I was recently accepted into JHU ED, and somehow, I was also accepted into BME. Although I am interested in the field and almost 100% sure I would really enjoy the major, my mentality thus far has been to go to med school. I’m wondering whether it’s a good idea to take the BME major - would it be significantly easier for me to get a 3.5+ in a general bio major, or does the prestige of Hopkins BME outweigh the lower gpa? Also, which BME year is usually considered the hardest? Will I be hit hard by the engi courses of the bat or will it slowly ramp up? Lastly, can I drop the BME major after fall or do I have to wait the entire year?
(current BME)
- Generally it's said that it's harder to keep a premed GPA as a BME than as another major. BMEs have to take a lot of difficult classes which can really bring your GPA down. However, it's definitely possible to get a 3.5+ as a BME.
- From what I understand of med school, GPA and MCAT are the most important things in your app. Hopkins prestige won't make up for a low GPA - but it will add to a better GPA.
- Sophomore Spring and Junior fall are typically considered the hardest if you're going by the recommended track.
- You'll be taking STEM classes from day 1. The first year is mainly intro classes, but it quickly escalates into more difficult engineering classes.
So, in your opinion, I wouldn’t be risking my GPA too much if I were to stick with it for all of freshman year to see how it goes?
Let’s say I do go for a 3.5. How many hours outside of class would I need to study daily, approximately?
It depends on the person. The average BME GPA is around a 3.4, so you’ll need to be an above average BME to have that premed GPA. Freshman year BME si not very different from freshman year for any other STEM major, so there’s no real harm in sticking with it freshman year.
Once again, that depends on the person. Some students are able to keep a 3.5+ while double majoring, fulfilling very demanding and time consuming on campus roles, keeping up with research, having a very active social life, etc. Others struggle to maintain a 3.0 (or lower) with very few extra responsibilities. It’s hard to determine where you would fall on the scale. Also keep in mind that most of us (at least speaking for myself and the people I hang out with), don’t study constantly - rather our study patterns are wavelike. Averaging it out, maybe I spend an average 28 hours per week (4hrs/day) outside of class just doing schoolwork (not including my other responsibilities), but some weeks I’ll spend <10 hours studying and doing homework and others I’ll spend >40 hours.
Thanks for your responses! Would you say the freshman BME courses are fairly easy when compared to the rest of the workload? I’ve heard intro to BME is done in groups; how do midterms and finals work?
The freshman fall BME class, BME Modeling and Design, is essentially a lab course where you work in groups to complete a bunch of modeling and design projects. The workload isn’t too bad - there may be a last minute scramble to finish a lab report or get a poster together - and you get to go to six flags for free. This class doesn’t have midterms or finals. You’re graded on your lab reports, final project, MATLAB project, etc.
The freshman spring BME class is a one credit lecture course about opportunities in BME. You’re graded entirely on attendance (though they may have changed that since I was s freshman).
If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you outline the other BME courses too and their level of difficulty?
I can give a breakdown of the core BME classes. However you’re also required to take at least 21 credits of focus area classes that span multiple departments. i can give a basic idea of what those entail, but there’s too much to cover for a single post.
Core Courses:
BME Modeling and Design (Freshman Fall): Essentially a lab course introducing students to the basics of biological modeling and engineering design. Not difficult by any means, but you may end up spending a decent amount of time on lab reports.
BME in the Real World (Freshman Spring): 1 credit lecture course covering opportunities in the BME industry.
Molecules and Cells (Sophomore Fall or Freshman Fall with AP Chemistry credit): Course in biology and biochemistry. Can be challenging for some due to the range of material covered.
Models and Simulations (Sophomore Spring or Freshman Spring if you take DiffEq in the fall): Advanced course in biological modeling and simulations. Very math heavy and requires above average DiffEq skills. The first half is very straight forward, but the second half can be tricky.
Systems and Controls (Sophomore Spring or Freshman Spring if you take DiffEq in the fall): Combination of Signals and Systems and Control Engineering. Covers essential aspects of each topic. Very math heavy and requires above average DiffEq skills. The first half can be confusing, but the second half is pretty straight forward.
Systems Bioengineering 1 (Junior Fall): Cardiac physiology from “the ground up”. Covers everything from ion channel modeling to cardiovascular networks. Widely considered to be one of the most difficult classes in the BME department if not at Hopkins.
Systems Bioengineering 2 (Junior Spring): Engineering approach to the nervous system. Considered difficult, but not as difficult as SBE 1.
Systems Bioengineering 3 (Senior Fall): Systems Biology at the cellular and molecular level. Considered the easiest of the SBE series.
Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics (Junior or Senior Fall): Covers exactly what the name implies. Considered very difficult.
Focus Areas:
Systems Biology - a jack of all trades type concentration. Focuses on designing models of biological systems.
Computational Biology - geared towards those interested in Applied Math or Computer Science. Can focus on computational medicine, genomics, robotics, or instrumentation.
Instrumentation - geared towards those interested in Electrical or Computer engineering. Can focus on medtech design or robotics.
Imaging - geared towards those interested in CS or ECE. Focuses on designing biomedical imaging systems (MRI, CAT, etc).
Cell Tissue Engineering - most bio heavy concentration and most popular with premeds. Focused on genetic engineering, stem cell research, etc.
You can get more information here: http://www.bme.jhu.edu/undergraduate/degree-requirements