Engineering + Pre-Med

[Anonymous]

I didn't take orgo or quantum.

- ME

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to take all the required pre-med classes while completing an engineering degree, preferably in 4 years?

Which classes are typically more difficult, engineering or med school prerequisites?

Engineering courses overlap with premed. Premeds do not have to take thermodynamics, quantum, or fluid mechanics which are much harder than orgo and physics (generally thought to be the hardest four premed semesters). Engineers who are not premed often have to take orgo and phyiscs too(chemE, biomolecular, materials).

Of course it is possible to be an engineer and a premed. I went to a top school that has engineering and many of my undergrad friends graduated in 4 yrs, BME, and are all physicians now. To be fair they often had an easier time with the MCAT because they had many more difficult courses than we did as regular premeds.
My premed son is at a different ivy, he is aiming MDPhD and will easily finish in 4 yrs, as do essentially all in Engineering there, unless they choose to do a 4+1 masters (not a typical premed option though some do). The medical school admission rate is very high from BME at this school, about 90%. A 5th year for undergrad is almost unheard of for engineering or any major there, premed or not. Courses are guaranteed though, so there is no registration issue at play which may occur at large schools.
Bio/molecular or biomedical engineering overlaps the most with premed. Engineers generally take 5 classes a semester; students who are non-engineering bio or chem majors (or any arts&sci major) take 4 most semesters. One of DC's friends is Materials Eng and premed; that seems to overlap well too due to chem, orgo, and physics requirements.

Premed coursework. This flow assumes no AP or other place-out, though at top schools many can skip a couple of semesters--upper level engineering is plenty of extra science coursework so med schools do not care if they skip intro physics or bio. Non engineers who skip intros due to AP are often expected to take upper levels in the same discipline.
1st year: gen chem 2 semesters, math 2 semesters(calc2 &stats or upper math if ahead). physics 1&2 is needed for engineers, leaves 2 openings per semester for intro engineering requirements and writing/language/humanities electives. For most non-premed engineering students they take a similar load to this.
2nd yr: orgo 1&2, GenBio/upper level bio (or could do physics here and bios first year, depending on the school), leaves 3 openings per semester for engineering coursework, and rest of math needed, which may overlap with those already taken.
3rd year: biochem 1, upperlevel BME counts as upper level bios, psychology, leaving a lot of room each semester for engineering courses and humanities electives.
4th year: wide open for the rest of engineering, and all premed reqs done so that one could take the MCAT after 3rd year.

Sorry but what a crock of BS. Engineers do not typically take orgo or any quantum mechanics. Engineers tend to take an intro and intermediate mechanics course, intro E&M, thermo, intro chemistry and an electronics course

My spouse was Mat Sci and he absolutely took quantum.

Maybe optionally. It has very little to do with engineering and is not required at a vast majority of institutions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to take all the required pre-med classes while completing an engineering degree, preferably in 4 years?

Which classes are typically more difficult, engineering or med school prerequisites?

Engineering courses overlap with premed. Premeds do not have to take thermodynamics, quantum, or fluid mechanics which are much harder than orgo and physics (generally thought to be the hardest four premed semesters). Engineers who are not premed often have to take orgo and phyiscs too(chemE, biomolecular, materials).

Of course it is possible to be an engineer and a premed. I went to a top school that has engineering and many of my undergrad friends graduated in 4 yrs, BME, and are all physicians now. To be fair they often had an easier time with the MCAT because they had many more difficult courses than we did as regular premeds.
My premed son is at a different ivy, he is aiming MDPhD and will easily finish in 4 yrs, as do essentially all in Engineering there, unless they choose to do a 4+1 masters (not a typical premed option though some do). The medical school admission rate is very high from BME at this school, about 90%. A 5th year for undergrad is almost unheard of for engineering or any major there, premed or not. Courses are guaranteed though, so there is no registration issue at play which may occur at large schools.
Bio/molecular or biomedical engineering overlaps the most with premed. Engineers generally take 5 classes a semester; students who are non-engineering bio or chem majors (or any arts&sci major) take 4 most semesters. One of DC's friends is Materials Eng and premed; that seems to overlap well too due to chem, orgo, and physics requirements.

