I’m currently pretty set on committing to Purdue, but honestly, I’m feeling pretty disappointed since it wasn’t what I originally expected for myself.
For context, I’m planning to study biomedical engineering on a premed track. Premed is definitely my main goal right now, and I know Purdue is strong for engineering, but I’ve heard it can be tough to maintain a high GPA, which is obviously really important for med school admissions. Also I’ve heard that their premed program isn’t that great.
I was really hoping to attend Washington University in St. Louis (got waitlisted), mainly because of its strong premed advising and high med school acceptance rates.
Right now, my plan is to give Purdue a shot for my first year and then potentially try to transfer out. Some of the schools I’ve been thinking about are Emory , Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins , UMich, UC Berkeley, Cornell , Brown , and Northwestern .
I guess I’m looking for advice on a few things:
How realistic is it to transfer from Purdue after freshman year?
Does doing BME at Purdue actually hurt my transfer possibilities after my first year?
Has anyone here successfully transferred from Purdue to one of these schools?
Are there any other schools I should think of, and are these ones I’ve listed reasonable?
What are the requirements for successfully transferring to these schools?
I’m trying to stay open-minded but it’s hard not to compare or feel like I “missed out” so I’d really appreciate any honest advice or experiences.
If you are already attending a good four-year college AND doing well in your med school prereqs, then transferring would usually be a bad idea from a premed perspective. Maybe if you really needed to save on cost, or some other practical necessity. But otherwise you would be very well-advised to stick with what is working.
Any sort of Engineering is potentially a tough fit with premed because you are likely to be doing a lot of very difficult classes in the same terms. So is there a particular reason why you really want to do Engineering? You definitely don’t need to make things that difficult on yourself for med school purposes.
Why BME for pre-med? It’s definitely possible but it’s a tough road, not just at Purdue, but at any of the schools on your list.
At Purdue you will be starting in first year engineering and those courses are tough and grading, especially in the calc and physics classes, is not easy. If you know that med school is the goal, it’s not difficult to change out of engineering at Purdue (just difficult to change into).
FWIW, my D’s freshman roommate who was a biology major, is current in med school. I didn’t hear anything negative about the pre-med supports. You may want to contact Purdue’s Pre-Professional advising office to see how they support pre-meds and to see if they can put you in touch with a current student on a pre-med track.
Please enroll in a college with the intention of staying there. Become invested in that college community and what it has to offer.
Why do you need to major in any kind of engineering. I do realize that Purdue is well known for its engineering programs, but that doesn’t mean YOU need to major in engineering. Fact is…you can major in anything in undergrad and still apply to medical school. You just need to make sure you take all of the required courses for medical school applicants. You won’t get extra points for majoring in engineering when you apply to medical school.
You can take the required courses for medical school applicants at Purdue.
You need to find a major that you really like and feel you will enjoy and do well at. It might not be any kind of engineering.
In addition to being reaches for transfer students, they are all very costly schools. Can you pay the costs to attend these…and fund medical school at $100,000 a year? Federally funded student loans are now limited to a grand total of $200,000…and that won’t even pay your medical school costs…should you get there.
Did you apply to any of the above colleges as a high school senior?
Engineering is hard. I don’t care the school name. There’s a reason 50% don’t finish. If you want to study BME, then that’s what you want.
Purdue loves U. WashU decided not to admit you. A WL is we are saying no but for our benefit, not yours, we are going to give you a glimmer of hope in case we need you. You’re an insurance policy.
Pre med is advising. Do you really need strong advising to know which classes to take vs looking at a website ?
Wash U uses a committee letter so the med school acceptance rate is likely artificially high. They are, in essence, deciding who could/should even by evaluated by med school admissions. No letter, you’re not applying.
It’s a great school but they said no. Purdue kicks a$$ - give it a chance.
You haven’t even started and have one leg out the door. That’s a great way to not make friends, be unhappy from day one which in turn can lead to bad grades. You are saying - I hear vs I know a lot.
Do you think Purdue isn’t sending kids to med school?
Love the school that loved you back. Go there and kick butt. Most pre meds don’t end up applying to med school anyway.
Purdue is a true dream. While my kid attended neither, he first loved WashU til we visited Purdue. Then he loved Purdue.
You are in such a great position. Move forth. Take advantage of all the greatness Purdue offers and forget about others. No reason to doubt yourself. You’re on a great position.
