UVA Rodman, duke, cornell

shoebox10
Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:53:10 +0000

Any engineering degree will be difficult no matter what. Overall, engineering GPAs are much lower than other degrees, which is why most pre-med students go for a degree in chem or bio or something along those lines, because you’ll be able to take more core req. classes that can result in a higher GPA. Since GPA is so crucial for med school admissions, Cav and Jags were simply trying to point out that taking an engineering major curriculum might not be a good idea if you’re aiming for med school, no matter what discipline it is.
As for the 90% acceptance rate, i’m not sure where you got this info, but it seems high. If that’s just for UVa, then it’s not a very high number of admissions, because the BME dept is so small (60/year). 90% of 60 graduating BMEmajors is only 54 people. Yes, that seems high, but the department is VERY selective: you have to have a high GPA to be accepted into the program, so most likely, those students will continue to earn a high GPA.

As an engineering major myself, I suggest that if you want to go to med school, look into taking bio or chem or something undergrad. Engineering is tough enough, and trying to fill pre-med requirements if you don’t go into BME is going to be really difficult. If I was in your position, I would look into Cornell and see if you have to be in their E-school to earn the BME minor. If you don’t, then I would chose Cornell, do a science major, and go for the BME minor if you really want to do BME. That should fullfill pre-med requirements, and you’ll probably have overlapping classes in your major/minor.
If you do chose UVa, I would do the same thing. College students are allowed to minor in BME, and you can probably overlap classes or satisfy area req.
Good luck!