Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering vs. Biomedical Engineering

Colleges and Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
1

So here I am, trying to find the right major for me. Hopefully y’all can help me. JHU and and another school are currently tied for ED contention right now, so I want to make sure I have all the information before I commit.

I’m a person who is kind of obsessed with biology. I love molecular bio, stem cells, gene therapy, CRISPR and other biotech, tissue repair and regeneration… I think you get the idea. I like cells. Prosthetics are cool, but just aren’t my thing. I understand the value of systems biology, but once again, not my cup of tea. So here is my quandary: which major would be a better fit- ChemBE or Biomedical Engineering?

Now, normally, this shouldn’t matter, since I could just switch out of BME if I find it doesn’t align with my goals… but the problem is, I don’t think I’ll get into the BME program. My GPA and ACT are such that with some luck, I have a chance of getting into Johns Hopkins, but certainly not the BME program. If ChemBE doesn’t align with my interests, then I’d rather ED to my second school (by no means a second choice- on some days it’s Johns Hopkins. Other days, it’s the other school. I love them equally).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

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(Current BME)

First of all I’d like to make it clear that applying as a BME doesn’t affect your chances of admission to JHU. It is possible (and this often happens) to get admitted to JHU, but rejected from the BME department. In this case, you’re free to declare ChemBE (or anything else) and I believe some of the ED restrictions are waived.

Now on to the main point: you seem to be very interested in cellular biology, why not major in Molecular and Cellular Biology? Between BME and ChemBE, the former is more aligned to your interests, but MoleCell Bio seems like exactly what your looking for. Is there something specific about engineering that interests you?

As a BME you could choose to concentrate on cell/tissue engineering, but that is just the focus. BME is still very much an engineering discipline and many of your classes will be only tangentially related to biology.

If your main interest is cellular biology, ChemBE is probably not the way to go. ChemBE focuses on chemical processes and while you can choose to focus on bimolecular engineering, most of your classes would be unrelated to cellular bio.