<p>Hi, I'm an incoming Freshmen this fall. I want to do Mechanical Engineering and Pre-med + a minor. But as I came across the enrollment regulations, I found that 216 is the number of maximum units that can be completed. As I count the units needed for ME and Pre-med, the units needed already exceeds 216. I know that I can file a petition in the future, but what is the chance that they'll approve ME + Pre-med + Minor?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>I know a few engineers who are pre-med. They tell me that as long as you can prove to the department that you will graduate on time without failing, they let you do what you need to do.</p>
<p>Plus, my dentist was MechE at UCLA.</p>
<p>^fine, but that sounds unusual.</p>
<p>@OP If you want to be mechE AND premed AND do a minor, that just sounds like you don’t know what the h*** you want to do.</p>
<p>Planning to go the biomechanics route? I have never heard of anyone doing ME for undergrad and then going to medical school. Closest was bioengineering, then mechanical for graduate school (biomechanics), and then finding an engineering job at the hospital. But not med school.</p>
<p>I met one guy in my MAE 94 class two summers ago who applied to med school. The MechE curriculum leaves practically no room for the life sciences and ochem series. Attending UCLA for undergrad for 5 years will most likely happen, even if you take summer school because you want to maintain a high GPA (some quarters will kill you if you take 4 classes) and will need to dedicate one summer to studying for the MCAT or the like.</p>
<p>I hope you aren’t doing engineering as a backup scenario…MechE and the lower division sciences have little to no overlap. You’re asking for 5 years here + summer school + 4 classes every quarter. On top of all the extra curriculars…</p>
<p>That’s surprising. I thought a lot of the pre-reqs for engineering (like chem, physics, and math) count as pre-med requirements. It doesn’t matter which series you take for chem/physics/math. As for the 216 unit cap though, it doesn’t matter if you exceed it as long as you finish in 4 years (includes the summer after you graduate).</p>
<p>My ultimate goal is going to med school, but should I not to get in, I want ME to be my future career. So I guess it’s like what #6 said. There is also one particular minor that I’m very interested in. It’s not related to med either, however. Anyhow, thank you so much for your replies, I’ll think about my plans carefully before start of college.</p>
<p>@theespys69: Engineers have to take the Chem 20/30, Physics 1, and Math 30 series. As for MechE, the Chem 30 and LS series aren’t factored into the four year plan if you want to go premed.</p>
<p>^Yea, but it still takes care of the math, physics, and gen chem requirements for med school (they take either series). OP can use some of the electives to take ochem and LS (or take those classes during the summer).</p>
<p>There are people that major in engineering and go to med school, so its not unheard of. It is, however, difficult. GPA tends to be lower in engineering colleges, and GPA is a big factor in admissions. Engineering courses are time intensive, so it leaves less time for doing stuff that boosts your med school app. like volunteer work in a medical setting or research in a lab. And if you want mechE as a fallback plan then you ought to be getting an internship in industry during one of those summers, too; the same summer a lot of kids use to do an MCAT prep course. </p>
<p>You can plan on doing anything; saying you’ll do engineering, and premed, and an unrelated minor is just a matter of typing the words. So is a summer internship and MCAT prep course. Finding the time to actually do all these things, and do them well, is another matter. But there’s no rule that says it can’t be done, so I hope it works out the way you hope.</p>
<p>just take the classes and im pretty sure you’ll figure out whether to go either pre-med or mechE in a quarter or two. eventually you’ll know which one you really want to do.</p>
<p>These threads always make me laugh a little. Take it one step at a time, man.</p>
<p>Engineering doesn’t enforce any unit maximum. The 216 is for the college. HSSEAS doesn’t care.</p>