Career crisis...

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

For most of my life I was pretty focused on majoring in bio, getting into med school, etc. However, as I approach my senior year, I’m starting to doubt my decision. After seeing a cadaver for the first time recently as well as seeing a nurse pushing a deceased patient away, medicine just seemed too much for me, and I can’t imagine myself being in charge of people’s well-being anymore. Although engineering was always in my mind as another career worth exploring, I was too occupied with racking up hospital experiences and connections to really take a look into engineering.

I have a 4.2 weighted GPA and a 3.72 unweighted. My classes have been Bio, Chem, Calc BC, US History, Lang, and Music Theory (all AP) as well as honors precalc and honors chemistry. I plan on taking Stats, Physics, Comp Sci, Literature, and Econ/Polisci (all AP) for senior year.

I’m not sure if this helps at all for engineering, but I figured I might as well mention it. I have strong music extracurriculars, and have won several state competitions (California) for piano. I have also performed at Carnegie Hall through an international piano competition. I’ve also been in Marching Band for all 4 years of high school, of which I am a section leader. I am also part of leadership in a music club at school, and I run our school’s saxophone quartet.

My only concern is that my math grades have not been so stellar. I go to a public high school with a difficult math program, and I’ve gotten a C+ and a B+ in my first and second semesters of calculus BC. My honors precalc grades have not been especially good either, only getting a B both semesters. My C+ in math was due to an urgent family emergency that required me to miss the bare bones of calculus, derivatives and integration, so much of my first semester and arguably some of my second semester was just trying to mend that gap. Nevertheless, the C is a C, and I know it will hurt me. Furthermore, my math satii is a 760, and my regular sat math subscore is a 780 (720 CR, 780 M, 720 W). I got a 770 for satii chem and a 760 for satii bioM.I took the ACT and scored a 35 on the math section (total score is 34). I also have never been to any engineering camps or whatnot due to filling my breaks with musical and medical ECs.

Ultimately, I just want some honest opinions about my chances in getting into a decent engineering school, but especially any of the mid UCs (Irvine, Davis, Santa Barbara). I’m pretty interested in chemical engineering or mechanical engineering (which I hear is incredibly competitive, probably too much for me), but if you guys have any other suggestions, I am all ears too. I hear its difficult/nearly impossible trying to transfer into most engineering departments from letters and science, etc, but in my case, with my math scores, is it a viable option? I know I’m pretty late to the game (“late” is still an understatement), but I’m actually glad I caught myself before being stuck in a career I won’t enjoy.

2

What was your score on the AP calculus BC exam?

Odd that you are two grade levels ahead in math but are not finding math to be easy A courses in high school… or were you pushed further ahead in math than you really should have been?

3

I did get a 5 on the AP test. As for the math classes, my counselor actually encouraged me to take the harder math classes, saying colleges would like that I’m “pushing myself.” Looking back, part of my struggles with math could have been my immaturity, since I’m also a year younger than my class.

4

You’ll be fine. I think @ucbalumnus made that statement because usually people who say they are bad at math don’t make it to BC junior year in HS. Where do you live and what are the closest colleges/universities? I ask because you might be better off taking a college Calculus course. Usually I’d say go right to Calc III, but since you are unsure, you could do Calc II first semester and Calc III the next. It will give you a taste of college level math. If you really take to it (which you will) you’d have a big advantage at the start of college. Stats on the other hand is really a waste. Lastly, calculate your UC/CSU GPA. That’s all that matters for CA state schools.

5

I live in Irvine, so my closest colleges are Irvine Valley College and UCI. My UC/CSU gpa is a 4.3.

6

You should be thankful to find this out this early. I’ve heard stories of medical students who back out after passing the board at prestigious medical school like Harvard or Yale. Considered yourself lucky.
Your standardized test scores are good, but your GPA may not be ok for the higer tiered like uCSD, UCLA, and UCB. I would not apply to engineering for these schools. You may get in undeclared and change later if your pre- engineering grades are good.
You should be ok for UCSB. I think it has an excellent Chemical Engineering program. But do explore more because you might not like Chemical Engineering, I mean, it could be something else.

7

Ok, thanks for your suggestions. I’m very glad I got the chance to see some inner workings of a hospital at my age and to realize it’s not for me rather than find out when I’m a lot older.

8

With your interest in medicine and health, perhaps you should consider something like biomedical engineering. Many BME careers will require you to go to graduate school and get a PhD, but it sounds like you were already thinking along those lines. BMEs mostly go into healthcare – pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, medical devices and medical innovation. My BME friends out of undergrad mostly do consulting for healthcare companies – analyzing and optimizing hospitals and medical care.

Plus, a degree in BME should satisfy all pre-med requirements should you have a change of heart along the way.

9

BME likely will not satisfy all medical school prerequisites and will be harder than any non-engineering premed route to keep your GPA high. Plus, without graduate work, BME isn’t a very valuable degree. For all those reasons, I’m not a fan of UG BME. If you have a BME inkling, get a BS in ME. It’s any easy transition into a BME graduate program, but will be far more useful if you decide to stop at your BS.

10

@eyemgh which pre-med requirements are not satisfied by a BME degree?

By “BME isn’t very valuable,” you must mean that BME isn’t very valuable compared to other engineering disciplines, because it is still more valuable than just about every non-engineering degree. That’s a very important distinction for the OP.

11

I’m not a fan of BME either…too limiting and not needed for undergrad. Anyone wanting to pursue that as a career can get their undergrad in MechE or ChemE …which the BioMedE grad schools accept as well. MechE and ChemE are far more marketable.

ChemE fulfill all or nearly all the premed sciences. One would also have to take psych and socio, but those could be Core/GenEd classes.

There are MD specialties that rarely deal with dead bodies, etc. Yes, you would have to deal with cadavers, etc, while in med school.

What was it about medicine that you liked?

12

@Pancaked, many schools require a year of inorganic, a year of organic and a year of Biochem. Some require statistics, psychology, intensive writing, diversity studies, you name it. There’s a chance a BME BS could fulfill, but there’s just as high a likelihood that it won’t. Then comes the rub, most engineering curricula don’t have any room to add extra classes. As for a job and a BME with only a BS, earnings potential may be better than other degrees, but only IF you can find a job. There aren’t as many opportunities for BMEs with only a BS.

13

@mom2collegekids It’s cliche, but I really liked the saving/improving lives part of medicine. I’m more introverted (not in an awkward way, but it’s harder for me to just talk openly to strangers) so I would have picked some field related to surgery because it’s seems to me in general, there is less patient-doctor communication required (although it’s still very important).

ChemE seems attractive, but I’m worried because chemE seems to go hand in hand with big oil. Are there other types of jobs that are more “helping others” for chemE? I’ve also researched into BME and I too found job prospects to be rather low, so I probably won’t pursue that.

Would computer science be a viable option as well? My dad is a computer scientist, so that may be an advantage for me. Some schools also offer both BS and a BA in comp sci, so would applying for Letters and Science, doing some doctor shadowing, and transferring to comp sci BA if med doesn’t work out be a good option for me?

I’d also want to pursue graduate studies, so what are possible options for comp sci and chemE? Through my google sessions, a comp sci degree seems much more versatile in options compared to chem?

14

@xylores, have you done any coding? CS seems to be a love it or hate it type of proposition. If you haven’t, spend some time shadowing your dad so you have an idea what you might be getting into.

15

I want to work at a company like Stryker, etc. Should I still not pursue BME or would it be okay to pursue it as an unergrad?