<p>Is it possible to have a decent social life while studying BME as a PreMed? Can I maintain a 3.4/3.5+ GPA and get all my shadowing/volunteering stuff done so that I can get into a medical school (it doesn't necessarily need to be Harvard), while still being able to enjoy time with friends/date?</p>
<p>I don't know if this is a question that gets asked a lot, but I've heard mixed opinions about studying BME as a Premed. I've read and heard from people that the difficulty and workload of engineering does not mesh well with the GPA/shadowing/volunteering requirements of PreMed. I am not doing the BME major to boost my resume for medical school (they don't care about your major), but because I can't really choose one or the other. I find both absolutely fascinating (decent salaries, too), and I want to keep doors open to both careers for as long as possible. </p>
<p>I'm willing to put in the work, but not if it requires sacrificing all of my opportunities to hang out with friends, date women, exercise, pursue a hobby, enjoy the "college experience," etc.</p>
<p>im in a very similar situation as well, i want to be a doctor but take the BME route</p>
<p>Hi Shankist,</p>
<p>nihar94 had a similar question, so I will repost my reply to him/her here:</p>
<p>"I have several BME friends, and it didn’t seem like BME was too difficult for them. However, I have a feeling the BME crowd is a self-selecting group - if you like engineering, you’re one of those people who enjoy analyzing math/science problems and being quantitative. Since medical school prerequs deal heavily with math/science, the BME-ers have a ball. </p>
<p>The work load though is tough. There seems to be a lot of problem sets and projects, and you do take more science/engineering/math classes per semester than other premeds. </p>
<p>I hear BME140 is a tough course. This was several years ago, so I’m not sure if the instructor and the exams have changed. </p>
<p>All the BMEs I know did well in the medical school application process, most getting into their top choice. However, like I said, the group might be self-selecting because of their academic interests. Make sure you are passionate about science, engineering, and quantitative courses. </p>
<p>There is also a small number of former BMEs who eventually switched over to Arts and Sciences. It was mostly a workload issue."</p>
<p>Since you have more of the GPA concern in your question, I’d like to add some points (and then you can decide for yourself, based on your knowledge of your own talents/interests, how you might do in BME):
- The GPA points do not account for pluses and minuses. Meaning if you get a B+ in BME, that’s the same as a B. This also means a B- = B.
- The workload is very heavy. My BME friends were constantly staying up late.
- I have friends whose GPA “suffered” and those who didn’t. The ones who came out with strong GPAs were students who’ve always had a penchant for math and science, especially engineering science (ie. analysis of systems, quantitative reviews, system design and critique). They all did well in their introductory biology and calculus classes, although some of them had trouble with organic chemistry. One friend whose GPA “suffered” had a workload management issue her first/second year, then she came out very strong junior/senior year. So the experiences can run quite a gamut. If you want to be safe, consider how much you love engineering and applying engineering thinking to biological problems and consider how well you manage time.
- Since the workload is heavier, this might impact the time you have for extracurriculars. Most of my BME friends did not have as many extracurricular commitments as regular premeds, but they managed to show leadership and productivity in the activities they did join and this reflected well on their med school app cycle.</p>
<p>BME = Business Majors Eventually. Lol, I’m not a BME, but I got that from a BME friend. Look here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/37114-biomedical-engineering-wash-u.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/37114-biomedical-engineering-wash-u.html</a></p>
<p>My opinion as an outsider: I’ve heard it’s hard, a lot of freshmen end up switching out after the intro class due to difficulty and realizing it was not what they wanted to do, and it’s really not the best choice if you’re just pre-med and don’t really have an interest in doing bme (it’s much harder than other pre-med majors). At the same time, it’s one of the best/hardest programs in the country and med school admissions know that, with access to one of the best med schools in the country for research and graduate school, and the environment is very supportive and not at all cutthroat. Starting out as BME and taking the intro class your first semester is probably the best way to see if you’re really interested in it.</p>
<p>zenith is wrong on one point- </p>
<p>+'s and -'s do in fact count for incoming engineers now.</p>
