I’m pretty sure most high school students have trouble choosing between the two majors… I’m just adding to the mix. I remember awhile ago going on a college tour and the tour guides saying that if you’re unsure about being an engineer it’s easier to go into school with the engineering major and then switch out of it rather than switching your major to engineering halfway and trying to catch up. HOWEVER, the same is said for pre-med majors. I’m just kinda stuck on what would be more worthwhile for me since I don’t know exactly what I wanna do. Careers I’ve been thinking about are either being an ob/gyn, working as an engineer at Nasa or Boeing, OR being an architect. For the most part I’ve just been thinking that the best idea is to pick a well rounded engineering major that I can use for any of these… right? Please give me advice haha
There is no such thing as a pre-med major. Med school hopefuls can major in anything–even engineering–so long as they complete all medical school prerequisites. BME and ChemE are the engineering majors with the greatest overlap with pre-med requirements. Electrical, civil and aerospace engineering don’t include the necessary chem & bio classes and don’t have much space for electives that would allow you to take those classes.
Your guide is right. Engineering has a very lockstep curriculum that’s difficult to switch into later on during college. If you entertain any thoughts about pursuing engineering as a major, it’s best to start out in engineering. You can always change your mind later and move out of engineering, but switching into engineering means you will start out two or more semesters behind in meeting graduation requirements.
While I can see architecture and engineering being kind of related, it’s kind of hard to see how medicine fits into your stated interests. What about each of these pursuits attracts you? Have you done any job shadowing or volunteering in areas related to any of these careers? Have you talked with any adults who work in any of these fields?
I think talking and observing will help you narrow down your interests.
Also take into consideration that engineering and architecture will get into your career much quicker than medicine will. Engineers can readily find jobs with a just a bachelors. Architects usually need a master’s to get a professional license. (Many students do a 5 year combined BArch/MArch degree.) Medicine requires at least 11 years–4 years undergrad, 4 years med school, 3-8 years of residency & fellowship. (OB/GYN has a 4 year residency plus offers 3 years of optional fellowships for subspecialties like reproductive endocrinology, gynecolgic oncology, family planning, minimally invasive surgery, maternal-fetal medicine and urogynecology.)
P.S. As a cautionary note–you should NOT be focusing on specific medical specialties before you get accepted into med school. There’s no guarantee you’ll qualify for OB/GYN (which has become increasingly competitive in the past 5 years).
If you’re interested in OB/GYN because you want to do primarily pre- and post-natal care and deliver babies–consider nurse midwifery.
I️ know there’s no premed major I️ just meant majoring in something more directly related to med school than engineering. I️ think I️ might like the idea of medicine the most and helping people like that but the idea of it taking so long is really discouraging…