<p>Hi, I am applying to Duke and am wondering if it is a good fit for me. I will likely pursue a major in biology or biomedical engineering and possibly go to medical school after completing my undergraduate studies. What does Duke have that will help me as a pre-med student?</p>
<p>The Duke Hospital is renowned, the Medical School is ranked very high, and both are right on West Campus or within a short walk. There are good opportunities to volunteer and shadow, logging lots of hours of clinical work and experiencing patient care firsthand. Also, Duke conducts lots of medicine related research so you can get lab experience as well. Duke’s BME is ranked second, behind only JHU.</p>
<p>If you want to do BME, you need to apply to Pratt, not Trinity. There’s not a lot of overlap in the two majors, so you’ll need to come in with either a lot of AP credits or you’ll need to overload several (or every) semester.</p>
<p>I’m interested in BME. I already have credit for Physics C, Bio, Calc BC, Econ Macro&Micro, and English Lang. I’m going to take the AP Chem, Stat, and English Lit test this year. If I get a 5 on those, would that be enough to make BME plus premed manageable?</p>
<p>Both Physics C? You’ll have to take one more physics regardless, but you’ll save one class. Calc BC will save 2 classes. The AP chem will let you start with orgo immediately, but that might not be a wise choice. AP bio lets you skip bio 25, the intro class, and let you take nearly any higher level class. You’ll get credit for AP Stats, but that isn’t the right one needed to cover the BME requirements. You only get 2 non-science/math credits to use.</p>
<p>Regardless of how many AP credits you have, it’ll be hard. Check [Duke</a> Biomedical Engineering at Pratt](<a href=“http://www.bme.duke.edu%5DDuke”>http://www.bme.duke.edu) for the curriculum guide under “undergraduate”. It has a sample schedule for bme/pre-med.</p>
<p>So after looking through the BME handbook, it would seem that my first semester schedule would be:</p>
<p>Chem 151
Math 103
Writing 20
Engineering 53</p>
<p>Can I overload first semester/would it be advisable?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, with advisor approval. Would it be advisable? Not by me. I personally wouldn’t want to take 5 courses my first semester of college. There is an adjustment period. And those four courses would be MORE than enough. </p>
<p>BME + premed is actually not that much more difficult than straight up BME - you don’t need tons of APs to get it done. About 1/3 of BMEs are pre-med. The only additional class is really organic chem. You also need to take another English course and an appropriate upper level life science, but those aren’t additional as they can fulfill the other BME requirements. English for the 5 SS/H requirements, and LS for the LS requirement (you just have to make sure to choose an appropriate one for med school). You might consider taking Chem 23 instead of 151, but that’s up to you.</p>
<p>They changed the intro chem sequence and Chem 21-23 don’t exist anymore. The disadvantage BMEs have is that engineering courses don’t count towards the MCPB (math, chemistry, physics, biology) gpa that med schools look at. Also, you may need to take more than one bio class to cover the stuff on the MCAT.</p>
<p>Individual med schools may also have additional requirements such as biochem or psych in addition to the common ones listed on the BME handbook.</p>
<p>I wanted to add to that it is looked down on by med schools if you use AP credit for the pre med requirements so you might want to rethink that.</p>
<p>Thanks so much bluedog and ouroboros313!!</p>
<p>Of course, now all I have to do is get in…</p>
<p>@premed4</p>
<p>So would you suggest retaking intro chem, bio, physics, and calc I, II?</p>
<p>AP credits are not looked down upon by medical schools. They either accept them or they don’t.</p>
<p>However, most medical schools do encourage students who use AP credits to take more advanced classes. They view APs as a way to move forward in the curriculum rather than to skip requirements. </p>
<p>As for retaking no classes the answer is absolutely NO unless you are required to. Those classes are intentionally difficult, large, and guaranteed weedout classes that can rapidly kill your GPA. If you can skip out of them, then do so. The only intro course I’d suggest taking as a premed is general chem (the honors version) because AP chem only gives 1 semester gen chem credit but med schools usually require 2 (and biochem usually do not substitute for the other semester).</p>
<p>So a 5 on the AP exam gives credit for Chem 19. Would you suggest taking Chem 151 and then Chem 43 or the other way around? I’ve read on other threads how there’s a slightly better curve for the freshmen section of Chem 151.</p>
<p>If you take chem 151/152, you probably won’t be allowed to take chem 43 after that. However last I heard, chem 32 is designed to be taken after chem 152 as a sort of course that covers some special topics in gen chem. So you can do that if you want to do chem 151.</p>
<p>What SBR said. The new chem curriculum has a thing designed for people in your situation. My friend did take Chem 22 after orgo, but that was only because the chem department didn’t keep in contact with the registrar and check what he’d already taken. By the time they found out, he’d already aced it and there was nothing they could do.</p>
<p>Given my current first semester schedule, if I take Chem 151/152 and then chem 32, how many semesters would I have to overload just to complete the bare graduation requirements for BME? Are the topics covered in chem 32 easy (relative term) or sparse enough that I could study them on my own? Also, should I expect the first semester course load to be extremely difficult? I haven’t heard the best things about Math 103…</p>
<p>Even with no AP credits, a BME/premed would usually not need to overload more than 2 semesters, assuming that you merely satisfy all requirements and went for a straight BME/premed. </p>
<p>Topics covered in chem 32, I gathered, are stuff like nuclear chemistry, maybe some quantum mechanics, etc. As for studying on your own, the point isn’t to learn those concepts for the MCAT or anything like that because they most likely won’t come up. The point is to have enough gen chem credits to satisfy med school requirements. So studying on your own won’t be of much help. </p>
<p>As for your courseload, be prepared to substitute something (like a humanities course) for writing 20. It’s fairly common for Pratt students to take writing 20 in the spring. I’ve even heard that Pratt assigns students to fall or spring to balance demand but I’m not sure if they still do that.</p>
<p>Would it be possible to do BME + pre-med + econ double major? I know that sounds like crazy talk, but I have heard that it’s possible to do engineering and get an econ double major at Duke. How much extra work would a pre-med track add to that? And if it’s not possible to do all 3, how would you compare BME+econ to BME+pre-med as far as work load/overloading goes?</p>
<p>I’d say that BME+Econ is a pretty popular double major in Pratt and I know a few of my friends definitely did it so it’s possible. No idea about premed+BME+Econ though. </p>
<p>I will say, however (even though this might not be very popular), that you shouldn’t kill yourself doing everything. Despite what people say about college being a time for exploration and self-discovery, it is really a marathon rather than a sprint. And this is especially true for challenging majors like BME. The best I can say is prioritize, plan carefully, and make sure that you have enough time and energy to stay motivated and not be spread too thin.</p>
<p>If I took Writing 20 in the spring, what would take its place in the fall? A different humanities class?</p>
<p>Also, as mentioned before, engineering students only get to use 2 AP credits in the humanities, so would it be pointless to take the AP lit test if I already have AP lang, micro, and macro credits? The same question goes for AP stat since engineering students need another stat class.</p>
<p>I suppose so, assuming you’re coming to Duke. It’d also depend on your school’s rules regarding the AP test. In my state, the government covers the cost of the exam for all students but would charge you if you don’t show up.</p>