Premed coursework. This flow assumes no AP or other place-out, though at top schools many can skip a couple of semesters--upper level engineering is plenty of extra science coursework so med schools do not care if they skip intro physics or bio. Non engineers who skip intros due to AP are often expected to take upper levels in the same discipline.
1st year: gen chem 2 semesters, math 2 semesters(calc2 &stats or upper math if ahead). physics 1&2 is needed for engineers, leaves 2 openings per semester for intro engineering requirements and writing/language/humanities electives. For most non-premed engineering students they take a similar load to this.
2nd yr: orgo 1&2, GenBio/upper level bio (or could do physics here and bios first year, depending on the school), leaves 3 openings per semester for engineering coursework, and rest of math needed, which may overlap with those already taken.
3rd year: biochem 1, upperlevel BME counts as upper level bios, psychology, leaving a lot of room each semester for engineering courses and humanities electives.
4th year: wide open for the rest of engineering, and all premed reqs done so that one could take the MCAT after 3rd year.

Sorry but what a crock of BS. Engineers do not typically take orgo or any quantum mechanics. Engineers tend to take an intro and intermediate mechanics course, intro E&M, thermo, intro chemistry and an electronics course

My spouse was Mat Sci and he absolutely took quantum.

Maybe optionally. It has very little to do with engineering and is not required at a vast majority of institutions

Apologies. Of course your husband took quantum. Materials are quantum and chemical manipulations. Most engineers touch none of that. This is like saying every engineer takes a hardware course because your husband is a computer engineer

[Anonymous]

Some public universities accept a lot of AP credits so it might theoretically be possible. But otherwise I think it is very unlikely one can graduate in 4 years while doing both engineering and pre-med.

And as an aside, duel majoring in two very demanding majors is a very grim way to spend 18-22.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some public universities accept a lot of AP credits so it might theoretically be possible. But otherwise I think it is very unlikely one can graduate in 4 years while doing both engineering and pre-med.

And as an aside, duel majoring in two very demanding majors is a very grim way to spend 18-22.

lol so true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some public universities accept a lot of AP credits so it might theoretically be possible. But otherwise I think it is very unlikely one can graduate in 4 years while doing both engineering and pre-med.

And as an aside, duel majoring in two very demanding majors is a very grim way to spend 18-22.

Parents of premed engineers please take this thread with a grain of salt. DD is BME at a top school and about 75% of the BME students are premed. The rest are pre-phD. Orgo is listed as strongly encouraged and DD says all of them take it because advisors say not taking it as a BMe who might want phD will be a huge negative. I just looked up three other BME programs(two other T10 privates and GT). All strongly encourage orgo for all. All have a large percentage who go on to medical school.

The other high-premed engineer group at Ds school is biomolecular: orgo is required. So is quantum(materials does quantum too). Please. If your kid wants premed and engineering send them to a school where this is commonly done in 4 yrs. No one there thinks it is too hard or not possible. Peer motivation and faculty who are encouraging goes a long way toward being premed and being an engineer.
-Former premed BME doc married to a doctor who was BioE at a different undergraduate. We know tons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some public universities accept a lot of AP credits so it might theoretically be possible. But otherwise I think it is very unlikely one can graduate in 4 years while doing both engineering and pre-med.

And as an aside, duel majoring in two very demanding majors is a very grim way to spend 18-22.

Almost no AP accepted at DDs school and she and the others are all doing just fine. Their T10 is extremely supportive. They all are in the same boat and do not consider their lives or goals grim. They do have time for music/theater and other nonstem clubs. Premed is not a major: BME is the major and premed is not more than a couple extra courses in addition to BME.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some public universities accept a lot of AP credits so it might theoretically be possible. But otherwise I think it is very unlikely one can graduate in 4 years while doing both engineering and pre-med.

