<p>I am currently in my senior year in high school, and I've only realized recently that I do not want to go to medical school. I thought I did, but I find researching and exploring far more appealing than clinical work. Biomedical engineering sounds really appealing, but I do have my concerns with the area.</p>
<p>Firstly, I heard that SAT math scores can predict your success in engineering. I scored a pretty low 540 on my SAT math in the beginning of my junior year. Never took it again, because I didn't feel the need to. Despite this, I got a 96 average in my pre-calculus class that year and this year, I've managed to maintain a 100 in my AP calculus class all year (and I've got the highest grade in my class). I'm also holding As in all of my other classes, including AP Bio and AP Chem and I'm amongst the top 3 in those classes too. So does it seem like I have a chance of succeeding?</p>
<p>Secondly, I'm great at math and science, but I don't have any experience in actual engineering. Zero. Is this something to worry about? Also, I did excellent in my honors Physics class… sophomore year. I haven't had a physics class since and I regret that. Will that affect me much in college while working on an engineering degree?</p>
<p>Finally, a lot of people online are saying it's difficult to find a job with a BS in BME and that often the job you find will not even be BME or will be a "joke." I'm also hearing that if you want to be able to find a decent job, you need to get at least a MS in BME or a BS in either ChemE or ME followed by a MS in BME. Is this true? If so, which strategy would you recommend? And what would be the differences between getting a BS in ChemE and getting a BS in ME before a BME MS, if any at all?</p>
<p>You don’t have to worry about the experience at all. Most of the student don’t have any experience in their choosing field when they enter the college. And on the other hand, you could try to read some books in bio engineering next semester.
And your calculus is pretty good. And I don’t really think SAT math has anything to do with math major or modeling or something.
Just go for it if you like it!!</p>
Then you heard incorrectly. Your math SAT does not predict your success. It may predict the level of difficulty you might encounter in your engineering classes if you do not increase your knowledge in math, but it does not predict your success in the engineering field. Only you do. Work hard, be persistent, and don’t forget what learned. </p>
<p>Your standings in your class shows you’re able to work to the top but remember your surrounded by high school peers. Things change drastically when you go to college. Don’t compare where you are currently in your classes to where you will be in engineering classes. A lot change in between those two groups and there there are more variables factored in.</p>
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This is nothing to worry about. </p>
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No, this will not effect you because you will take physics again when you’re in college. If you don’t retain the information from the college course, that WILL effect you. </p>
<p>In regards to biomedical engineering, many had said it’s best to get an MS in BME so you’re able to actually research and the like. I don’t know the job prospects not the job environments of those who only have a BS in BME. Now, those who work in the BME industry have a wide range of degrees. Many of those are BME degrees, ChemE degrees, and ME degrees. You can get a degree in any of them and move one to get an MS in BME. It’s ultimately your decision. </p>
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You would learned different engineering degrees. Whatever the difference between ME and ChemE, that’s the difference.</p>
<p>@Niquii77 Thanks for the awesome reply! I’m aware in college, it’ll be different from high school and I’m fine with that. I just want to know I have a chance to do well. :)</p>
<p>When I asked what the differences would be between ChemE and ME, I meant would it affect what kind of Biomedical engineering I would be doing in the future when looking for a career? Although, jobs within the field are so scarce, I guess I’d be lucky to take what I can get. ^^</p>
<p>I do have another question. What I am mostly interested in is Biomedical research. Would that be possible with a degree in biomedical engineering, or would it be best if I continued with my original plan (I was originally planning to double major in molecular/cell/genetic biology and biochemistry)? But of course, if I did that, I wouldn’t get any experience in engineering. :/</p>
<p>You are better of getting an undergraduate degree in a more traditional engineering discipline such as chemical, mechanical, electrical or computer engineering before going on to graduate studies in Biomedical Engineering.</p>
<p>The problem is that undergraduate Biomedical Engineering programs tend to be a sampling from a variety of fields including Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, etc. This means you’ll get a wide range of knowledge but not the depth needed for serious engineering. Companies prefer experts rather than the Jack of all Trades. That is why there are engineering teams and some person tackling a project solo. The purpose of those teams is to draw upon the depth and expertise in engineering from a range of engineers with varying areas of expertise.</p>
<p>Tazzy14, you could always major in Molecular/Cell/Genetic Biology with a minor in General Engineering. That’ll help you get into graduate Biomedical Engineering programs.</p>
<p>With regards to career prospects, job openings are still relatively few compare to other disciplines despite the fact that BME is growing. But in any case, to get one of those BME positions, it is practically a given that you need a graduate degree anway.</p>
<p>Also, if you go with Chemical or Mechanical Engineering, you could always just take Biology, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, and maybe some Biomaterials or Materials course.</p>
<p>Afterwards, you can pursue graduate studies in BME to build on that knowledge.</p>
<p>@j814wong Wow, I never thought about minoring in general engineering as an option! That sounds pretty doable, actually. But would my opportunities be greater if I went with Chemical or Mechanical instead? I really like the idea of biomedical research, so which of these options would give me the better chance at working with that? I’m thinking that since a BA/BS in Bio is not very marketable, it would defeat the purpose of not doing BME for undergrad (although I definitely think it would be a fun major and it’d definitely be easier to get a high GPA in).</p>
<p>At this point, I’m now thinking I want to get my BA in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Biology to make up for those missing Bio classes, followed by a M.S. in BME and who knows about a PhD at this point. Haha. I was considering ME, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really don’t care for it. Of course, I hear it’s a really hard major, but I’m willing to try.</p>
<p>It seems we have a little in common with the pre med thing. I love medicine, but becoming a doctor is just not what I want to do.</p>
