This is an amazing resource, thanks for posting.
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Yes it can be an extra year or 2, but TBH in this current climate (IYKWIM) maybe staying in school for an extra year or two (especially if the donât go to med school) might not be a bad idea if its affordable. Jobs are likely going to be hard to come by, especially in biomed eng for the short term.
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I am not sure it can be affordable⊠I canât imagine FA for 6 years for BS. Sitting in college and paying for it while waiting better economic situation is strange unless student is paid by school for PhD.
Thanks so much for all the info and advice! Iâd say the main reason Iâm considering engineering is kinda to have a backup option if med school doesnât work out, since a pure science degree, as many in this thread have mentioned, isnât really ideal for the job market. But I guess a bme degree is also limited in many aspects as well and could also end up having to continue with a masters/phd?
I will say that I am currently quite sure about premed, so maybe Iâll focus on that first and see how things go.
That being said, seems that people are mostly arguing between gatech and emory, and not a lot has been said about ucsd (besides location/environment). Are there fewer research opportunities or is it harder to build relationships with professors at ucsd since itâs a public school? Also, Iâve seen a lot about how students dislike the quarter schedule at ucsd (namely it being stressful, and âlearning at a surface levelâ because of the short semesters), so donât know if thatâs an issue.
If you are interested in a BME, I think youâll be fine.
You noted that at Ga Tech you could get an engineering major. You didnât note that about UCSD.
Personally, I donât see Emory as an option. Sure, you can do a BME - but then youâve taken 5=6 years (per Emoryâs website) - thatâs lost salary and more tuition.
âYouâll have two bachelors degrees, one from Emory and one from Georgia Tech. The program usually takes five to six years to complete.â
UCSD is a great school - but can you get engineering there? Most/all schools have research opportunities - so thatâs not an issue - and itâs up to you (in building relationships). If you engage a professor, they will likely engage with you. Yes, the quarter system is different - but UCSD also has the residential college system.
A BME, statistically, will serve you better than a bio degree - thatâs just the #s. Everyoneâs situation is different, of course, but if you fell into the averagesâŠ
At Ga Tech, if I understand correctly, you get one free major change, so you can get into engineering. Who knows, maybe you go MechE - but the point is, until you have 60 hours, you can change.
If thatâs not the same at UCSD, then of the three choices, I donât know how you can choose anything but Georgia Tech?
Itâs the one school that allows you to do engineering - should you decide later - to do so. And if not, they have lots of other majors.
Just as a side note - itâs also the cheapest by far assuming full pay. Yes, you can afford all - but thatâs an added bonus of another $100K or so over UCSD and more over Emory over four years.
Do you have a preference for east vs west coast? How far are you from each? Will that be an issue for vacations/school breaks? Do you want to do a co-op? That will extend your stay at GT but you will be paid. Will still be dealing with housing, etc.
WRT the dual degree, was simply indicating that its doable from Emory, though would take an extra year (or 2) if OP chose to go to Emory and then decided to do bioE.
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I would query all of these colleges on their research opportunities for the upcoming academic year. Some may find reduced research due to budget cuts.
If you feel you must do research, do your due diligence.
I will say, you donât need to do research to apply to medical schools.
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Thank you for this tool, I wish all large universities offered it!
I looked up courses premeds are likely to take, Calculus 1&2 and Biology 1&2.
The first year Calculus classes have a 2.9 average, with 49% getting an A grade.
The Biology classes have a 3.2 average, with about a third getting an A and about a third getting a B.
OP can use the tool too and check to see if Oxford&Emory have one too.
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I donât have first hand UCSD experience. But I loved quarter system in GT in prehistoric time. You do not need to remember material for semester and you have less classes.
BME requires a Masterâs degree more often than other ABET accredited Engineering degrees.
You could study Biochem and add a Data science or statistics minor to make yourself marketable.
GTech has a Biology with Business option (separate from the Premed track).
Emory has 3 tracks, one for premeds, one that seems linked to the CDC and Biotech (MRNA, etc), and one linked to Ecology&the Environment.
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Yep-- as we have alluded to upthread, research funding will affect opportunities-- at probably all of these schools (and many others!) But it will also affect medical school training programs and hospital sites too 
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Very interesting! I will add a caveat about calculus. A large portion of admitted students have placed out of calculus by the time they enter Georgia Tech through AP or dual enrollment. Of course, those are typically the stronger math students in a high school that take that sort of upper level math. Georgia Tech requires all majors to complete through calculus 2 I believe. So the people taking calculus 1 and 2 at Georgia Tech are often people who were in a lower level of math in high school, ended high school with pre-calculus only, or not math-y people. That could explain the lower average.
That being said everybody says if you have calculus credit through AP or dual enrollment to take it because calculus at Georgia Tech is difficult!
Without getting political, the opportunities at the CDC will be very different in the short term
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It doesnt seem like you know what you want, thus you should go the the least expensive option.
BME is a poor premed major as it usually takes 5 years or more at any school, its a gpa killer and it hard to do med school Extracurriculars and the major as well. So doing both seems unreasonable. You need to decide what you want to do BME or medicine. If medicine then Emory, if BME then Gatech.
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I know things are likely dicey for a couple years wrt CDC, NIH, etc⊠but it shows Emory was utilizing its professional environment efficiently to offer opportunities beyond med school.
Iâm afraid all science&research is going to be affected, everywhere. I saw the Nature article where 75% surveyed researchers are contemplating temporary expatriation (to Canada and Europe, mostly).
I would think Georgia (being purple) would be protected a bit but the arbitrariness of cuts/suspensions has surprised me and may be the point (I remember this point vividly from A Bear, a Backpack, and Eight Crates of Vodka.)
@summerdaysc_07
What college were you assigned to at UCSD? Check out their core requirements because theyâre quite different and, for some, extensive.
Is a Georgia Tech LLC of interest?
You have to apply and theyâre not guaranteed but theyâre excellent opportunities to avoid getting lost in the crowd.
Because Emory Oxford is pretty small, thereâs no need to help students feel part of a community which may explain why I havenât found LLCs. The food is good. 
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âFor nothingâ seems like a harsh assessment.
I agree that if BME were Plan A, it wouldnât make sense to choose Emory and the dual degree over a coveted admit directly to the GT BME department.
But in a situation like this, I think one needs to think in terms of flow charts. Premed is Plan A. If OP attends Emory Oxford, knocks the med school prereqs out of the park in the first two years, and is really feeling the clinical-practice path, they might never pursue engineering at all. But there is value in knowing that if the bloom starts to come off the med school rose, the dual-degree pathway is an option; they wonât have foreclosed on the BME option by attending Emory. At the same time, though, theyâd be giving the premed path its greatest possible chance of success by focusing primarily on that at first, rather than trying to keep two very challenging career paths fully in play at once, as a BME premed. It might not be the route for everyone but I can definitely see it as the optimal path for some students.
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And should a student then go for Masters since there are very limited jobs for BME without it? Why fo this route?
I would try to go to Masters directlyâŠ
Who says there are limited jobs for BME sans a Masters ? All the top schools (all Iâve looked at) are placing BMEs out of undergrad.
Unfortunately not in a current climateâŠ
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I mean job reports from this most recent year show otherwise. We can agree to disagree. Of course, in four years no one knows what anything will be like.