<p>Probably ChemE. But I've heard quite a bit of opposition from my acquaintances that it's hard to maintain a good GPA for an engineering major, and therefore it is difficult to get into a med school even if you fill the pre-med requirements. Now, have you known anyone who's done this before? Did that person/ppl have any social life? Thanks.</p>
<p>ChemE and BioE are considered two possible tracks to med school because courses required for those majors are also required for admission to med school and thus you don't need to take a lot of electives outside the major to complete the med school requirements.</p>
<p>However, it is correct that at most universities the average and median GPA for engineering students is lower than the average and median GPA for students in Arts & Sciences. A combination of factors are at work -- such as the courses required for engineering are difficult and time consuming, less "curving" of grades occurs in engineering related classes than the A&S type classes, and students have to take more semester hours to complete a degree and thus many engineering students are taking 17 or 18 hours in many semesters to complete their degree in four years while their compatriots in LAS are taking 15. Outside of class study time for engineering is on average significantly more than A&S. Moreover , you can have a lot of labs/research time for projects. Nevertheless, most engineering students do have ample time to do other things.</p>
<p>For Med school admission, you need high GPA and high test score. You can get a high GPA in engineering but for many the chances of doing so in comparison to just doing an A&S program are less. Med schools give some consideration to the fact that they know engineering majors tend to have lower GPA's than others but many beleive it is not as much consideration as it should be. Bottom line is that you should likely consider engineering as a path that will be somewhat more difficult than others to med school.</p>
<p>I know many people who are doing Engineering/Premed and even I am contemplating whether or not to take the MCAT.</p>
<p>For most cases Pre-Med consists of Physics, Chemistry, Calculus (all required in an engineering degree anyway) plus a year of Organic Chemistry/lab and usually a few more bio classes. </p>
<p>If you major in ChemE/BioE chances are that you'll indirectly complete the "Pre-Med" track anyway. Another option that most students do is EE and take electives within Bio-Imaging and then apply for med school.</p>
<p>Anyway, the hardest part of Pre-Med/Engineering aren't the premed classes (they are a cake walk comapared to your engineerign classes) and unless you put in the extra effort, your GPA will probably be a lot less than the average Med School applicant.</p>
<p>My advice is that if you are set on Engineering/Pre-med, go ahead and pursue Biomedical Engineering but if you aren't sure about engineering but are sure about medicine--do another major.</p>
<p>I've also heard that radiological health engineering (health physics) is a good premed major. Any of you guys know anything about that?</p>
<p>I've never heard of that field... Do you know which universities offer it as a major...?</p>
<p>I think any of ChemE, ME, EE, BioMed E are all good for pre-med. Chem E is a traditional popular choice because the organic chemistry is part of the curriculum and does not have to be taken outside the concentration. But I think all of the above are good. </p>
<p>I suspect ultimately it depends on what type of medicine one wants to practice.</p>
<p>Certainly I would think that ME/Materials is a good background for Orthopaedic Surgery where knee and joint replacements are involved. </p>
<p>I would think Chem E with the emphasis on rates and kinetics would be good for anesthesiology or pulmonary medicine. </p>
<p>EE would be good I think for Neurology/Neurosciences or Cardiology with pacemaker technology.</p>
<p>Considering the weight of GPA in med school admissions, it's probably not a wise decision unless there is a significant chance you don't want to practice medicine when you graduate.</p>
<p>I think engineering is good for pre-med. But you have select engineering because you will obtain the best grades possible. Mr. Payne is right, med is tough enough to get in that you do want to be hindered by a lower GPA than if you were in another program. When I was in chemical engineering I got good grades and my arts grades brought me down. I realized that arts may be easier to pass, but getting good grades (for me) was hard. </p>
<p>Engineering is the reverse. It is harder to pass, but easier to distinguish oneself since the grading is objective (usually). People can and do graduate with very high averages from engineering.</p>
<p>Lower mean but a higher standard deviation...</p>
<p>Your GPA will also depend on the school you go to. Some engineering schools have 2.6 average GPAs where as some will have 3.3+. If you take this into account when looking for schools and find traditionally friendly schools, then GPA become less of a deal.</p>
<p>I would also like to support what toronto_guy said, my GPA has only been brought down by my "easy" A&S classes, if it wasn't for them I'd have a 4.0. I will say that I care a lot less about those classes and that probably has something to do with it, but I really do think my GPA would be higher in engineering than it would be in political science. My skill set lies in solving engineering problems, not in reading and critiquing some hundred your old literary piece.</p>
<p>At my university, there is a Nuclear Sciences (not nuclear engineering, although you could do that too) major that has a built-in premed track. Nuclear is nice because of its applications in radiology and medicine. A lot of med schools are impressed with this unique background. </p>
<p>Your MCAT score is by far the most important factor in getting into med school. So don't give in into this bs about having to have a gpa at the level of a traditional premed major. GPA is important, but if you want to study engineering, go for it!</p>
<p>My cousin graduated from berkeley with a Bio eng, and is now at UCSD medical school</p>
<p>Once a person starts out on the engineering path, he or she may change mind and not pursue medicine because of the lure of early start to one's career. So, one shouldn't choose the engineering field (i.e., ChemE, BioE, EE) to traget the med school. It is better to choose the engineering field that appeals to you. Then if you do want to persist in pre-med track take whatever electives are required and slog it out. If you lose steam on the pre-med track after a couple of semesters, no problems, you will still graduate with an egineering degree you will cherish.</p>
<p>Go for Mechanical Engineering. Not only will it stand out on a med school application, but you will also have a really solid engineering background if you wish to consider alternatives. BioE (my major) is quite tenuous when it comes to the aspect of career security and therefore, I feel that the pressure to get into a med school is higher for me than any other engineering pre-med (e.g. ChemE's et al.). ChemE is another good option but only if you like going through at least 3 years of continual chemistry (ha ha ^_^). All in all, if you weigh the options, I think that you will find that MechE is the best of them. Nonetheless, go for whichever major YOU are most comfortable with because advice like this is only advice and it is you who will have to live with the decision.</p>
<p>There are quite a few biomedical engineering majors at my son's school, and I surmised that it was a premed route for many. After all, if they change their minds about med school or if the applictions don't go well, they still have a really good career path.</p>
<p>But it is true, engineering is brutal. Certainly not a major for the faint of heart.</p>
<p>Dear Orbit:</p>
<p>If you are set for the medical school, I strongly urge you to not major ChemE or any engineering major. Instead, take an easier route, like chem./biOchem major. </p>
<p>Another point to remember is that even though ChemE requirement does cover lots of pre-med requirements (orgo, chem .) in the beginning, it also cover many part of fundamental engineering principles like fluid mechanics, heat/mass transfer, and heavy maths in your junior/senior years that you dont really need for your MED school. This is the expected rigor for a hard eng. Major like ChemE.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, Med school does weigh in your GPA, and Eng majors usually get the short end of the stick when it comes to GPA.</p>
<p>I would like to point out that ChemE majors do NOT take enough OChem for med school admission, you will need to take more. Also you will need to take additional courses in biology and zoology.</p>
<p>Zoology? I don't think so. </p>
<p>I think the only additional courses ChemE's have to take are biology and a biochem course.</p>
<p>They also need more OChem. You need 1 year of OChem for med school, few programs require that much.</p>