Hi there! I am an international student struggling to choose between these three majors. I have a Chemistry background with several internships and research opportunities at different universities. I am looking for a major that can help me find a job with a high salary, without having a hard time getting a good GPA (ideally 3.8+), easy to find internship opportunities, and fitting my interests.
I am particularly interested in the research and development in medical devices (e.g., hearing aids, which is something on my head as I am having a severe hearing impairment).
I did detailed research between BME and ME in recent days, and found out that the BME major struggles more to find jobs than the ME major. But the information I’ve got is from several years ago, and I don’t know if it applies now.
Regarding MSE, I learned that it has the largest faculty and student ratio, and GPA is not as hard as the other two. Additionally, it is easy for me to get research opportunities as I have a previous research background in Chemistry while I was in high school, which I think is useful for finding jobs. However, I’m not sure how the MSE job market compares to the other two.
Please comment if you have any insights!! They really help a lot!!!
You chose Georgia Tech? And I understood that was in part to do BME there.
As I also understand it, at Georgia Tech you can start in one engineering major and freely switch during your first year to another. And if you started in BME, apparently your first term you would take a 1-credit intro to BME course, which is described as, “An introduction to the field of biomedical engineering, with an emphasis on career preparation.” You’d also have an opportunity to talk to other BME students, faculty, and so on.
So my suggestion is don’t make any hasty changes. Like, start off how you planned, and see what you learn in that class and from other people who would actually be well-informed.
As an international student, the domestic outcomes won’t necessarily be applicable to you. If you did choose Tech, talk with the international student office and spend the time to understand your work limitations during undergrad, as well as post graduation.
Any engineering major will be tough to get a 3.8 GPA. Average COE 2024-25 GPA was around 3.5, you can drill down by major here:
I want to stress a few things that have already been touched on -
All of these majors will be difficult and have much overlap, especially in years 1 and 2. I would eliminate worrying about which one will be “easier” for your GPA as the answer is you will work hard in any of these majors.
Generally speaking, I’d advise ME over BME as it’s more flexible in the job market and you can work in the BME industry with an ME degree but not necessarily the other way around. If you are thinking about MSE, I’d suggest considering ChemE with an MSE concentration (for the same reason about job flexibility).
The good news at Tech is you have time to figure that out in your first year before you need to decide. Take the time to talk to professors in all disciplines and do your due diligence about what will be the most markable degree in your home country.
As noted, you need to talk to the office for international students about internships opportunities. Many companies will not hire international students so you need to figure out what you would do back at home.
FWIW, my D was a chem E with an MSE concentration. She works for a speciality polymer company that does manufacture some BME products. Her best friend (same major) works at a biotech manufacturer. Neither company will hire international students. D’s company because they also have US defense contracts so they aren’t permitted, but in general the visa process is so hit or miss that companies don’t want to invest in training interns/co ops that won’t be allowed to remain in the country long term. That’s why it’s really important that you go into this assuming you will need to return home to work after college.
Do you own research on this but at my D’s college, the chem e curriculum was broader so there were more pathways to different industries (similar to ME over BME). She also found that there were more companies looking to recruit Chem Es than MSEs, and starting salaries were significantly higher for chem es.
GT should have outcomes data for you to parse about the different majors, the main employers, salary data, etc… You’ll just need to expand further to see what’s happening in your home country.
As an international student, look into what the job markets associated with the majors are in countries where you are a citizen or easily have the ability to work (the US is not generally such a country).
My son’s first major was MSE, and after he started, he was told that this major was great preparation for graduate school, but not so great for getting a job directly out of college. (He switched out of the MSE major after that, so I can’t offer any personal experience on job hunting.)
I agree with other posters that the most important thing will be how marketable these majors are in your home country. You could look into specific industries, companies, and job postings.