So I’m a senior and I’m starting to fill out applications to colleges. I’m having trouble deciding between majors. I want to do something in the medical field but on the research side. I’m really interested in genetics and tissue and cell engineering. I would love to major in biomedical engineering but the job prospects for BME majors don’t seem too good without a master’s. On the other hand, I feel like a biology/molecular biology/biochemistry/genetics/etc. degree isn’t much better. Which do you think is a better major for me, biomedical engineering or some biology major?
“medical field but on the research side” means a graduate degree. If graduate work is going to happen anyway, I’m inclined to recommend a biology degree. Why? Because the engineering discipline isn’t nearly so research-oriented as the biology discipline, and to some extent you would be taught by engineering professors who aren’t in the one engineering subdiscipline that’s research-oriented, i.e.BME. Also, there are more academic directions you can easily go in with a biology degree. And you can get into a BME graduate program with a biology degree (http://gsbse.umaine.edu/admissions/overview and http://www.lsa.umich.edu/students/academicsrequirements/majorsminors/molecularcellularanddevelopmentalbiologymcdb/majorcellandmolecularbiologyandbiomedicalengineering). Genetic engineering can be accessed through a molecular biology track.
@jjwinkle okay thank you so much!!