<p>I'm a rising first year, hoping to become a physician, and lately I've been giving a lot of thought to the many educational paths I could take during my four years at the university. As I've gathered feedback and advice from other students and done my own research, I've started to consider majoring in biomedical engineering rather than a CLAS major. I had initially disregarded biomed eng as a viable major for a pre-med student just because it had "engineer" in the title, but I recently learned that many biomed students do enter medical school, so the major is much more appealing to me now. </p>
<p>However, I was accepted into the CLAS, not the E-school, and I know that that E-school curriculum for any major tends to be much more stringent and structured than CLAS majors. I found the curriculum for biomed on the department's website and it would definitely take some work to catch up if I waited very long to transfer. So, what I'm wondering is, what is the process for transferring from CLAS to E-school, and what would be the best way for me to schedule my first semester classes so that I can make a smooth transition into the E-school? Is it possible for first year CLAS students to sign up for E-school classes (so I have less catching up to do)?</p>
<p>Just for reference, this is the first semester curriculum for biomed (and, I'm guessing, all SEAS students) :
APMA 1110 Single Variable Calculus II
CHEM 1610 Introductory Chemistry for Engineers<br>
CHEM 1611 Introductory Chemistry for Engineers Laboratory
ENGR 1620 Introduction to Engineering
STS 1010 Engineering, Technology, and Society </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for helping out.</p>
<p>Hm, I really should have talked to some other students before making this thread! I just found out I can transfer before school starts, so I’ve e-mailed the office of undergrad admission and hopefully they can help me out.</p>
<p>Be very careful before you make this switch. Med-school requirements have changed to the point where, in my opinion, it is no longer viable to do pre-med and an engineering field. Lets do a quick comparison. </p>
<p>Old Pre-Med Track
General Chemistry w/labs 1 & 2 - 10 credits
Organic Chemistry w/labs 1 & 2 - 12 credits
Introductory Biology w/labs 1 & 2 - 10 credits
Introductory Physics w/labs 1 & 2 - 10 credits
Calculus I & II (or Introductory Statistics in some cases) - 6-8 credits
English Composition Requirements - 6 credits
Total Credits: 54-56 credits</p>
<p>New Pre-Med Track - In light of the new MCAT launching 2015
General Chemistry w/labs 1 & 2 - 10 credits
Organic Chemistry w/labs 1 & 2 - 12 credits
Biological Chemistry - 3-4 credits depending on the department you take it through
Introductory Biology w/labs 1 & 2 - 10 credits
Introductory Physics w/labs 1 & 2 - 10 credits
Calculus I & II (or Introductory Statistics in some cases) - 6-8 credits
English Composition Requirements - 6 credits
Introductory Sociology - 3 credits
Introductory Psychology & Psychology Elective - 6 credits
Total Credits: 66-69 credits</p>
<p>Now, if you do engineering Calculus, Physics, General Chem (be sure to take the college lab though!) and the English requirements will be done (22 credits), but you’ll still have to plan for roughly 44 more credits while also completing your engineering major. Yes science electives and humanity electives make completing pre-med seem feasible but it really isn’t. Once you get to UVA and realize how difficult it is, especially the E-school, you will most likely not survive with a high enough GPA while trying to complete engineering and the pre-med requirements. </p>
<p>Bottomline: Either focus on being pre-med in the college where it is easier to schedule and maintain a GPA or go hard with engineering. If you try to do both you will w/o a doubt overwhelm yourself unless you a serious academic (3-5 hours a day studying outside of class on weekdays and weekend study retreats). If you are looking for med-school admission 3.7 is where you want to float around. This is much harder to obtain than you think.</p>
<p>Also, I transferred into engineering from the college before I matriculated and later transferred out after my first year. The way it works is that you can transfer in to engineering any semester but you can only return to the college after an academic year (Spring term). If you decide you want to return to the college after the Fall term you can take college classes while still technically being enrolled in engineering.</p>