So to begin with I love medicine and engineering. I have a just below a 90% average and have taken all science classes except for biology. I figured a few years ago that I would settle with mechanical engineering since I like working on cars and enjoy math and science. I want a career in sciences 100%. However, deep down I would love to be a doctor. I’ve spoken to two doctors who said I should choose engineering. I don’t want people saying follow your heart and stuff like that. Money isn’t an issue since both professions pay way above average. I’m scared that if I choose medicine, I’ll take the 4 years of sciences than wont be accepted to med school. I only say that because in my school alone there is about 1000 people with a 95% average all wanting to go to medicine. So realistically, I don’t think I’ll make it compared to those smarter. I know someone who went into sciences and did not get accepted to dental school so now they’re taking another major. Any thoughts?
You could do your undergraduate degree in engineering, while using “some” of your electives to satisfy your medical school prerequisites. After completing your engineering degree, you would finish up your prerequisites, take the MCAT and apply to medical school (1 -2 yrs). If, for some reason you do not get into medical school, you could seek a job as a engineer (fall back position).
I was looking at the 2013 Class Profiles for University of Michigan Medical School and 14% (24 out of 172) of the entering medical students were Engineering majors. My friend’s brother went to one of the worst inner city high school in New York City, went on to CCNY Grove School of Engineering and completed his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. He subsequently completed his MD without working a single day of his life as a electrical engineer.
Being a “smart” student in high school doesn’t necessarily translate into being a successful college student. Lots of student did very well in high school, only to perform poorly at the college level, while students who were average HS student went on to college and did quite well. Pre-med, like pre-engineering, have high “dropout rates” from their respective programs, during the first or second year of college. Hard work and dedication can do wonders for students who are committed to achieving their goals, despite the odds.
" I’ve spoken to two doctors who said I should choose engineering."
If you are on the fence, they may be right: medicine is a long hard slog, unlike engineering where you can get a decent job as soon as you have your BS and then get your employer to pay for additional studies. But then there are many who go into medicine for the wrong reasons or are disappointed with the way the profession is changing - or just find change disorienting and wouldn’t be happy in any profession because change/adaptation is the new norm in the work world. Find out why they feel this way, do the research and then decide for yourself.
Meanwhile, Psata82’s suggestion is a great one. You can always decide to drop one or the other. And check out fields that combine engineering-type skills and medicine like bioengineering, bioinformatics, etc…
Why not biomedical engineering ? It focuses on the engineering aspects in medicine anywhere from developing new imaging systems to designing prosthetics. And by the way do what YOU want, just because you are good at something doesn’t mean you have to have a career dedicated to it
My son majored in chemical eng’g as a premed so he’d have options in case he decided against med school.
Are you already in college? Where?
The problem i see for you is the 89% avg. That suggests that you’re not a very strong student, and these days, you have to be to get into a MD school. However, if becoming a DO is fine with you, then you could have that as an option. DO’s can practice just as MD’s can. DO schools will accept very good students with some GPA issues…and they allow grade replacement.