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.