I’m planning to use my first year to explore and figure out whether I want to pursue premed or stick with BME. If I decide that premed is still my goal, I’ll most likely switch majors to maintain a stronger GPA. Beyond academics, part of why I’m considering transferring is the overall environment. I’m very extroverted and tend to thrive in a city setting, and from what I’ve seen so far, Purdue seems more like a traditional college town with a strong academic focus. I’m not sure if that’s the best fit for me socially.
What are your other acceptances ? You don’t need a top school for either BME or pre med. And professional schools know the rigor of majors. So i wouldn’t worry about that.
If you’re not 100% sold on med school, then engineering gives you a likely better outcome and you can always switch later.
I have news for you. Most large schools have partiers and quiet types. So do mod sue and small. In some ways it may be easier to find at the larger vs more limiting at smaller. Purdue is more academicky than others.
You are making a lot of generalizations. Med school is $400k plus. You can only borrow $200k including undergrad. So not sure if you’ll are in state but budget first.
Don’t pine a lot where you didn’t get in because guess what, you didn’t get in.
If Purdue isn’t right, then where is amongst your acceptances that’s affordable. Forget rank - you just need ABET accreditation.
WashU said no so do your LOCI and don’t give them any more thought.
Edit - I see now where you got in. Then maybe Rochester and WPI hit your social desire but I’m not sure that Purdue wouldn’t either. Every school will have partiers. UMass wasn’t engineering so I’d not choose Zoo Mass unless you need med sschool loans and it’s cheapest. But you’re not in engineering.
I’m not sure I understand the logic of switching majors to keep a high GPA. College is hard. Don’t go into it assuming it’s like HS. You should find something you love to study– and if it means you will cover off the med school requirements while doing so terrific. And if not- that’s what you’ll use your electives for.
Engineering– any engineering- is grim for someone who doesn’t love it.
I am currently a highschool senior and money isn’t too much of an issue at the moment. I’m just trying to scope things out right now. I’m planning to use my first year to explore and figure out whether I want to pursue premed or stick with BME. If I decide that premed is still my goal, I’ll most likely switch majors to maintain a stronger GPA. Beyond academics, part of why I’m considering transferring is the overall environment. I’m very extroverted and tend to thrive in a city setting, and from what I’ve seen so far, Purdue seems more like a traditional college town. I’m not sure if that’s the best fit for me socially.
I also got into the following schools:
Northeastern(Oakland campus for first year): Computer Science
Penn State(Honors College): Biomedical Engineering
Oh I love engineering but I also love medicine. I want to figure out what path to take by my first year that way if I choose to do premed I can choose a major that gives me a better GPA for med school. If I choose engineering I can stay on that path with makes sure I don’t delay my graduation date.
I was going to say the exact same thing. Pitt and Rochester are VERY popular choices with savvy premeds in my circles.
And Pitt specifically has one of the best Bioengineering departments in the country (or world for that matter). Also is right in the middle of a very fun city.
Rochester is then more like WashU in terms of size and curriculum structure, very good for students in exploratory mode in fact. So also an excellent option.
Assuming they are both competitive on cost, I’d think either of these was a great choice for the OP. And again, if things went well, I think it would become clear why transferring would be very unnecessary.
It’s smaller and more urban which OP likes but from OPs concerns on socializing and I think they are giving Purdue short shrift vs a Pitt and Ga Tech. But if Pitt works better and is affordable, they have time to change. Affordable includes med school by the way because it needs to be paid for.
Note Pitt is not accredited in, nor offers, biomedical engineering but rather bio engineering. I don’t know the difference but they are different. Hence the different ABET categorization. Not sure if that’s a concern to OP.
I appreciate being in an exploratory mode, but then you have to be careful to choose a college with a curriculum approach that will make it easier to do that.
As I was just mentioning, Rochester would be an excellent choice from this perspective. They don’t have a core curriculum, they don’t have a highly formalized first year engineering program, and what you would do for the first 1.5 years as a possible BME would also work well if you decided to switch to premed and then transition to another major.
Pitt is not quite that flexible, but still not at all bad. You’d probably want to decide earlier, though, if you wanted to switch out of BioE without taking too many unnecessarily difficult classes.
Just say it - the overall school ranking isn’t there. Hence JHU and Ga Tech. Why did you apply to the schools you did if they were not acceptable to you / your family ?
You are not looking at easy transfer schools. If you got turned down this year it will be very hard. And going in knowing you want to leave will just make your experience worse.
I do think it is fair to see a distinction between college towns and full cities. Some people would be fine with either or prefer a college town, but given the OP has excellent city options and a stated preference, why not?