And as an aside, duel majoring in two very demanding majors is a very grim way to spend 18-22.

Almost no AP accepted at DDs school and she and the others are all doing just fine. Their T10 is extremely supportive. They all are in the same boat and do not consider their lives or goals grim. They do have time for music/theater and other nonstem clubs. Premed is not a major: BME is the major and premed is not more than a couple extra courses in addition to BME.

Good lord. Your daughter’s school represents 1 school. She hasn’t even accomplished anything yet. Stop talking in absolute terms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some public universities accept a lot of AP credits so it might theoretically be possible. But otherwise I think it is very unlikely one can graduate in 4 years while doing both engineering and pre-med.

And as an aside, duel majoring in two very demanding majors is a very grim way to spend 18-22.

Parents of premed engineers please take this thread with a grain of salt. DD is BME at a top school and about 75% of the BME students are premed. The rest are pre-phD. Orgo is listed as strongly encouraged and DD says all of them take it because advisors say not taking it as a BMe who might want phD will be a huge negative. I just looked up three other BME programs(two other T10 privates and GT). All strongly encourage orgo for all. All have a large percentage who go on to medical school.

The other high-premed engineer group at Ds school is biomolecular: orgo is required. So is quantum(materials does quantum too). Please. If your kid wants premed and engineering send them to a school where this is commonly done in 4 yrs. No one there thinks it is too hard or not possible. Peer motivation and faculty who are encouraging goes a long way toward being premed and being an engineer.
-Former premed BME doc married to a doctor who was BioE at a different undergraduate. We know tons.

Thanks for the info! My kid starts at Georgia Tech in a few weeks as a BME major with the idea he may want to go to Med School, possibly. It's nice to know it is possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some public universities accept a lot of AP credits so it might theoretically be possible. But otherwise I think it is very unlikely one can graduate in 4 years while doing both engineering and pre-med.

And as an aside, duel majoring in two very demanding majors is a very grim way to spend 18-22.

Almost no AP accepted at DDs school and she and the others are all doing just fine. Their T10 is extremely supportive. They all are in the same boat and do not consider their lives or goals grim. They do have time for music/theater and other nonstem clubs. Premed is not a major: BME is the major and premed is not more than a couple extra courses in addition to BME.

Good lord. Your daughter’s school represents 1 school. She hasn’t even accomplished anything yet. Stop talking in absolute terms.

Well here is another: Agree premed is not a second major with engineering it is just a path that adds a few classes. DD at an ivy in engineering but not premed. She is ChemE-molecular engineering and about half of the students her major are premeds. O-Chem is required. Mine is not premed and the only classes the premed engineers have to take in addition to this engineering major are 2-3 semesters of Bio and psychology. The required engineering statistics course counts for med school; gen chem, Ochem, biochem, physics and calc through diffEQ are all part of the engineering major. They all do research during the semester, premeds and non, and the premeds seem to fit in clinical stuff in summer, most of the rest aim industry or phd so they do industry internships or more research in the summer. Consulting is the "backup job" joke. The ivy is very supportive and the Med and phD matriculation stats are impressive. Many students pick colleges and majors within the college to be challenged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to take all the required pre-med classes while completing an engineering degree, preferably in 4 years?

Which classes are typically more difficult, engineering or med school prerequisites?

I think my kid’s friend is a CS major (not exactly engineering) and is pre-med too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to take all the required pre-med classes while completing an engineering degree, preferably in 4 years?

Which classes are typically more difficult, engineering or med school prerequisites?

Engineering courses overlap with premed. Premeds do not have to take thermodynamics, quantum, or fluid mechanics which are much harder than orgo and physics (generally thought to be the hardest four premed semesters). Engineers who are not premed often have to take orgo and phyiscs too(chemE, biomolecular, materials).

