GT vs. UVa for BME/looking for fit

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgia Institute of Technology
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Hi everyone, and sorry in advance for the long post! :slight_smile:

As we’re getting close to May 1 decision day, I’ve pretty much narrowed it down to UVa and Georgia Tech. (I was waitlisted at Hopkins, denied at Duke, and I’m still waiting to hear back from Princeton and UPenn, but I think that UVa and GT are my realistic options.)

I was accepted to the engineering school at UVa and as a biomedical engineering major at GT. Finances are not an issue; I’m getting in-state tuition at both places.

I’m very interested in BME, but I do have interests outside of engineering and I’m very open to switching my major if I find something that is a better fit for me. Is this easy to do at GT? (ex. switching from BME, to, say, a biochem major, or even something in the humanities.)

I am seriously considering going to medical school and want to study on a pre-med track. Is the pre-med program strong at GT? I am very interested in doing research during my undergrad years. I also play piano and want to take lessons as electives or pursue a music minor.

I don’t want to drink/smoke/party, but I still want to have a social life. I’m not extremely interested in the athletics scene or Greek life. I really want to be in a serious academic environment where students have intellectual discussion outside of the classroom. How prevalent is this intellectual culture at GT? I also want to be able to interact with people outside of my major. How easy is it at GT to make friends outside of the school that you’re in?

I applied regular decision to GT, so I’m not in the Honors program. Is this a big disadvantage, and if so, how easy is it to apply to the Honors program as a current student?

I have a lot of dual enrollment credits through my high school that are from Virginia, so the majority of them will transfer at UVa, but does anyone know if GT takes OOS DE credits?

Taking all of this into consideration (I know it’s a lot!), are there any students that could weigh in on whether or not they think GT would be a good fit for me? I’m visiting Georgia Tech this Monday. I’ve visited the UVa campus before and did an overnight visit, and I did like it.

Thank you so much!

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DS13 started as a BME major. That lasted 1 semester. He took the intro class and talked to BME students and quickly realized it wasn’t for him. It wasn’t difficult at all for him to switch to EE.

He is not in the Honors program. I do not think it is a disadvantage to him. His Girlfriend is an AE major and his 3 roommates are ME majors so I don’t think it’s difficult to make friends outside your major.

How are you getting instate tuition at GT and UVa. Do you have a scholarship at GT that allows instate tuition? Just asking because that could be a big difference in price.

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Dual enrollment at GT, probably yes, you may get credits!
go to the page where you can enter the community college name,and it will pop up which courses GT will accept.

We found a local Colorado community college on the list, so Virginia colleges should appear on there.

You may want to look for the best medical school advising group between, UVA and GT. I don’t know which is better.
It is truly very difficult to get into medical school these days. Check what % get in from each school.

I think BME may not be a good choice for most students interested in medical school. Think about chemistry, biochemistry, biology and/or psychology chemistry will give you more breathing room to have a job
in a hospital during the semester and summers. You need to get clinical experience as an undergrad to be sure
medicine is for you.

Check where you can work, I think GT you can work at Emory Medical school? This is very important if
you want to get into an MD program straight away, you must have hospital experience, clinical,not some sort of medical equipment design, which is entirely not helpful in a BME program, I would say.

Studying for MCATS is another thing you must do as a premed. If one fails to get a good MCAT score,the entire process was wasted, so do not pick a heavy duty major, it does not help! Ask how each school will help you study and get a high score on the MCAT!

As far as Honors at GT, lots of EA students did not make it in. its a small dorm
with half girls and half boys, so most students do not get into Honors, it will not make any difference. Honors is more or less a social support group for freshmen who make it in,with some side benefits, but not a big deal, from what I understand about it.