<p>I'm going to be a junior in high school next school year and am pretty set on majoring in biomedical engineering as a premed. I know MIT has one of the best engineering schools and thus I want to go there for BME. However, I have heard that many people discourage from going into engineering (because of the toughness in relation to GPA) and discourage even more from doing a premed at MIT becauase of their very strict grading system. My first question is that is MIT really that tough if I am a hard worker and spend most my time studying? Right now I have a 4.0, 4.94 weighted and 5's in AP Calc BC and Government with many more to come in my Junior and Senior year. Ive always been on top of my studies so my concern is if MIT is really that tough. Keep in mind, I do a lof of extracurricular activities but I am not concerned about admission; i am just emphasing the hard working aspect of my stats because i want to know how tough MIT would really be for a hard worker. Next, I am also looking at Johns Hopkins and Duke and am just wondering how a BME grad from either MIT, DUke or Johns Hopkins looks compared to a grad from Harvard when it comes to Medical School. Basically, is it better to just take a premed in life sciences at Harvard or to go for BME at some other universities? Also, I know that Harvard doesnt have the best in engineering in the ranks but would it also be better to apply for BME at Harvard (or some other ivy league schools) to enchance Medical School chances? I know a lot of it comes down to GPA and MCAT but Im also wondering about how the unversity you attend affects admission as well.</p>
<p>becaue you want to be a doctor, i would say go to jhu. it will get you into a med school (i hear they work with undergrads and help them with course selection, major selection, ecs, etc. so they can have amazing med school results) and it is the best BME undergrad (i think, but mit and duke are probably just as strong). if you go to any of these schools you will spend alot of time studying to maintain a good gpa because its engineering. if you are not sure if you want to do medicine, or even BME, mit should be your top choice if you know you want to do engineering, and harvard should be your top choice if you are closer to very undecided. harvard may also give you the highest gpa because duke, jhu, and mit are crazy competitive in BME. </p>
<p>O, and be warned, orgo is a weeding out class to scare people away from being premed. many students will fail/drop becaue a college doesnt want to graduate 50% premed majors.</p>
<p>to answer your last question, yes the school you attend affects admission to an extent. if you are equal to an applicant from StateU, and you go to MIT, you will beat him out. however, Val from StateU will beat out an average MIT student (if equal in most other categories). </p>
<p>Why not do a bs/md program if you want to be a doctor so much? you can go to a place like NU or Caltech and still major in BME but will be guaranteed med school. you still have to maintain a high gpa, but you can skip the MCATS and applying again. its a better deal than risking 4 years of undergrad when you may not get in anywhere.</p>
<p>I'm actually going to be premed at MIT in biological engineering (they don't call it BME..they have a BME minor). I got accepted to JHU biomed, but decided not to go because I am also pretty sure that I want to major in something else...and that would be almost impossible in the BME program at JHU. It's pretty rigid. A lot of people say that it is harder to get into med school from MIT...and that may be true. But I know for sure that JHU is my top choice for med school, and I didn't want to go there for eight years. Besides, I like a challenge...and MIT is one hell of a challenge. :) Seriously, though, venkater has a good point, if you know for sure that being a doctor is what you want to do, then think about going to a 7 year or 6 year medical program. I seriously thought about several programs, but then decided that I wasn't 100% sure that being a doctor was what I wanted to do, so it would be safer to do undergrad first and go through the whole hassle of taking the MCATs. </p>
<p>And keep in mind that the admissions officers at the top med schools will KNOW that the rigor of MIT is crazy. So if you make relatively poor grades compared to some one at a state school or another school, they won't hold it against you.</p>
<p>
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My first question is that is MIT really that tough if I am a hard worker and spend most my time studying?
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It's tough, no doubt about that. But it's survivable, if you're willing to put in the work. (And I'm not even talking about the kind of hard work where you study all day every day and live in the library. You have to have a life or you'll go crazy.)</p>
<p>MIT is an incredibly supportive environment for people who care about science and engineering and about working hard and doing their best. The statistics suggest that MIT students do very well for themselves in medical school admissions -- about 75% of MIT students who apply to medical school are accepted. This isn't as high as the acceptance percentages at other schools of similar caliber, but it does suggest that for most students, coming to MIT as a premed means they can have their cake and eat it too.</p>
<p>i turned down JHU biomed for Harvard. basically, i am like aviatrix and want to go to JHU for grad (although I realize that is very hard to get in to, so i'm not going to bet on it). also, i figured that if i changed my mind in the middle of college, it would be easier to switch majors at Harvard than with the JHU biomed thing.</p>
<p>the consensus is that undergrad school does not matter for medical school. Nor does major. the stats show that the majors of med school matriculants are in nearly the exact same ratio as majors of med school applicants.</p>
<p>That said, GPA and MCAT score are the two most important things in med school admissions. Poor scores in either one will automatically hinder your application process at every school in the country (granted there is a difference between WashU and say University of South Dakota as far as what is competitive). </p>
<p>The thing to be looking for in an undergrad institution is "fit". you need to be going to the school that will allow you to accomplish the most in all aspects of your life: academically (GPA, MCAT), involvement and leadership wise (clubs, volunteering, research, etc.), and socially (something has to keep you sane). If MIT is really the best fit than by all means go there, but if you are really serious about medicine don't let the prestige take you away from a place you really love. The same goes for major. If you really are passionate about BME then get after it, but dont' take it simply because you think it will help you in med school admissions or during med school courses (it won't). The biggest thing for major is to study something you really love (I was sociology, and I have friends in my med school class who were: poli sci, history, psych, business, art history, photography, biology, chemistry and horticulture.</p>
<p>Finally realize that prestige of med school is rather irrelevant unless you are looking at very specific career goals (academic med, research, some of the most competitive residencies...even in these fields it's not that important). With only 125 med schools in the US, the quality of all is very, very high, and all will give you the necessary education to be a doctor.</p>
<p>Let me rephrase the undergrad school thing: </p>
<p>There are variations in the type and quality of tools/opportunities made available to you at various institutions: advising, opportunities for meaningful research experiences, organizations and leadership openings, other extracurriculars. But to be honest, it is hard to quantify those attributes and really judge accurately which school is better.</p>
<p>Further, there are few schools in which the prestige of the undergrad can make up for deficiencies in your application. This question most notably comes up in regards to GPA. Is a 3.4 from MIT better than a 3.7 from StateU...probably not, though certainly equal grades (3.4 vs 3.4) would favor MIT students. How much? It's hard to say and varies from med school to med school. The thing is that med school admissions are very holistic, and they certainly look at the entire application. Thus it is tough to tease out the impact each part has individually.</p>