7+ Year Member
Mar 20, 2010
Hi everyone,

I am having a slight issue in determining the school I will be attending to complete pre-med.

Currently, I am down to two choices: Georgia State University and Georgia Tech (I would be perfectly happy to attend either).

Tech has a great science program. However, the problem is that my gpa could suffer there since its an engineering school. My intended major if I attend Tech would be Biomedical Engineering. I want to keep the option for medical school open. Tech also provides great opportunities for volunteering and research...They're just known for their low GPAs.

On the other hand, Georgia State is an ok school, whose science program is not great. I can definitely maintain a high gpa there. I will work hard to study for my MCATs, and get some extracurricular activities done as well.

I have really wanted to study medicine since I started high school. BME is in fact my second choice and i am doing it so my options will be open, just in case I am unable to do medicine later on.

So my question is, How will my chances be affected if I get a BME Degree (B.S) from Tech, as opposed to just getting a Bio degree from Georgia State with a higher GPA?

Thanks in advance.


Mar 19, 2010
Well from what I know, your chances of getting into medical school won't really be affected by the undergrad you choose out of the two you mentioned. However, if you think you can get a higher GPA in the Bio program than I would suggest that.

Edit: When you receive your science degree I'm pretty sure you can still chose to [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]do a special master's program in biomedical engineering (BME) and apply to medical school as well, so if you don't make it into medical school you can follow through on the BME program.
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10+ Year Member
Jul 25, 2007
My advice would be to go to the college which you think you will enjoy more. As a high school student, I would not choose a college based solely on its ability to get you into medical school after graduating from it because it is possible if not likely that your desires will change in four years. I started off college at a federal military academy studying marine engineering; I attended this school due to its prestige among other things. However, I was not really happy there and wasn't enjoying myself so my GPA and overall attitude suffered. Once I decided to resign my appointment and transfer to a state school to major in biomedical engineering with the intent on going to medical school, my GPA jumped from like a 3.0 to a 3.9 because I really enjoyed what I was doing. I was set on going to medical school until my senior year when I got involved in a research project at the beginning and fell in love with the research. I am currently a PhD student continuing the research project and may go to medical school after. The point of the story is that from the time I graduated high school to the time that I graduated college, my desire to go to medical school changed several times. Furthermore, when I was at a school that I attended largely for the prestige, I was not happy and my GPA suffered. Therefore, I advise you to choose the school at which you think you will be the most comfortable and where you think that you will receive the best well-rounded science education because everything else will fall into line after that.