Hi im currently a senior who has taken rigorous courses and am looking to apply for an engineering degree in high school and later go to med school hopefully. Recently when looking at admission requirements i noticed many colleges ask for 2-3 years of science and I was like ok great im ok but then it says including at leats 1 year of chem and physics. Throughout all my high school courses I have never taken anything chem related and started freaking out because i dont know what to do. How stringent is the colleges when it comes to taking specifically chem will they outright deny me from attempting to go to their college? In high school I have done courses of Bio Ap Bio Physics Ap physics and Dual enrollment Anatomy and Physiology. Pls help
For the schools that you are looking at, is chemistry “required” or is it “recommended”?
I have seen some schools that “recommend” all of chemistry, physics, and bio, but “require” two of them. In high school I had two of them (I couldn’t handle the the labs for bio so skipped it) but still did fine in college admissions. If your application is otherwise strong, I wouldn’t worry if they “recommend” chemistry.
Of course, if you end up taking premed classes, then you are going to need to take chemistry in university.
It will be a big question mark, I do wonder if kids get bad advice when so many seem to take A&P over solid AP sciences in their own schools. Is it too late to get into a chem class in your school? Does your district offer any online classes?
Completely unrelated to your question, why would you choose engineering as a premed?
I get the logic…have a backup that has really good earning potential if you don’t get in. The problem is, engineering almost certainly makes getting into medical school (or any other professional school) harder.
There are 4 things to consider GPA, MCAT, having all prerequisites and letters.
Engineering is hard, REALLY hard. Getting a high GPA is difficult. At my son’s school, the average GPA for graduating engineers is 2.7. In the ME department over 10% of the letter grades awarded are F! It’s a well respected school. GPA is by far and away the most important factor in getting in.
It’s also hard to get all your prerequisites because most engineering programs don’t have free electives.
It’s very important for you to decide if medicine is your primary objective and whether or not you’re willing to do everything possible to maximize your admission chances. If you decide yes, engineering is a poor choice.
I have seen an equal mix of both recommended and required which is what concerned me. The chem classes at my school are not taught very well and are often taken as a weighted study hall because you learn nothing and kids have group chats to share answers during a test and teacher chooses not to care. Additionally the students who choose to actually want to make an effort to learn chem the teachers for the chem department dont often feel the same way so that makes it a bigger chore and very difficult to study on my own. I do have a very strong application however with a few leadership roles and 200+ hours of volunteering as well as good standardized test scores and a decent enough gpa to be top 10% of my class. Also it is too late for me to switch into a chemistry class, however I am not sure about how the online course policy works at my school or if I am allowed to concurrently take a course during the school year rather than over the summer. I will look into that regardless and make sure to see if it is a viable option. Also the engineering I plan to do for my undergraduate study is biomedical engineering since that is the common path before going to pursue med school. Since biomedical engineering would have courses that align with some of the premed requirements I thought of it as a viable undergrad to do.
Since your BME is so planned, what were you thinking in not taking any chem at all? What are you bio and physics AP scores, and your SAT/ACT? What schools do you have in mind?
Most schools would require 2 or 3 lab sciences. That means you need to have at least two of the three: biology, chemistry, and physics.
BME aligns best with the prerequisites and is thus the most widely chosen engineering field for those planning on applying to medical school. Most who choose it do it thinking it’ll be a good backup if they don’t get in. There’s a problem though. BME is harder than nearly every other premed route and the job market for BMEs without advanced degrees is poor. You will take harder math and calculus series and that’s just the beginning. You’ll take way more of it. On top of that you’ll have courses like statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, circuits and fluid mechanics, all harder than any courses a typical premed will take, none applicable to medical school. The biggest advantage is that IF you get in, your work ethic and problem solving skills will set you on a path to compete well in medical school. The problem is, it will reduce your chance of getting in due to the unnecessary rigor.
Just to add to what @eyemgh said. As a rule engineering students will be the most academically proficient too. You will be competing for the best grades in the most difficult courses with the best students. Necessary for an aspiring engineer but a steep challenge for someone who wants to be a doctor. While grades are important for the student who desires to be an engineer, they will be critical for those who want to be accepted into med school. The courses not offered as a BME will be no cakewalk either. Anatomy and Physiology are a couple of the more challenging courses for most pre-meds (but not for BMEs).
My bio ap score was a 5 and i am only taking ap physics this year. My Act is a 34
Also I do see the concern you raised for other elements of the engineering side but physics and math are natural to me i aced honors physics which is basically ap physics 1 with a 95 final average and im acing multi variable calculus and Ap stat as of now. I wouldn’t see too much of the rigor in that regard however the only real obstacle i see is a workload my unweighted gpa is about a 3.8-3.9 so I do not anticipate a high difficulty as it is made to be seen as
Also to why I did not take chem was because the chem department at my school is horrid kids take chem as a gpa boost + study hall and learn nothing in those classes. They have group chats in which they find answer keys online and share answers during a test and the teacher does not care. As for schools in mind I have reaches of georgia tech univ mich and univ washington and i have a few safety in state schools. Also sorry for the late responses I was attending a wedding.
I’m surprised your Guidance Counselor did not have you take chemistry. Without it, how do you even know you’d like med school? (I know Bio is more critical. But typically students interested in STEM majors also have chem and physics). The good news is that it seems you are really good in calc and physics. They are really important in engineering. I’m not sure how you can get around the chemistry void, but I bet you’ll find a way.
You are obviously a terrific student, but you will want a good story to cover this issue. How about CC/DE options? Your school has no AP chem, is that what you are saying?
The road is littered with students who underestimated the challenge of engineering. Even the most gifted go through phases of struggle. Take this lightly and be prepared for the possibility that you’ll be neither a doctor or an engineer.
I’ll leave you with a little anecdote. The median ACT at my son’s school is 33. SAT 1450. The average graduating senior’s GPA…2.7.
“I have never taken anything chem related” - Maybe you could find a way to take a summer course? (It won’t help for admissions, but it would help you be better prepared for wherever you end up attending.)