Preparing In High School For BME?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
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<p>Is there anything significant which a sophomore in high school could do in the summer or after school related to biomedical engineering and genetic engineering (I'm planning to major in these areas) that would fuel these interests and stand out on a college application? I've heard of high school students conducting research and even publishing their own scientific articles.</p>

<p>To those who majored in BME, what did you do in high school that would show your interest for it?</p>

2

<p>In high school, I didn’t really show any particular interest to BME in general. In the summer, I just spent time volunteering and working.</p>

<p>But if I were to wind back the clock, I would have taken more computer science classes and I would have tried harder to research at a University. I only applied to one place and was pretty let down when I was rejected (cuz I applied too late). I should have been more resilient and applied to many more places though.</p>

<p>Regardless, I still got accepted into BME. I suppose only my college essay showed my genuine interest.</p>

3

<p>I would say the common factor among my BME class was that most people had a passion for science and had show it in different ways. Few people were certain they wanted to study BME early in high school, so most people’s background was not directly BME related, but there were involved in a lot of science-related activities. So what could you do as a high school student?

  1. Take all the science and math classes you can, including AP and dual-credit/concurrent-enrollment classes. (At the same time, don’t let your grades in the humanities/social studies slack off - stick in upper level classes in those areas as well).
  2. Get involved in science-related activities at school - Science Olympiad, Science Bowl, Math Club, local inter-scholastic competitions, etc
  3. If you run out of classes in your high school (if your school doesn’t offer any AP courses), see if you can take classes at a local college, or do some sort of independent study with a supportive teacher, and take the AP test at the end of the year.
  4. Do something productive during the summer. If you have to work to support yourself or your family, then work. Otherwise find a good summer program, job or volunteer activity - it doesn’t look good if you just spend all your summers ‘just relaxing’. There are a lot of research programs out there for high school students. You may not necessarily find one directly related to BME, but if you’re really interested in science, then you should enjoy the experience, regardless of the exact field. In fact, though a decent chunk of my BME class had done research before coming, only a very few had done BME research - the rest had done anything from chemistry to math to biology. Research isn’t required to get into the BME program, but it is definitely a good use of your summer and it’ll give you an idea if you want to consider graduate school in the future.</p>

<p>See this other thread as well: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/844482-lack-high-school-research-greatly-reduce-ones-chances-being-accepted-into-bme.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/844482-lack-high-school-research-greatly-reduce-ones-chances-being-accepted-into-bme.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Are there any decent science programs/camps I should be involved in?</p>

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<p>to answer that question… during your summer try to find RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES… my counselor’s brother is a JHU admin person and she was telling me that in order to be BME competitive you should really have solid research experience under your belt. She was telling me that some pretty high number of accepted applicants did partake in scientific research. Personally, I know that it’s hard to find research personnel willing to accept high school help, but after peddling out my HS resume I finally found my opportunity.</p>

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<p>@ OP</p>

<p>As a current BME student, I want to ask you a question. Why BME? What do you hope to accomplish after undergrad?</p>

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<p>My number one goal in life is to find a cure to aging, or at least find a way to effectively prevent it. I believe with biomedical engineering, we can.</p>

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<p>While that’s certainly a great goal, before you commit to BME, make sure that biomedical engineering is the right avenue to pursue. I have no idea about the research in the field beyond a basic understanding of telomeres, so I don’t know if work in the field is engineering based or not. Just something to consider…</p>

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<p>And to your previous question, there are a lot of different research programs and I really don’t think it matters what program/school you go through to get research experience, but like Emmers said, a good number of BME students have had some research experience in high school. I believe there’s a summer program forum in this site, and you can also look for research opportunities by directly contacting professors at a local university, explaining your bacground (coursework) and interest in their work, and asking if you can work in their lab for the summer. While some will not be willing to train high school students, don’t give up as there definitely will be some willing to work with you and get you involved in their lab.</p>