<p>I'm a rising sophomore and just recently I considered dropping the pre-med track altogether and pursuing Biomedical Engineering.</p>
<p>I know I have some catching up to do, since I'm in my college's Arts & Sciences school and have so far only taken basic science and liberal arts courses. However, I do know that, combined with AP credit, I've taken care of just about everything not directly related to engineering (i.e. prerequisites to many upper-level courses, core requirements, electives, etc.). </p>
<p>I'm well aware that I'll basically be living, breathing, and eating engineering should I decide to make the switch, and that, on average, it'll require more studying than other disciplines, especially since I'll be making the switch this late in the game. </p>
<p>I thought about switching from pre-med because I thought I'll be more likely to enter the workforce and jumpstart my life rather than giving up my 20's and taking on lots of med. school debt (and yes, I'm aware that internships are almost a necessity in order to land a job after graduation). </p>
<p>Any advice or anything I'm overlooking about the switch and about engineering in general?</p>
<p>Engineering is a good choice for employment and since you have only been in college for one year, you won’t be too far behind. however, Biomedical Engineering is probably not the best choice for a job right after your B.S. The field is not yet mature and most of the graduates either go to medical school or graduate school. You would be better off in Chemical Engineering with a Biological slant.</p>
<p>Be honest with yourself and decide if math is your strongest subject.
If it isn’t, then you are going to have to gut it out if you want to get a degree in engineering.
Agree with xray, a BS in BME will not get you a job as easily as you think it should.
Also there is not enough engineering in BME for you to cross over and get a job in ChemE, EE, MechE.<br>
You have a lot to think about.</p>
<p>Bioengineering is not as employable with a B.S degree. The kid my daughter knew at her college with this major is tutoring math/physics for a living. He was accepted to the BS/MD program at USC but didn’t have money for MD programs at USC.</p>
<p>@xraymancs I compared both biomed and chemical, and chemical would actually be easier to complete (“easier” meaning not as many classes to take and much more free space in my schedule, even after starting a year late). If chemical engineering is, indeed, more employable with a bachelor’s degree, then I could switch to chemical instead-- and living in Houston certainly doesn’t hurt, unless I’m mistaken OR it’s counterbalanced by the competition from the slew of TAMU petroleum engineers, though I’m not limiting myself to oil/gas. </p>
<p>@beerme though not my strongest, it is one of my strong points.</p>
<p>Chemical Engineering gives you better employability and if you decide eventually to go to graduate school in Biomedical Engineering, it won’t impede you from getting in. Many Biomedical Engineering faculty are Chemical Engineers by training.</p>
<p>BME is really a graduate degree - at the undergraduate level, most people I know said that they essentially learned a bunch of low-level topics and how to do the FDA’s dirty work. At the graduate level you start to actually go in-depth on some subjects.</p>
<p>Have you also considered the other engineering fields? Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, etc. are also all good choices. Specifically, I think you should take a good look at materials science; a lot of people who thought they wanted to do ChemE take a liking to it and choose to do that instead.</p>