So, I’m a rising senior who is starting applications, but I’m running into this issue as I put done majors.
-PREMED: This is what I’m going to college for, really. Only thing that would change this is an unsaveable GPA or bad MCAT scores.
-BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING: The major I would enjoy (at schools with engineering. At non-engineering schools I would be a Chemistry or maybe Biology major.
-CROSS COUNTRY/TRACK: Running has defined my HS career so much it’s hard to imagine not running in college. At some D3 schools I might be varsity all 4 years, while I would only make the cut at some of the slower D1 schools.
Also I would like to be an RA in college or hold a job like EMT or lifeguard.
My basic stats are
-white male from CT, income ~80k
-34 ACT
-top 5% of class
-4 years of track , 2 of cross country
At some schools (ie Georgetown) this is a nonissue because I wouldn’t make the team or there is no engineering school but at others it is.
What do you think?
Biomedical engineering + pre-med is doable at some colleges, for instance where I go: Northwestern.
Even if a school doesn’t have an XC/track team, or one that you’d make the cut for, there might be a club team where you’d still get to compete, well, competitively. I’d look into schools with competitive club teams too if access to an XC/track team is a deciding factor for you. There are, I think, regional and national XC/track club leagues, and you can look into past results, or do some other form of research on the topic, to find out which schools you are academically interested in have good club teams.
It might be tough to be an RA and do sports, but that’s just a suspicion and I don’t have anything to back that up.
Haha, “RUNNING into this issue as I…” 
@thatrunnerkid Thanks for the advice.
That pun was not intended 
Also, if you haven’t yet, you could ask admissions people if it is possible to do Biomedical Engineering and Pre-med at the same time if it is not explicitly stated on colleges’ websites, just to be sure. That would also help you sound informed on the written application materials.
Combining two is very risky, (many have found that even club sports + premed is dangerous) but combining all three basically guarantees you won’t get a med school worthy GPA.
The way premed works is that you have to be top 10-20% in each class you take. That’s impossible with the time constraints required by competitive college sports. Add engineering, which is known for massive amounts of work and grade deflation, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
My 2 cents: I think you need to prioritize your goals and let your decisions as to major and extracurriculars follow to support your goals. My DS is playing football at Columbia University and majoring in Civil Engineering. He puts in at least 25-30 hours a week during season and 15 during offseason. He is gone at least 4 partial weekends in the fall for away games. He has little time for any other interests (clubs, work, research) and sleeps at most 6 hours during the week. He is enjoying it but its really hard and getting B’s and A’s is not a given. I doubt that CC/Track would be any different. And adding the rigor of BME to a Pre-Med track would be challenging at best with the grade pressure. Finally, I don’t have direct experience with a D-1 program, but most coaches will want you to be an athlete first and foremost and school will be secondary.
@dansmoaustin I definitely would not do D1, Engineering, and PreMed as the only D1 schools I could run at don’t have engineering. Impressive that your son is doing Ivy League football and engineering!
Really this issue would only come up at a school like Steven’s Institute of Technology, where they have D3 varsity sports, biomedical engineering, and a ton of opportunities in nearby NYC for jobs, etc. In that case I would lean towards sports and no engineering because I need a non-medical hobby and engineering wouldn’t be very helpful post-college.
I suppose it would depend on the school, but I assume that at most schools you would really struggle with premed and engineering. I looked-up the curriculum for Biomed Eng. at GW (just for familiarity) and it looks like you could get most of your premed classes from the requirements. You’d have to take organic chemistry as an elective, though, and those are very challenging classes.
Bottom-line: if you’re smart enough and can put-in the time for getting above average grades (for an engineering major) then you might be able to get your way. But, you’re definitely putting yourself at a disadvantage by going the engineering route since many of those programs can hurt your GPA.
Good luck!