Bio-Medical engineering

[volleygrrl234]

I'm at the middle of my junior year right now, and I am starting to think about colleges. I want to be either a trauma or neurosurgeon. But the way I want to do this is the get an undergrad degree in bio-medical engineering, then go to med school. I was wondering if there is any advice anyone can give me about grades, classes to take, and good schools to go to for this. I have already looked at Vanderbilt and Northwestern. Thanks!

if u want a Bio-Med degree try the Milwaukee school of engineering...they have excellent programs up there...but it costs 25,000 a year...they give u money for getting in depending on ur SAT ACT and transcripts...it could be up to like 18,000 a year if ur 1st in ur class...check it out www.msoe.edu

[volleygrrl234]

Yeah, well, that $25,000 is sounding pretty good right now. NW and Vanderbilt are both around $36,000, and they don't give academic based scholarships, so I am in trouble there.

[David Kelly]

she is smart and like 1st or second in her class, so i'm sure she can get some academic scolorships

MSOE usually gives out a ton of money to people who get in...some guy that i know there had most of his college paid for because he got good grades.

[Clark Gilbert]

What's so special about this Milwakee school DJ......it's the only college you seem to ever talk about??

[Anne Shade]

Georgia Tech has a Biomedical Engineering program with Emory University. They have a pre-med option also. Tech is a great university with a lot going for it and it is not too expensive being about $19000 a year. If you wnat to get more info, here is the site for it http://www.bme.gatech.edu/academics/bs.html. If you have any questions about GT I would be happy to answer them for you.

MSOE is a really good school

[David Kelly]

Originally posted by D.J. Fluck
MSOE is a really good school

what is MSOE?

[Brandon Martus]

Originally posted by David Kelly
what is MSOE?

Milwaukee School of Engineering

My boss went there. He is always talking about it.. so I guess he liked it

[Joe Ross]

Have you thought about UC San Diego? Its ranked second in the nation in biomed by USNEWS and its relatively cheap (15k for out-of-state students). You also can't beat the weather

When you asked about classes and grades, did you mean for highschool, or to get into med school?

For high school, you should get as good of grades as possible and take as much biology and math as possible.

For undergrad, you should get as good of grades as possible and complete the program. You should also get to know a few professors well, so that when it is time to get into med school, you have a few people who can write really good recommendations.

I would not be concerned with whether the college gives out academic scholarships or not. The way that college financial aid is set up, it doesn't really matter. After you fill out the FAFSA, the student-aid commision decides how much of your college expenses you and your parents are able to pay. When you subtract that amount from cost of the college, you get you "Need". Most colleges will attempt to give you enough money to cover this need, but not much more using a combination of academic scholarships, need-based grants and loans. At RIT, I have a academic scholarship for several thousand. I also have a need-based grant that makes up the difference between my academic scholarship and my need. If a college does not give out academic scholarships, they will still try to meet your need, it will just be with more need-based grants. There are only a few colleges in the country that don't care about the amount of academic scholarships that you have recieved when figuring out how much of a need-based grant to give. USC (University of Southern California) is one of them, but there are others.

To make it even worse, you are required to report the outside academic scholarships that you have received. For example, if you are a National Merit Finalist and get that scholarship, the college has the option of reducing your need-based aid by that amount.

Hope all of that helps

[Christina]

I was going to be a biomedical engineer at first. I was also going to go to Boston University as a biomedical engineering student. And, I was going to be premed as well. Boston University is pretty expensive though. In high school look at biology classes and especially chemistry classes. Remember, most of the people who drop out of med school don't drop out because of biology being too hard, but usually because of the chemistry involved, especially organic chemistry. Well, that's all I can offer.

~Christina

[volleygrrl234]

UC san diego isn't sounding bad.. only thing is the priximity from Indy. I went to Rose Hulman this weekend and was very impressed with that, but they currently only have it as a minor. As far as the need-based stuff goes, mine's not going to be a whole lot, hence my need for academic scholarships.

[Scott England]

Hey, I'm an ESM (Engineering Science and Mechanics) major at Virginia Tech, with a concentration in biomechanics. How on earth do you midwesterners pay for college? VT is about 8000 $ instate, probably around 15000 $ out of state. Anyways, Virginia Tech is in the process of building a new college of biomedical engineering as a joint Venture with Wake Forest University (we have a school of engineering, they don't, they have a med school, we don't) I'm not sure exactly if or when undergrad degrees will be offered from the newly formed college, but I know Graduate degrees will be offered. You can read all about it here
http://www.technews.vt.edu/Archives/2001/Oct/01405.html
we do have the biomechanics concentration for undergrads majoring in ESM, and many of us go to med school. Though to throw in my two cents. My sister went to emory med school in atlanta and really liked it there, and I know a few ramblin wrecks from Georgia Tech, nice town, great engineering school, good football team, very much like Virginia Tech, just in the heart of atlanta as opposed to the appalachian mountains. I've heard good things about UC San Diego also, one student from our VT robotics team went there and is having a good time, though I don't know how much he is paying. I hope this helps some.
~Scott

[Kelly322]

I know exactly where you are coming from. I also wanted to do med school, but had other interests as well. Having just a biology or chemisty degree felt like it would limit me if I graduated and then didn't want to go to med school- I would still have to continue my education to have a good career opportunity. As fate would have it, I got an academic scholarship for engineering to Virginia Tech, and chose to major in mechanical engineering and bulk up on biology and chemistry classes. (There really wasn't any other attractive way of doing engineering to prepare for med school at VT at the time.) That way, I had my undergrad education paid for and was academically prepared to attend med school. I did really well on my MCATs and was ready to start med school when I graduated. Then, a few months before graduation, I got a good job offer to work as an engineer. It was a great opportunity to make a little money and get some "real world" experience before I went back to school. I ended up getting married, settling down, and never going back, but it was all by choice. I've continued my career as an engineer, which isn't so bad. At least with the engineering degree, I had a career to "fall back" on. There are definitely days that I wish I had chosen otherwise, so my advise is to not stray if that is indeed what you want to do. I really think that the engineering/med school combo is a great one. Engineers tend to be logical thinkers with a constant desire to learn, and those are two qualities of great doctors. (I was personally interested in pathology or perhaps radiology, as I assumed that either of those would minimize my interaction with people and maximize my "science" time.) I, of course, think that my alma mater, Virginia Tech, would be a super place to attend, but I think out-of-state tuition is pretty scary. Perhaps Duke (my med school of choice), Johns Hopkins, or Vanderbilt (my 2nd choice med school) are places to also consider.

Just my personal experience with the whole decision making process.

Kelly =)