Hello! I’m a rising senior and this is my first post on college confidential! So I am almost finished with my Columbia application (except for teacher recs) so I was just wondering if this school would be right for me to apply early. I am really interested in applied physics, materials science and engineering, bioengineering, and chemical engineering so I really want to pursue an engineering/applied science degree while I study premed. Is it possible do so with the infamous core curriculum and get into a top medical school? Thanks! Any advice is appreciated!
SEAS people do not have to take as much of the CORE. You either take CC, LitHum, or GC and either Art or Music Hum. The general difficulty with engineering is that after your early courses, the later ones may not always overlap with premed. For example, everyone has to take physics,math,chem but BME doesn’t mandate organic chemistry and has it’s own set of requirements (which are plenty of work in of themselves) so that’s extra stuff to take on a busy schedule. You’d probably need to be smart with scheduling and it won’t be easy.
That being said, it’s definitely possible. Almost every BME undergrad I know is premed, and I know some chemE too. The program for BME, imo is quite good - I regret not applying to SEAS. I also know a guy who graduated with a near 4.0 from Columbia in BME, got a 41 on the MCAT and is doing an MD/PhD at an Ivy.
(However, I’ve heard that prestige matters little for med school - ymmv)
Thanks @ecouter11! That advice was really helpful. Do you know anything about the applied physics department? Oh and what is GC?
Yes. At Columbia you have the advantage of a top science school as well as a top engineering school. Many engineers eventually go to med school. At SEAS you will have fewer core requirements, but more engineering requirements.