<p>Hi guys, I'm currently a junior at Emory and I've decided to do the Emory-GT 3+2 program last summer but I'm struggling choosing an engineering major. I'm majoring biology at Emory and have great passion for biomedical studies and careers. I originally decided to major BME in GT cause it ranks 2nd, it's amazing! And according to records provided by the bureau of labor statistics BME has a great employment prospect (job opportunities increase very fast). </p>
<p>However, I have heard many people majored in BME complained that undergrad BME is "a waist of time," simply because the course requirements for BME are too broad and thus not deep enough, compared to EE, ME, or ChemE, so BME undergrads will have a hard time finding a job. Some say that companies often hire EE, ME, and ChemE graduates instead of BME graduates to finish BME projects. Besides, EE, ME, and ChemE undergrads are more competitive than BME undergrads in applying for engineering (including BME) PhD programs. Lastly, EE, ME, and ChemE can provide more options in career while BME can be limiting.</p>
<p>So I'm wondering is it better to major in EE (GT's EE ranks 5th, stunning!) and then find a job related to biomed or apply for BME grad programs, or just go for a BME BS? Can someone who is majoring or majored in EE or BME give me some advice? Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Hi ucbalumnus, thanks for your reply! I found some salary reports offered by GT at this website:
<a href=“Georgia Tech | External Redirect Landing Page”>Georgia Tech | External Redirect Landing Page;
it seems that for offer rate, EE BS is better than BME BS…but BME has higher highest and lowest salary offer…</p>
<p>BME is a very broad field, do you know what area you’re interested in? It’s hard to answer that question without knowing what exactly you’re interested in doing besides BME grad school. If you don’t know, a BME BS isn’t useless. In industry it will be tougher to get an engineering job with a BME degree, but if you’re willing to get a Ph.D. in BME, you’ll be able to find a job. I also am not sure I agree with you that other disciplines look better than BME to BME Ph.D. programs. You certainly wouldn’t be discriminated against if you had majored in EE or MechE, but in my BME Ph.D. program (a highly ranked one), most of the students I know were BMEs in undergrad as well. If you plan to go to grad school, but aren’t sure what exactly you want to do, a BME BS wouldn’t prevent you from getting into a good program and you could specialize then. If you do know what you want to do, a more traditional engineering discipline that’s relevant to that area may be a better choice.</p>
<p>Major in EE. Period.</p>
<p>The BME program at tech is done as a partnership with Emory. You can get an EE degree and minor in BME (they do have a BME minor). Then you’ll have two options, enter the industry as a EE (that can work in the BME field), or go to grad school for BME.</p>
<p>Hi Gator, I think that’s a really good idea! The problem is that I only have two years at Tech to finish the degree so I am not sure whether I will have enough time minoring BME. I may ask around. Thanks for the advice! And if I plan to enter the EE industry, should I try to get a phd first? I heard that phds will be more competitive in science- and engineering-based careers…</p>
<p>Hi UWHuskyDad, thanks for your pm! I am sorry that I cannot reply in pm since I haven’t had 15 posts yet…May I ask you some further questions here, or do you prefer private conversations? Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Hi ubuntu, right now I am really not sure which branch of BME interests me most, because I find each of them somewhat exciting…Right now I am majoring in biology and just doing very basic (non-medical-related) genetics research, so I don’t have hands-on experience of research of BME…The bad thing is that once I decide my major at Tech I cannot switch to another (one of the cons of the program…), so do you think it is a good idea to major in a mainstream engineering even though I don’t have a particular interest field in BME? Thanks!</p>
<p>hydrophilickid, what do you want to do as a BME?</p>
<p>All I can say is that if you want to get into medical devices industry then a BS in BME is not as useful as a degree in any of the “mainstrem” engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>If you are a premed then a BS in BME is not a bad idea.</p>
<p>@UWHuskyDad, I think my goal is to get into medical devices industry. I major in biology for the sake of my interest in it, but then I found out that I would like to devote myself to more applied fields, for example, medical devices etc. As a result, I decided to do the dual degree program to earn an engineering degree. I consider BME as one of my top choices mainly because I find it interesting (and its relatedness to biological science). Interestingness aside, I think I should thoroughly consider job opportunities. I am not bothered by the possibility of pursuing a PhD degree to become more competitive to get a job (in fact, my parents encourage me to pursue a PhD degree), but I really want to know whether the engineering major that I eventually choose is a good combination of interestingness and job prospect. To me EE may not seem as interesting as BME, but I also enjoy other sciences like chemistry and physics. Base on what you suggested, I think traditional engineering discipline may be more suitable in this case. I really appreciate that you kindly share your experience! And here is another question, if I choose to major in EE, do you think it is a good idea to do research in BME-related projects to gain some feeling of what medical devices manufacturing is like (correct me if I am wrong, I think medical device industry is somewhat BME…)?</p>
<p>I think the best thing for you to do is research the different areas of BME and determine to the best of your ability what you want to do in your career. Keeping in mind that any engineering degree should be acceptable to graduate schools, pick whichever discipline you think would best prepare you to do whatever you decide your goal is. If, as you mentioned earlier, you want to design medical devices, a more traditional discipline is probably preferable. Since you haven’t given any examples about what kind of medical devices, let’s just say you want to design MRI machines. Though an MRI machine is used in medicine/biomedical research, to actually build one, you need expertise in areas like circuitry and signal processing. Therefore, electrical engineering would be a better choice than biomedical engineering. If you want to design hip implants, you need to understand how to build a device that is mechanically strong and can move like a natural hip, so mechanical engineering would be a good choice there. These are just examples, but if you think about what you would actually need to know to succeed in whatever area you want to work in, you’ll make the best choice. Good luck!</p>