Of course it is possible to be an engineer and a premed. I went to a top school that has engineering and many of my undergrad friends graduated in 4 yrs, BME, and are all physicians now. To be fair they often had an easier time with the MCAT because they had many more difficult courses than we did as regular premeds.
My premed son is at a different ivy, he is aiming MDPhD and will easily finish in 4 yrs, as do essentially all in Engineering there, unless they choose to do a 4+1 masters (not a typical premed option though some do). The medical school admission rate is very high from BME at this school, about 90%. A 5th year for undergrad is almost unheard of for engineering or any major there, premed or not. Courses are guaranteed though, so there is no registration issue at play which may occur at large schools.
Bio/molecular or biomedical engineering overlaps the most with premed. Engineers generally take 5 classes a semester; students who are non-engineering bio or chem majors (or any arts&sci major) take 4 most semesters. One of DC's friends is Materials Eng and premed; that seems to overlap well too due to chem, orgo, and physics requirements.

Premed coursework. This flow assumes no AP or other place-out, though at top schools many can skip a couple of semesters--upper level engineering is plenty of extra science coursework so med schools do not care if they skip intro physics or bio. Non engineers who skip intros due to AP are often expected to take upper levels in the same discipline.
1st year: gen chem 2 semesters, math 2 semesters(calc2 &stats or upper math if ahead). physics 1&2 is needed for engineers, leaves 2 openings per semester for intro engineering requirements and writing/language/humanities electives. For most non-premed engineering students they take a similar load to this.
2nd yr: orgo 1&2, GenBio/upper level bio (or could do physics here and bios first year, depending on the school), leaves 3 openings per semester for engineering coursework, and rest of math needed, which may overlap with those already taken.
3rd year: biochem 1, upperlevel BME counts as upper level bios, psychology, leaving a lot of room each semester for engineering courses and humanities electives.
4th year: wide open for the rest of engineering, and all premed reqs done so that one could take the MCAT after 3rd year.

Sorry but what a crock of BS. Engineers do not typically take orgo or any quantum mechanics. Engineers tend to take an intro and intermediate mechanics course, intro E&M, thermo, intro chemistry and an electronics course

False.
Organic chem is required for chemE at both my kids T10s and is listed for materials E in some places. Its listed for molecular Engineering in other top places. Quantum mechanics is part of the curriculum for multiple different Engineering disciplines. E&M the same E&M the physics majors take is required for all.
Top Engineering school programs go beyond minimal ABET.
Even in Engineering where orgo is not required, doing it in addition to engineering is simply not that hard for bright science minded kids. Orgo is less difficult than many engineering courses.

Which one? This is the difference between engineers and physicists- physics students take MULTIPLE E&M courses- a good undergrad will get you all the way up to a course in Electromagnetic fields (dynamic electromagnetic fields with upper div intro PDE). It’s like telling a math major you’ve seen some calculus proofs- are you just taking calculus 2 like anyone else, or are you doing real analysis 2- very different things that engineers often think they know but don’t.

Ironically, other than chemE, you’ve mentioned some of the least popular engineering fields (because they require this content)

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]I didn't take orgo or quantum.

- ME[/quote]
+1, I’m not even sure why you’d need either.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I didn't take orgo or quantum.

- ME[/quote]
+1, I’m not even sure why you’d need either. [/quote]

+1. One or more of posters think what they are talking about but really don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't take orgo or quantum.

- ME

+1, I’m not even sure why you’d need either.

+1. One or more of posters think what they are talking about but really don't.

Orgo and quantum are not needed in some engineering fields but they are needed in materials and chemE at DS school. Who cares? The point of many here is that engineering and premed can overlap courses. BME and molecular E are very relevant to modern medicine so no surprise many students do both. Some med schools have added some basic engineering to the med school curriculum. More will follow as surgery and radiology become more and more reliant on engineering technology.