Okay, so I want to major in biomedical engineering in college, but a lot of people, especially my family members (most of which have not even attended college), have been trying to deter me from doing so because my GPA might suffer and I’d struggle getting into medical school. They tell me all these horror stories about people who get sucky teachers who don’t give A’s and then they can’t get into medical school anywhere in the US.
I really do want to major in biomedical engineering because the subject interests me, and its also a career I know I’d love if I decided I hated medicine (however unlikely that is). I don’t want to major in biology or chemistry because I just feel like they would be too boring (nothing against these majors, I just can’t see myself studying biology or chemistry for four years).
So should I ignore all those people and just do what I want, or is it worth changing my major so I don’t risk my chances at medical school? Anybody here know anybody who went to med school with an engineering major? I know it happens but I’m curious what their grades and MCAT scores were and if the engineering major might overpower the slightly droopy GPA.
Getting into med school requies three things, meeting all the class prerequisites, high grades and a good MCAT score. Engineering is the hardest undergraduate major, little of which, even in BME is applicable to medical school. Also, should you decide not to go to medical school or not get in, the job market for BMEs with only an undergraduate degree isn’t very good. There’s really no advantage to choosing BME if you know you want to be in health care and quite a few disadvantages.
If you are determined to go to medical school, you should avoid the engineering path. You may suffer in low GPA and the cost is usually higher for engineering. If you want to have an engineering major as a backup plan, BME is not a good idea either as the job market is not good unless you have a master degree.
I do not personally think anyone should enter engineering who is not primarily planning on an engineering career. You don’t have to be certain, but engineering is difficult enough that it makes little sense to pursue if your primary interest lies elsewhere. Remember also that you can get into BME at the grad level without an undergrad in the field, so if it really is a backup plan then you can do your undergrad in a related field and then go for a BME masters if med school doesn’t pan out.
That having been said, your GPA is a combination of a lot of factors, not the least of which is your interest in the subject - you may well get a better GPA in a harder subject you enjoy than you would in an easier subject you dislike. It is also worthwhile to note that while engineering GPA’s are lower than average, they are not lower by a huge margin. The risk is not likely that you would miss out on medical school, but rather that you would go to a “worse” medical school than you otherwise might. Just something to remember.
I would pick some easier major, something you enjoy enough to work at, but easy enough to prop up that GPA, and something that does a decent job of preparing you for a spread of careers. Focus on laying a solid foundation, and accept that your career is going to come from some graduate education, whether it is an MD or an MS.