Okay, “study” was a poor choice of words. The AAMC provides reports comparing MCAT score by major for all med school applicants, and Biomedical Engineering consistently comes out near first, while premedical studies and biology consistently come out in the bottom two.
The specific numbers in your linked study for percentage with 3.5+ GPA are below. It found that engineering majors had ~36% with 3.5+ GPA, which was nearly identical to the ~36% with 3.5+ GPA average across all majors
Percent with 3.5+ GPA
Humanities – 41%
Computer Science – 38%
Overall Average – 36%
Engineering – 36%
Business – 35%
Social Sciences – 33%
General Studies – 25%
Many schools provide such summaries of GPA by major/field, and there are usually big differences between frome one college to the next, which again makes it too complex for a simple fact assertion For example, an 9-year summary of GPA by field at Berkeley is summarized at http://projects.dailycal.org/grades/ … Bioengineering had a mean GPA of 3.56, which appears to be significantly above the overall school average and above many of the “easy” GPA majors implied in this thread (Philosophy is 3.19), but well below most language classes.
Of course self selection and ability has an influence, but the point is engineering having a lower GPAs than other majors is not a clear a fact as you claim, and it’s certainly not a given that a talented STEM kid is going to have lower grades in engineering than other majors.
GPA no doubt plays a large role in medical school admissions, but many medical schools take a holistic approach where GPA and MCAT stats may get you in the door, but specific courses taken also plays a role in admissions decisions. I wouldn’t assume choosing what is commonly believed to be the “easy” course or easy way out at every opportunity is going to give the best chance of admission.
You are rewording my statements in to claims I didn’t make. My specific claims are below. Note that I mention a lot of uncertainty, rather claiming there is no potential for increased/decreased chances.
- "Most persons who apply to medical school do not matriculate. It's good to have a back up plan in a career you'd enjoy, rather than just choose a major that you think is easiest to get high grades or has the most overlap with pre-med requirements. "
- " the OP is not average. He has a misbalanced SAT with a 800 math and much lower CR like I did, and sounds like he is more passionate and interested in engineering than other majors like I was. So I would not be at all surprised if he has experiences more like my own, and finds objective engineering classes that fit with his interests easier than subjective ones that do not." " Different persons have different specialties." "It is by no means a given that majoring in BE will decrease chance of med school admission.[because a GPA decrease not being a given]"
- "one legitimate concern is course scheduling. An ABET accredited engineering major usually requires a large number of units for the major, leaving relatively few electives for pre-med classes. It can be done, but it usually doesn't leave room for many electives besides major + pre-med. "