@JVT180913
You do know that Emory’s pre-med is great BECAUSE the sciences are awesome there as well, mainly the science teaching. “Sciences” being awesome is a relatively vague attribute. Do you mean research, teaching, what? Either way, Emory will excel in all of that (but as an undergraduate, teaching really matters because it decides whether most stay on a track or not, especially teaching in introductory courses, if you must take them), it just doesn’t have BME so you need to determine if you would really really like that and need a formal program. There are many ways to get access to BME research at Emory (because of the med. school and the collaborations with Georgia Tech), and you would just need to take on more quantitative and computational coursework (via the physics, biology, and maybe mathematics department. There is a guy who teaches a course called: “Partial Differential Equations in Action” and while my friends who took it admitted the guy wasn’t the best lecturer, they say they really enjoyed what they got out of the course and still learned a lot) to know what is going on when you join the lab (Experience with research or internships is more important than specific courseworks or degrees. In fact, the engineering sciences or biophysics concentration is likely sufficient to gain access to BME graduate programs or research internships and fellowships emphasizing that):
Here are courses (with description) that may be of interest if you somehow ended up at Emory and did want to join a BME lab, but need to learn how to apply mathematical models in biology. Not all of these things are engineering directly (though, computational modelling and physical biology cover many of the things that BME and bio-engineering majors would learn in “bio-signaling” courses):
Bio 212: Computational Modelling: http://atlas.college.emory.edu/schedules/index.php?select=BIOL&view=cse&ms=BIOL&t=5181&sc=BIOL&cn=212&sn=1
Bio 434: Physical Biology: http://atlas.college.emory.edu/schedules/index.php?select=BIOL&view=cse&ms=BIOL&t=5179&sc=BIOL&cn=434&sn=1
Bio 463: Pop Biol & Evolution Of Disease (I know this one is super relevant, it was actually the key component of one of the projects that my friend at Georgia Tech did in his first year courses): http://atlas.college.emory.edu/schedules/index.php?select=BIOL&view=cse&ms=BIOL&t=5179&sc=BIOL&cn=463&sn=1
Biol 485: Measuring and Modelling Animal Behavior (this is just more mathematical modelling exposure): http://atlas.college.emory.edu/schedules/index.php?select=BIOL&view=cse&ms=BIOL&t=5179&sc=BIOL&cn=485&sn=1
Physics 220: Mathematical Methods for Scientists and Engineers: http://atlas.college.emory.edu/schedules/index.php?select=PHYS&view=cse&ms=physics&t=5179&sc=PHYS&cn=220&sn=1
Bio 347: Disease Ecology (goes hand in hand with a pop. biology course) :http://atlas.college.emory.edu/schedules/index.php?select=BIOL&view=cse&ms=biology&t=5181&sc=BIOL&cn=347&sn=1
Bio 355: Time Series Analysis: http://atlas.college.emory.edu/schedules/index.php?select=BIOL&view=cse&ms=biology&t=5181&sc=BIOL&cn=355&sn=1
Math 352: PDEs in Action: http://atlas.college.emory.edu/schedules/index.php?select=MATH&view=cse&ms=mathematics_computer_science&t=5181&sc=MATH&cn=352&sn=1
Emory also makes relevant graduate courses easy for undergraduates to access (unlike many schools, you can get access to some pretty high level graduate courses. Most Emory departments don’t fool around and try to steer students towards classes that are designed really to be upper division undergraduate courses that accommodate graduate students. You go to real graduate courses and all of them require it for students pursuing honors theses, which is also a rare requirement).
And since BME research is often very genetics heavy: I strongly recommend GOOD instruction in cell biology (so at Emory, Eisen), Genetics (Hickmann or Crouse), and maybe new courses that may become regularly offered ( This class on RNA biology is exciting as CRISPR and RNA technologies have become so important in any field that involves a heavy component of genetic engineering: http://atlas.college.emory.edu/schedules/index.php?select=BIOL&view=cse&ms=biology&t=5181&sc=BIOL&cn=485&sn=1 I hope she offers this course fairly regularly). The chemical biology courses (chem 302 and a 470) hosted by chemistry could also end up VERY useful.
And in case you do more body systems oriented research, organismal form and function or human physiology are highly recommended.
*Note that in cases where Emory does not offer a relevant course, you have access to Tech courses provided you have the pre-reqs, but I think this is less necessary due to some of the reconfiguration of the physics degree, and addition of tons of quantitative courses there and in biology.
So overall, you need to learn math in applied contexts and also take non-math oriented STEM courses that either focus on getting you to understand material in research contexts (so not just memorization and regurgitation of “facts”) or at least try to expose you to primary literature. I would argue that the latter is the case even for regular pre-meds. The former is just for those with quantitative inclinations. Speaking of which, BME is hardly the only quantitative life science discipline, so keep an open mind. Many similar interdisciplinary fields exist and all are pretty “hot”.
Also, Emory is in freaking Atlanta, a giant urban forest! While the amount of tree coverage on the central campus at Emory has diminished some, the areas that cover the rest of campus (let us say up to Clairmont and the Wesley Woods area, Lullwater/VA/Yerkes/Hahn Woods). There is plenty of greenery directly surrounding the campus such that you can get that without feeling isolated from civilization.