for all this helpful information!

@azmomof3 http://wpi.wikia.com/wiki/Chemical_Engineering

"Undergraduates can obtain a degree in Chemical Engineering. There are several concentrations in specialized areas available through coursework:
-Biochemical
-Biomedical
-Environmental
-Materials "

So yeah, I guess I could with CE, which I prefer more than ME…

@mudbloodforlife
Good job! You are on to it! You are now involved in developing your ideas on where you are going!
:bz

Just a note- CE is short for civil engineering. ChemE is chemical engineering. I was confused at your early posts where you referenced going into CE as an alternative to BME.

Not sure if electrical might be more interesting to you than ChemE but it looks like WPI offers some health/medical engineering content as well through their BSEE program. They even mention controlling prosthetic limbs on this page: https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/electrical-computer-engineering-bs I think, like others mentioned, just get started and see where your interests take you. If I were doing this again I would look CompSci with BME/biomedical.

@me29034 oh lol thanks for the note

@azmomof3 I guess I feel distant from EE since I never ever thought I would major in something like that but I should probably be more open to different options. Thanks for the link.