<p>Thanks for correcting that point, Johnson181. I’m guessing the department must have changed that grading detail recently.</p>
<p>Yep- the rising sophomores (2014’ers?) were the first class that was affected by the change (and transfers that came in last year).</p>
<p>So glad I dodged that… but I’ve had so many classes where I’ll get that stupid B+… To be fair though, I’ve snaked by with a handful of A-'s too, so I really can’t complain.</p>
<p>I am a BME premed. My GPA is 3.72. It can be done with a fairly good social life. Advices:</p>
<ol>
<li>BME 140 is hell. Plan to spend a lot of time on it. With the exception of ORGO (only for premeds, not necessary for BME’s), 2nd semester Freshmen year/all of Sophomore year are way easier than 1st semester with 140. </li>
<li>I’d say get as much Math AP credit as you are decently comfortable with (ie. if you’ve had BC, jump to Calc 3). The time saved is rather useful. Also be sure to test out of Writing. </li>
<li>Take Physics 197. Not 117. Reread 4 times and memorize this point. Probably the most important point here.</li>
<li>Overall I’d argue that my GPA is lower than if I’d gone artsci, but I’m OK with that. The average GPA that gets into WUSTL’s med school is 3.8 I believe. I plan to bring my GPA up a little, but realize that depending on year, WUSTL’s med school is ranked between 1-5 in the country. IE. I am on the low end of what would get someone into one of the BEST schools in the country. I’ll still get into a very good Med School, and am happy to have gotten to experience BME, whether I directly use it or not. </li>
<li>On the research/volunteer side: USE YOUR SUMMERS. You can work during the year on research, but it can be dificult to balance. Particularly your first year when you are still getting used to things/your 2nd when you will presumably take ORGO. There’s no real reason not to use your summers (though still try to use the year if you can handle it). Also take MED Prep to get shadowing out of the way quickly.</li>
</ol>
<p>Will colleges look at the fact that you majored in BME which is harder to get a higher GPA in?</p>
<p>Med schools might be impressed by doing well in BME, put it probably won’t excuse a lower GPA. That being said, if you make it through BME 140, you’re in pretty good shape to do well in whatever classes you have to take. Thats how it worked for me, even with Physics 117…</p>
<p>So getting through BME 140, the nightmare weeder class, is the only thing I really have to worry about?</p>
<p>No, you need to worry about everything, but doing well in 140 suggests that you’re the type of person who will do well in other classes.</p>
<p>
No, what you have to worry about is QP.
If you can get through 140, you can get through 301a and b. But I just don’t see why you would choose to, if you’re planning on going to med school (or really for any reason).</p>
<p>I simply chose not to, because I was sick of the bs that the department apparently enjoys pulling. Wasn’t going to put myself through it when it wasn’t at all necessary. A good majority of it is politics, not whether or not you’re cut out for the field. (Seriously. The BME department needs a good slap to the face.)</p>
<p>(Note, I’m not premed).</p>
<p>^Tell more if you wouldn’t mind about your second paragraph…not sure I know what you’re referring to. I suppose I know least about the BME department than any other engineering.</p>
<p>Can someone give me some pros/cons/list about being bme premed? Also, is it wise for premeds to take orgo not at WashU?</p>
<p>(To sum up my pm I sent to marc- essentially the department likes to try to convince people to leave. I was sick of being in a dept that didn’t want all of its students, when there were other dept’s essentially begging for more students.)</p>
<p>If you’re 100% sure you want to be premed, I personally think it’s foolish to go the bme route; I also think it’s foolish to go the bme route if you’re not premed, but I clearly have issues with the dept.</p>
<p>Thanks Johnson – much obliged for the pm.</p>
<p>I’m starting to have issue with the CSE department…class sizes have more than doubled in the past four years for all introductory courses and they have less faculty than ever…many of whom haven’t taught in semesters, and some who teach one lousy class a year. Might not be the best path for those thinking of applying. </p>
<p>Big fan of the ESE department though…I’m looking forward to Information Theory next semester</p>
<p>So what do you suggest instead of the BME route? What would you suggest for someone who wants both the option of being a doctor and the option of creating cyborgs at the end of undergrad studies?</p>
<p>Should I double major in bio and a hard science/math and apply to BME grad school (i heard you need masters to get a job in the field now anyway), or is that just as hard as doing any other non-BME engineering?</p>
<p>I want to do be able to go BME after undergrad, but I don’t want to ruin my gpa for medschool/live in the library. </p>
<p>Basically I’m being an indecisive dweeb who doesn’t want to work too hard</p>