<p>I currently have two top choices. One being Wash U St Louis and the second being Carleton College. I've learned that Wash U has great engineering, but I looked at the course work and it showed that the only classes I would be taking would be in STEM. Although STEM is my favorite path, I also am interested in other areas and want the freedom to pursue other classes without risking graduating late. I know that Carleton doesn't have engineering, but they are strongly undergrad focused. Would I be in an okay place applying from college to grad school with a science major in Biology/Biochemistry? Also on that topic, if I went to a school like Wash U and went to the College of Arts and Sciences, would I be looked down upon for not majoring in engineering?</p>
<p>Most biology or biochemistry majors do not take enough math or physics courses to be prepared for upper division or graduate level engineering courses. Even for biomedical engineering, it is common for MS or PhD programs to specify minimum levels of math and physics for admission that are higher than typical math and physics requirements for biology or biochemistry BA/BS degrees.</p>
<p>Depending on the graduate engineering major, the undergraduate non-engineering majors most likely to be suitable preparation are physics, chemistry, math, or statistics (sometimes with additional science electives).</p>
<p>All ABET-accredited engineering majors do have required humanities and social studies breadth requirements as well as at least 25% of the degree in math and science. Some have additional free elective schedule space as well.</p>
<p>High schools don’t typically expose their students to the difference between science and engineering. A lot of the subject matter can be the same but with a very different focus.</p>
<p>My way of looking at the difference. The thought processes between science and engineering is quite different. Science classes go into great depth the how and why of their respective fields. Engineering doesn’t go to such an extreme depth but enough to understand what influences the how and why. The engineer then models the physical system with respect to it’s inputs and verifies that model, typically with data. The engineer then uses that model to predict the behavior under other inputs and uses that information to design products.</p>
<p>So, in some ways, you might consider engineering to really be applied mathematics. As ucbalumnus stated, your math ability and the ability to apply that math knowledge would be seriously lacking in a science program. A whole way of approaching problems would need to learned. You would be at a serious disadvantage trying to get into an engineering program with a science only background.</p>
<p>I noticed that in you question, there is intention to go to grad school. Why do the extra work, if you end up in the same place. Using the grad school alternative, your total schooling would be more than a bs in engineering. Additionally, biology and biochem may not be useful in various Engineering programs. One may think “What about BioE or Biophysics?” The names are misleading. Many people believe because it has the word Bio in it, it is somehow less math intensive or there is a large life science component. This is not necessarily true. A Biophysicist, is a physicist who studies physics from a biological standpoint. Meaning they do typical physics material, but apply it to the biological system eg, if “insert amount of force here” strikes you, your bones would break etc… The same can be said about BioE. They are engineers who study a biological system. </p>
<p>And as the earlier posts said, life sciences are generally not a very good prep for engineering. The only two science majors that would be a good prep for engineering in order of preference is :Physics and Chemistry (Incidentally both physical sciences). The reasoning for physics is, Engineering and physics are very closely similar, so you take the same lower div coursework and there is overlap in upper coursework topics.
For Chemistry, the first two years is virtually the same to engineering for the exception of ochem (Although ChemE kids have to take Ochem too)
After thinking about it, if you did some math programs, you could do well in engineering as well. </p>
<p>When you mention “Without graduating late” I take it you mean graduate within four years. For engineering, times are stretched. Keep in mind college is supposed to train you for your career. If you need extra time for a solid foundation, take it. </p>