Return to undergrad for B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Concentration in Biomedical Engineering

<p>I graduated from Michigan State with a B.S. in Human Physiology in December 2013. I entered college with the mindset of attending med school. By my junior year it was pre-podiatry (not pre-MD or DO) due to low GPA. I did poorly in Biochem due to the course being a bell curve grade set where the bottom 25% of the students automatically get a 1.5 grade (out of 4.0) and just the top 8% got a 4.0. So when you have 200 students it was very competitive. The Human Physiology department at MSU is considered next to Microbiology the toughest non-Engineering major at MSU, so I am not graduating with some joke biology degree. I realized after a few months of researching the high attrition rate in podiatry school and a huge residency shortage I got word from a lot of recent podiatry freshman who felt the schools accepted people who most likely would not be cut out for med school just to take their check. At one point I felt I was ready for med school, but after taking courses that MSU deems even tougher than the D.O./MD physio and biochem courses. But I really hated those classes.</p>

<p>I was looking at Biostatistics or Biomedical engineering. The issue is that when I researched these masters programs (M.S) I noticed that I would need to take at least another semester of community college credits just to be able to apply to the graduate programs. And with a 3.18 undergrad GPA I really don’t think my chances would be great even if I got the minimum pre-reqs for the M.S. programs. I was looking at MPH programs in Biostatistics, but was told that an MPH Biostatistics degree is not that valuable since there are thousands of M.S. Biostats grads who have more experience on the Biostats area. So lately I have been thinking about going back to MSU to get a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with a concentration in Biomedical Engineering. I have talked with a counselor and I would need 70 credits to graduate with a B.S. It may seem like a lot, but at the same time those 70 credits would be cheaper than 48 credits at any of the MPH programs I am looking at.</p>

<p>I come from a family of engineers and really by my final semester I realized that I regret not going into the engineering program at MSU. My question is more to the job outlook for a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering (in which the degree is actually CHEMICAL ENGINEERING). I understand that BLS.gov does have it as a booming occupation, but I am aware that Biomedical Engineering is one of the B.S. degrees where most employers look for M.S. degrees more.</p>

<p>So, a) How well is the job outlook if someone has a B.S. from Chemical Engineering/Biomedical Engineering AND a B.S. in Human Physiology (also a minor in mathematics and humanities & philosophy)?
b) How well do companies look at a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with the concentration of Biomedical Engineering?</p>

<p>Well you could work in the industry, since you would have an ms, but like BioE its a market still at infancy and doesn’t have a lot of jobs, which is why a lot of people do traditional chemical engineering. They could always specialize is biochem E if their job requires it, but since they know the traditional skills too, they could work in other areas. </p>

<p>As for you, BiomedE concentration can limit you to medicine. May not be a large deal since that was your goal anyway, but its still a small market.</p>