<p>If I want to be pre-med and double major in biomedical engineering and English, firstly is this possible, and if so, would I apply to Trinity or Pratt?</p>
<p>Yes, it should be possible.</p>
<p>You have to apply to Pratt, any double major involving engineering has to have the engineering one as the primary major.</p>
<p>First yes you can double major. Second: you have to apply to Pratt if you want to double major in BME.</p>
<p>Now you'll need a lot of AP credit to make this a bearable undertaking. Also I think throwing the premed thing in there you will have to do a lot of summer school as well. Personally I think it kind of sounds like the naive over ambition of a high schooler but you'll find out when you get here.</p>
<p>^thank you both for your responses and SirGecko, haha thanks for the honesty.</p>
<p>I just know I really want to go into premed and be a doctor. BME sounds like a great major that fits my future goals, and from what I understand, it's easier to get into as a college freshman than as a junior.</p>
<p>I think i should have a fair amount of AP credit (ten 5's so far, taking 7 more tests this year), but is Duke really picky about awarding credit?</p>
<p>and i already know for premed requirements, ap credits don't count.</p>
<p>hmmm but what you said makes sense. but i'm guessing if it's possible to double major across colleges, then it's possible to have a minor across colleges so maybe I can minor in English instead with a BME major?</p>
<p>and that will help the premed b/c I need to take English courses for premed requirements anyway.</p>
<p>how much commitment/classes does "majoring" in a subject require?</p>
<p>Here are some of my thoughts on this, feel free to ignore them:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>If all you want to be is a doctor, then BME isn't for you. You'll find that many of the core BME courses you take will actually not be very applicable to being a doctor (For example, if you want to learn how to build an MRI machine, then BME is very useful, if you want to actually learn to use one to diagnose a patient someday, not so useful). Many BME courses will IMO actually distract you from courses that would truly benefit a premed. Additionally, I'm of the opinion that BME is actually one of the hardest ways to get into medical school at Duke because it's so challenging and it can destroy your GPA and med school chances.</p></li>
<li><p>17 AP credits is very impressive and will be very helpful in any double major/minoring effort. On the other hand, I can't really think of any science/math AP's that will count toward requirements besides the basic Chem, Bio, Physics C, and Calc AB/BC. Pratt doesn't take Stats and you can only use 2 APs toward your Humanities requirement. So stuff like human geography, extra humanities/languages, econ, environmental science, compsci, etc won't really be of much help unless all you want is to take advanced classes in those respective areas for a minor or something. Even with credit for most intro courses, you'll quickly find that there are a lot of other (often harder) courses that you'll need to take since you placed so high (read: GPA destroyer). </p></li>
<li><p>AP credits for premed actually depend heavily on the med school you want to apply to. School that I'm looked into such as Harvard and Hopkins will take AP credits in some areas, but not others. Others may not take any. It's always prudent to assume that your AP credits won't count so there won't be any nasty surprises come app time, but don't write them off completely.</p></li>
<li><p>Minoring is actually relatively easy. Premeds are almost guaranteed to have a chem minor just because they have to have at least 4 semesters or gen/organic chem minimum and many will take biochem in addition. Since a minor is 5 courses, that covers the chem minor (AP chem counts as one). As for other minors, engineers automatically have 2 math credits toward a minor because they have to take math 107 and 108 and will need just 3 more. An english minor will obviously require a few more courses because english isn't a mandatory part of the engineering curriculum, but it's not impossible. </p></li>
<li><p>Keep in mind that an english minor will not be of tremendous help to being a premed, especially compared to the price you have to pay in terms of time required. Premed usually requires 1 year of writing courses. Duke will make you take writing 20 as a freshmen (required) so for a premed, you only need one more and most advisers will tell you that any course (even science ones) with a W code (for writing intensive) will suffice. An english minor will require 4-5 courses in addition to writing 20 depending on AP and other factors. So don't do an english minor just because it'll help premed. On the other hand, if you like english and have the time, then by all means, go for it. </p></li>
