Odd Situation -- BME Major w/ English Minor

runforthetop
Fri, 08 May 2015 05:36:22 +0000

Hello everyone, I am not sure if this is the correct place to put this, so I apologize if it isn’t.

Anyway, I am in an academic situation that I do not think is very common. I have just finished my freshman year of undergrad, and am currently on track to graduate with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in English (don’t worry, my schedule is full but not overwhelming). I have a 3.4 GPA at a middle-ranking (just inside top 100) Jesuit school, and that (relatively) low average is mostly because I got a C in General Chemistry 1 during my first semester, but I am doing much better in Chem 2 this semester, so I don’t foresee that one bad grade being a huge issue long-term. I received an A in the one English class that I have taken so far.

So basically, I chose this path because I am passionate about both science as well as the humanities, and so I wanted to keep the door open for a career in both. Since I know that the job prospects are much better in Engineering than academia, this seems like a relatively safe bet, and I enjoy all of my classes and am able to stay relatively low-stressed, so why not? I also have great relationships with teachers from both departments, and plan to keep in contact with them for research as well as rec letters down the road.

So I guess my question is, what are your guy’s initial thoughts on my situation? Do you have any advice for me moving forward? I honestly would be just as happy working in industry in the BME field as I would be teaching English at the high school or college level, I just need more time to decide which path ultimately suits me better. Regardless of my chosen path, I plan on taking a gap year after undergrad before entering grad school (in either area) or the full-time working world. When do you think I should have some idea of whether I want to pursue the humanities or not by, though? And when applying to English PhD programs (if I choose to do so), do you think they would be more lenient with my cumulative GPA because of my BME courses, assuming I do well in my English classes, score well on the GRE, have good rec letters, ECs, research, etc.?

Thanks for any help guys! I apologize for not having very many specific questions, I just want to get a general feel of how my situation appears to a third-party. If you have questions, feel free to ask your own! I would be happy to provide more information.