<p>So I talked to the CHEG Department Head at my school today. He told me the median graduating GPA for the College of Engineering was a 3.2 and that only ~10% of Chem Engineers have a 3.7+. This means that I'd have to completely work my a$$ off to be among those top 5 or so students to have a GPA solid enough for a really top medical school. I'm thinking that a Chem engineering major, as interesting as it would be, is simply not worth sacrificing a stellar GPA, which is a very important bargaining chip in medical school admissions. Any thoughts on this matter? Do any of you guys know anyone who pursued engineering as an undergrad major and was admitted into a prestigious medical school?</p>
<p>Engineering is generally a career major: it’s one of the hardest around (note the high dropout rate), and people usually take it on the way to well-paying (relative to other bachelor degree) careers, or higher technological study/research. Biomedical engineering as a pre-med I could understand, but really, chem engineering is less applicable than regular chemistry, biochem, etc.</p>
<p>Engineering degrees are amazingly hard, and people go to medical school to become doctors. I assume you are aiming for the latter, in which case, CE is more of a risk than an aid.</p>
<p>I know several people who successfully bridged the engineering to med route. Honestly, this perception that engineering is so much harder than any other undergrad program is rubbish. If you have the aptitude, desire and put in the hard work, you can obtain stellar grades in engineering and go to med school. </p>
<p>As a side note, the people from engineering who went into medicine were all comitted at first to “using their engineering” in medicine. Without exception, this idea was flung out the window pretty quickly and they simply focussed on med school and making a ton of money thereafter. </p>
<p>My friend is a surgeon. He bought his house right out of residency with 80K in debt. The bank simply advanced him something like 350K (this was pre-boom). In fact, he wanted to pay it back so quickly that bank made him sign a mortgage such that he could not complete his mortgage within the first 4 years. He paid it back ASAP. </p>
<p>I am embarassed to admit how long it has taken to buy my first house. Compared to medical grads, engineering is one big ripoff of the highest order.</p>
<p>I also know 3 people that did engineering than medicine (one of them in chemical).</p>
<p>I agree with the above poster, if you put in the work, you can get a really good GPA. A lot of doing well in engineering isn’t so much the difficulty of it, as grinding out the required reports/assignments/tests etc. to a high degree of quality.</p>
<p>The pros of this route is that you’ll have a great backup career and you’ll stand out from the other applicants.</p>
<p>“My friend is a surgeon. He bought his house right out of residency with 80K in debt.”</p>
<p>Yeah but isn’t a surgeon’s residency like 7 years plus another 5 years or so of fellowships? So wouldn’t he be at least 38 by this point?</p>
<p>Nope.
2yr pre-med<br>
4 years med
5 surgery residency </p>
<p>11 years, therefore 29 y.o earning 200K in first year then on to 400K after that.</p>
<p>I should mention too that when he was “in school” for those 5 years of residency, he was making more than I ever did as a full-time working chemical engineer. Maybe then it is worthwhile to revisit your notion of what “being in school” means. </p>
<p>I read residency to be the type of first-class paid training that I simply could not carve out of the free market as a chemical engineer. That is a fundamental difference: if you take engineering you are giving up a lot of power in the hopes that the free market will take and provide proper training. This has traditionally been the case. But now, with surging enrolment, this underlying assumption no longer holds. </p>
<p>Not getting the right job out of school can destroy your earnings and potential, as happened to me.</p>
<p>sorry to hear that toronto_guy. but shouldn’t your chemical engineering degree should keep you in high demand in the workplace, since it demonstrates how smart and capable you are?</p>
<p>But I LIKE being an engineer. Medicine held no appeal for me. I don’t like the sight of blood! And I can work out of my house as a consultant. Looking out over a snow-covered field and pine trees is hard to beat. :-)</p>
<p>I am not suggesting by any stretch that everyone should go to med school. I am just saying that in Canada, it can be difficult to obtain meaningful work as a chemical engineer. For starters, the chemical industry is very small relative to the overall economy. Of course, no one tells you this in university. </p>
<p>To me a chem eng job means working in a chemical process facility. This is what the degree is intended for and where you earn the most money and also where you get the training you need to succesful. Without this exposure, you are like a pilot that only takes ground school and never flies. </p>
<p>But the supply and demand situation is so bad, that getting a job like this is hard and getting harder due to plant closures. Working in a low paying job where you can barely afford to live really sucks when promises are made and do not materialize about chemical engineering.</p>
<p>I am amazed at what the professional engineering bodies accept as suitable experience for an engineering license given that trades such as plumbing, pipefitting, electrician, etc require very specific on the job experience. On the hand, this is why trades earn a lot in Canada. If the engineering bodies scrutinized experience to the tee, I think much fewer people would end up being licensed so perhaps some political pressure is underlying the process. I am convinced that most people would be better off getting a trade than an engineering degree and tradespeople I know eclipsed my salary 2 or 3 fold with some minor OT. </p>
<p>But if you are happy doing engineering and are satisfied with the pay, then you have achieved success in my view.</p>
<p>Yes, quality of life counts for a lot. And in my case, my husband and I are both working, so our combined income is decent (too decent to get any college aid, unfortunately).</p>
<p>Unfortunately, med schools aren’t going to favor you over any other applicant just because you are an engineer and you have a tougher course load. GPA and MCAT are the determining factors in deciding whether you will get accepted or not. Torontoguy, unless your friend is an FMG or his parents are wealthy and they paid for all his educational loans, it is impossible for him to buy a house straight after residency. Also, it takes at least 13 years total to be become a surgeon. And thats if he is is only a general surgeon who has not specialized in anything. You guys make it sound as if med school is so easy and the life of a med school student/doctor is so rosy and wonderful. Its actually much harder and stressful than you think.</p>
<p>Nope and wrong! In Canada, medical education is fully backed by private loans and banks line up to lend money to medical students. This is then backed up by government. Everyone who is admitted to med school can go in Canada - the tricky part is getting in. Fiannces will not be an impediment. It is the surest form of loan. And with his school debt and offer letter stating that he will be earning 200K per year, the bank simply asked him how much he wanted. If I am not mistaken, I think he rolled his school debt into his mortgage. </p>
<p>He also shaved a couple of years by doing 2 years of pre-med instead of the usual 4 year degree. It took him 11 yeras to become a surgeon. If he did 4 years ug, then you are right he would have been looking at 13 years. He could have done a fellowship - but hell what is the point - he ain’t hurting I can tell you that!</p>