<p>Okay. Heres my concern. Before going to CalDay, i was intending to major in chemical engineering, and im also intending to be pre-med. My problem was that i had decided to pursue this major after i completed my application so i was actually admitted into the college of l/s. At some of the premed sessions i asked about chemE or other engineering majors, and the students said that it is very rare to be an engineering major and also premed, and that they actually didnt know anyone who was doing that. some also commented that to do engineering and premed would be waay too hard to juggle and that you’d be trying to merge two different worlds - engineering and premed. </p>
<p>Is it really that hard to do? my first impression was that the prereqs for premed weren’t too bad and i thought there would be some overlap with chemE. doing chemE seemed interesting because i could avoid the coveted pre-med culture and avoid all of the cut throat competition, and even though chemE is competitive i’m sure, i heard the students and faculty are friendly, and plus the chem program top notch. </p>
<p>also, i felt like if i didnt go to med school, chemE would be a good backup and had more prospects after undergrad should i decide not to go to med school or should i not get in. </p>
<p>what are the different types of things you can do with chemE versus MCB/plain chem major/biochem? and whats the difference between a BA and a BS. and how does a plain chem major differ between LS and college of chem, and with the chemE major itself, and what can you do with justp lain chem major. </p>
<p>I’m just confused as to what path i should take to premed and through college. any help is very much appreciated.</p>
<p>Hi Roberto ;)
My friend is going to get on the same path that you want to get on. She's not doing chemE & premed at Cal, but she is doing chemE and premed.
As I understand it, by doing premed and chemE, you tremendously increase your chances of med school acceptance. So all in all, even if it going to be hard, it'll help you in the long run.</p>
<p>The person across the hall from my host's room is doing a major in political science and on a pre-med track...that's really different!</p>
<p>Check out the requirements for chemE major and look at the requirements recommended for Pre-Med and see if they overlap. (Check your COE's website--is that were chemE is under?)</p>
<p>not to be offensive to the OP, but doing ChemE and premed is going to be a gang bang.....two distinctive majors which requires totally different courses</p>
<p>yeah basically this would work at a private but you don't wanna do engineering at any UC while doing premed unless its bioengineering. those extra engineering classes you have to take (all engineering majors have to take engineering classes) are some of the hardest at Cal.</p>
<p>If you're interested in it, I wouldn't rule it out just because people say it's hard. I get really sick of people saying, "Oh, it's so hard here, so competitive, you really have to work." It's like that everywhere. Take some classes and decide from there. You don't have to commit to a major in the first year.</p>
<p>Agree with Aim78. As I said, look at the major requirements and prequisites and see if they overlap so you can kill two birds in one stone, to use a cliche.</p>
<p>Not sure if this is really related to thread but since it's an engineering Q I figured I'd ask it here. I'm currently admitted as a chemE, but if I decide i want to do BME Engineering is that possible? Because chemE is under College of Chemistry and not Engineering.</p>
<p>ChemE and premed are way different here. For example, premeds take Math 1A/1B, while ChemE-s take Math 53/54 on top of that. Furthermore, ChemE requires only one semester of OChem, and it's upper division (112A). Premeds take 3A/3B, which is a year long sequence, and is easier. ChemE also requires Chem 4B, but premed does not. Hmm... ChemE requires only one semester of English, while premeds need a year. They seem to be divergent paths, unless you are really ambitious, in which case it is very plausable. People double major in Chem and ChemE, and Chem is a premed-type major (albeit a tough one).</p>
<p>PimpinAtCal: Not sure if you were answering my question or someone elses's. However I was wondering if its possible to switch from ChemE to Biomedical engineering.</p>
<p>mosharma134, oh nono that is not the reason I WANT to switch. I would like to change because I'm not exactly sure if chemE is the type of engineering I want to do, and I wanted to know if I wanted to do another type of engineering, would it be possible? Because all the other types of engineering are under the college of engineering and not college of chemistry.</p>
<p>errrr..... I want to do ChemE and pre-med...So has anyone ever done it successfully that you know of? I really really want to do Engineering and I really really want to finish pre-med to leave my options open...WHY does it have to be nearly impossible!!??</p>
<p>well rose87, since you are already accepted into the College of Chem, I think that inter-college transfer is somewhat hard. Transferring into the college of Engineering is going to be quite hard because of college policies. However, you can talk to your admission counselor for available options.</p>
<p>I thought you can get away with not taking 7 series and taking 8 series for Physics. Physics 8A and 8B are mostly premeds because they want easy physics. 7A and 7B are filled with EECS and other CoE students that will make life hard for you. Plus the course is a lot harder. I'm not sure what ChemE needs, so yea...</p>