<li><p>Majoring is usually around 12 courses in the subject (including core and electives). Note that besides those, there will be other degree requirements such as Stats 113, the 5 math credits, EGR53, the 5 humanities, the natural sciences, physics, writing 20, and premed courses such as bio w/ lab, orgo, english, etc. Many of those can be taken care of with APs, but others are unavoidable. The number usually quoted for a BME is 34 credits (courses) for a basic BSE in BME, 36 minimum for a basic BSE in BME with minimum premed requirements satisfied. So without APs, that would require at least 2 semesters of overloading or summer courses. APs in basic courses can give approximately 8 credits toward a degree, freeing up some slots (which premed courses will quickly gobble up) and obviating the need for overloading. Still in your case, they can come in handy for that english minor.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Edit: I just want to make one more statement</p>
<ul>
<li>Not trying to frighten or discourage you but don't take BME as a major lightly. Wanting to do other things is great and you should (read: strongly recommended) pursue whatever interests you, but there's a reason BME is considered one of the hardest majors at Duke and why Duke is ranked #2 in the country for undergrad BME. The department didn't get there by make it a stroll in the park or even by making it like every other college program in this field. You earn every single letter on that degree. Being a BME is a major (Edit: wow that was a bad pun...I apologize) commitment both in terms of time and energy. Being a premed in addition means an even bigger commitment. I'm always of the opinion that it's better to do a few things well than many things passably (essentially: quality over quantity). So do try to keep that in mind and do some soul searching as to whether this is right for you and your goals.</li>
</ul>
<p>Edit2: as I read over my post, I realized how discouraging it was so...forget all that and do what you want! :)</p>
<p>haha SBR's post IS somewhat discouraging, but to be honest I think most of it is true. If you are determined to get through it and work for it, then you will. But be prepared for many, many discouragements, late nights, and a workload most likely beyond anything you've had in hs. BUT people do it, and so can you. But as SBR said, why exactly do you want to do BME if you want to go premed? You'll never use the stuff again and honestly, learning how to make medical devices won't help when trying to decide what sort of prescription someone needs.</p>
<p>@SBR, thanks for another honest reponse. I sincerely do appreciate it. I'm actually getting tired of eveyone else I go to for advice giving me false hope. Now that I think about it, it doesn't really make much sense to do BME. I didn't realize it was such a different perspective on the medical world, I figured "biomedical" meant it was good for any medicine related profession.</p>
<p>And now that I think more about it, I was talking to my friend's older sister who's at Duke now, she's premed and a BME major with a 3.2 GPA. Which I'm sure isn't all that uncommon, but this is from a girl who always got straight A's and near perfect test scores at a fairly competitive high school.</p>
<p>I think I might consider a neuroscience major instead. </p>
<p>Also, I actually love English, which is why I'm considering a double-major. Sometimes I have trouble deciding if I'm really more passionate about writing and expressing my ideas or cutting people open and making them feel all better, lol.</p>
<p>Okay and just a quick and kind of stupid question: is it "easier" in terms of acceptance rates for girls to try and get into Pratt rather than Trinity?</p>
<p>Why don't you just go ahead and do the English major and take classes for the premed requirements on the side? If you really love English you should take advantage of your college years to study it.</p>
<p>Also, yeh the premed with a 3.2 is not a fun place to be. And a lot of engineer premeds will find themselves in a similar situation at some point. So don't do engineering unless you like engineering. (the biomedical part is just the type of problems we work on, we are still engineers at heart and so we design tools for medicine but do no actual medical work)</p>
<p>I would actually suggest something similar to what SirGecko recommended. Since you obviously like english, why not do a major in that and maybe a minor in biology or neuroscience (if indeed one exists) with other premed requirements on the side. That should keep you plenty busy and give you more than enough preparation for med school.</p>