So, Princeton only allows 1 major, but as many certificates (minors) as you’d like. Originally, my majors would’ve been biomedical or chemical engineering, molecular biology, and comp Sci, but now I have to make a decision. Should I apply for a molecular biology major and have a biomedical engineering minor, or should I apply for a chemical and biological engineering major, and take biology courses on the side?
Note: I am more focused on chemical/ Biomolecular engineering than molecular biology, but I wouldn’t feel complete without any of those.
If you are undecided between majors and need a tie-breaker, you may want to consider which one is most likely to have the best major-related job prospects in the country where you would be eligible to work in after graduation.
Why not do biomedical in undergrad and chemical as a graduate student or some combination like that? There are 5 year combo programs for bs/ms at many universities or even go 6 years and get what you want. I do think once you look at all the electives you will be exposed to you will have a chance to study the sub areas that you want to. Problem is… There are so many areas to study. Contact an advisor at a few of your targets and see what you options are. None of us have that extent of the knowledge per school.
My D is a chem e. Just finished her first semester of junior year.
Depending on which school you end up at, many programs have a common first year curriculum for all engineers and you pick your major after that.
I will tell you that in my D’s experience, there is very little room in her schedule to take courses outside her major. Typically she has 1 course slot free each semester. Freshman year she used them to finish her gen eds.
It would not be possible for her to double major in another engineering discipline and have any hope of graduating in 4 years. There are too many requirements.
I’d recommend you look up the four year plan of study for the majors you are looking into.
At D’s school she could do a concentration in bio eng which would basically be four additional upper level courses.
My friend, who is now a Mechanical Engineering professor, says to major in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering.
“IMO, never do BME undergrad. Do a “core” engineering program like ME or EE and internships or projects in BME. Why? Medical device companies Still prefer to hire them. They want “core” engineers for those jobs after undergrad and will train them up in the physiology etc they need to know. This is a major issue worldwide for undergrad BME and similar programs.”