<p>I will respectfully disagree with some of the other posters. Many engineering schools with established undergraduate BME programs prepare students extremely well to enter the work force or grad school. My D is a sophomore BME. At her school (like most engineering schools), ALL engineers take the same engineering core, if you will, of physics, math, chem, stats, etc. BMEs must take bio in addition to this. In her program, BMEs specialize is biomechanics, biomaterials / tissue, or bioinstrumentation. BMEs take some basic courses that are necessary for all of these specializations and then start taking courses in their specific area. These areas of specialization require coursework related to Mech E, Chem E, or EE respectively. </p>
<p>D first decided upon this major thinking that she would apply to med school. After seeing the job and grad school opportunities for BME majors at her school, she has changed her mind deciding she would rather get into a funded grad school program that is still related to medicine or go directly into industry than go into major debt in med school. Her school has impressive stats for job and grad school placement for BME majors (as well as many other majors). </p>
<p>When she was applying to schools, there were fewer undergrad BME programs. Lots of people said that it was a waste of a major unless you planned to apply to med school. Interestingly, none of the people that said this were BME majors! It was all supposition form folks that knew little about the field and undergraduate education in the major. The field is growing steadily. Here are links to a couple of articles that talk about job and salary prospects:</p>
<p>My D loves her major and is passionate about what she is studying, and is thus a happy and successful student. I am sure that she would not be nearly as happy majoring in one of the traditional engineering areas. </p>
<p>Best of luck with the rest of senior year and the college application process!</p>
<p>If you were to go with a pure science and a minor in general engineering, you’d probably need a graduate degree anyway if you want an engineering career.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to get a graduate degree in engineering, your best bet is to study one of the traditional engineering disciplines. Which one you choose will be determined by your interests within Biomedical Engineering. Do you want to do research and development of medical devices or maybe do research on tissue engineering for example?</p>
<p>Like you, I was once a premed student but decided that I would rather aim for biomedical engineering.</p>
<p>@GraniteStateMom, some colleges have better BME programs than others. Some of them tie together the various topics very well while others appear to simply throw together a variety of courses that can be applied in BME but don’t aren’t sufficiently tied together. To answer college specific concerns if one insists on BME, it would be best to examine individual BME programs and if possible, speak to alumni of the program. For example, an alumni of a certain college I’m interested in said that he and some of his friends regarded the BME program as being a bit poorly tied together resulting in difficulty in connecting the ideas of various topics. This same college also has specialization tracks but my concern with this particular colleges curriclum is that even within a specific track, one has a lot of flexibility with many technical elective options within each track. This may potentially result in a lack of structure and connection of concepts and information from each course.</p>
<p>If you look at a typical Mechanical Engineering curriculum, there is a lot of prerequisites and corequisites usually. On the contrary, I’ve noticed that BME curriculum tend to have less prerequisites and corequisites but to various degrees. Personally, I find this to be a bit of a source of concern since combining and tying together knowledge is absolutely crucial when it comes to engineering as the engineer needs to draw from a variety of information and ideas. Disjointed concepts would be very detrimental in such a way.</p>
<p>But it is good that your daughter is enjoying her major. If she knows she wouldn’t enjoy any other major with the same fervor, it’s definitely wise of her to stick with BME.</p>
<p>I have read through all these posts and would appreciate any input especially from employed engineers in industry. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the guidance suggested above and my son is due to graduate with BME this spring. He has a stellar gpa, great prof recommendations, and research experience, but has been unable to get a foot in the industry door even for an internship. He had planned on getting his MS going in to this, but is now wondering if he should consider getting his MS in ME instead of BME. Thoughts? He went ahead and applied for BME grad school and has had good response, even possible offers for PhD acceptance. However, based on all the negative he is reading he is not comfortable committing 5 more years for PhD and staying in the research realm when all job postings are requiring multiple years in industry to even apply for jobs. He is not sure he wants a life career in research at the academic level. He is really regretting not doing ME as undergrad, but his original intent was med school, which he has decided against. Thanks</p>
<p>UWHuskyDad, what rankings would constitute a well-known BME program?</p>
<p>And let’s say that one were to major in a traditional engineering field such as chemical or mechanical engineering. What sort of steps can a student make as an undergraduate to increase their chances in getting a career involving cutting-edge R&D work? </p>
<p>Personally, I intend to major in Mechanical Engineering and take some Biology and BME courses then get a graduate degree in Biomedical Engineering. My interests is in artificial organs and medical instrumentation.</p>
<p>To everyone else, I would also like to point out that if you were to look at the faculty in BME departments, you will see people from biology, physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, etc.</p>
<p>And out of curiosity. With regards to cutting edge R&D in industry, what areas of biomedical engineering are seeing high activity? I want to work in R&D in industry and not academia.</p>
<p>As far as I know, research in areas like genomics and tissue engineering appears to mostly in academia while medical devices and instrumentation seem more the realm of industry.</p>
<p>[Life</a> Science Careers: Biomedical Engineering ? IEEE Life Sciences - IEEE Life Sciences](<a href=“http://lifesciences.ieee.org/education/careers/22-career-focus-biomedical-engineering]Life”>http://lifesciences.ieee.org/education/careers/22-career-focus-biomedical-engineering)
“‘Students in biomedical engineering tend to be trained more broadly than EEs,’ says Foster [professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania]. ‘As a consequence, our students tend to be generalists.’ He says the companies that hire biomedical engineers tend to use them as generalists or in area such as project planning or management. ‘The people I know in industry tend to run medical device projects, work on getting devices to market, or organize small research projects rather than work in computer programming or circuit design,’ he says.”</p>
<p>This is in line with what UWHuskyDad said. For R&D, you have to be a specialist not a generalist.</p>
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