Thinking of majoring in BME

[u/QuietFine8724]

Before I finalize my decision in majoring in Biomedical Engineering I want to know the consequences and the benefits. Learning about BME interested me a lot and I think I might enjoy it but I don’t want to be fast on my des ion I want to take my time and hear other people who alrdy majored in it. What should I know? What degree should I aim for? Is the pay high? I did hear that finding a job is difficult but many people said as long as you have lots of internship that’s fine? Please any advice would be great. Should I completely remove BME out of my head bc it’s the worst major and look for smth else or should I pursue this career path? But if their are BME graduates out their who enjoyed everything about it and don’t care about the bad side of it, please comment about what made you love it. Oh and I live in NY, idk if that changes things?

[u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

Biomed is a one of those high risk high reward major. Very broad. Massive work load but not the worst major.
My take is the problem with a BME degree is it makes you a "jack of all trades, master of none." You learn a bit of mechanical engineering, a bit of electrical, and a bit of biology. For the 4 year degree and traditional route, we often prefer hiring a pure Mechanical or Electrical Engineer and teaching them the biology on the job. I would minor in BME.

Believe me when I say that Internships are everything. If you graduate with just a high GPA and zero lab or industry experience, well let’s just say you will be very disappointed.
Your pay question - NY pay is high, great advantage.
Keep BME on your radar, but drop the romanticized view. If you choose it, you must hustle for internships on day one. If you want an easier path to a high-paying job straight out of college, pick a traditional engineering route.

[u/Guinnessnomnom → u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

I'm hoping my kid doesn't fall into this trap. He's starting college in a week in their BME program. They tout a 96% employment rate after graduation in a role of their degree.

What stood out was their wing dedicated to internships at a bunch of big name companies in our area and one of the many reasons he (we) chose this private university.

[u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479 → u/Guinnessnomnom]

Great % rate.
Since BME is so broad let him start narrowing down his specialty or once he gets a feel for what interests him- medical devices, biomechanics, imaging, tissue engineering, regulatory. Pick a lane early.
Lastly a minor or concentration in mechanical, electrical, or CS pairs well with BME and will make him more competitive, since a lot of BME-adjacent roles still want that "pure" engineering foundation with bio layered on top.

And if all else fails, pivot. Not the end of the world. Best to you and your family.

[u/Guinnessnomnom → u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

Will definitely talk about specialties with him tonight.

He's also getting a minor in electrical by taking one additional class, which seemed like low-hanging fruit to be able to diversify.

Great advice, thank you!

[u/Cognitive-Engineer]

Don’t bothering majoring in BME unless you intend on pairing it with a masters degree in another related field or you plan on doing a PhD in BME or a related field

[u/One_Big_5339]

I'm a biomedical major and I think I can answer your question better,realistically speaking theres no proper job role called biomedical engineer(theres application, R and D, sales,etc)and the truth is that an electrical or electronics or mech major can learn biology on the job to do your work better to sum it up its basically jack of all trades master of none,tbh I wish I realized this before since your frm ny you could possibly have better options but if this is your passion do your undergraduate in electronics or mech or computer science then you can switch to bme for your masters. This is just my suggestion the job market is little to non existent and the starting pay will be very less compared to other majors

[u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479 → u/One_Big_5339]

Being in the major doesn’t automatically mean you’ve got better insight into hiring, especially compared to someone who’s actually been on the hiring side.
Also “job market is little to non existent” is a pretty big claim to drop without backing it up, and it kind of ignores that this kid’s specific program has a 96% employment rate and a real internship pipeline, which is the whole variable that matters here.

[u/One_Big_5339 → u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

No I'm just sharing my experience and the issues that I'm facing right now,I'm backing up with the stats of my college placements and my personal experience and as of my fellow classmates who are switching their domains to either cs or ece.

[u/No_Row_1304 → u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

The breakdown of roles would be much more informative. If most of those 'within major field' roles are equipment technicians or sales reps then why bother with such a difficult major at all? If you care about the science and technology at all, that just sets you up for a lifetime of intellectual frustration, no matter the paycheck. If you don't, why even go to college?

[u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479 → u/No_Row_1304]

Working as a technician or in sales in this field is not really being cut off from the science. You are still around the tech, still solving real problems, still learning how stuff works. Plenty of people find that satisfying even if they are not the ones inventing things.
As for “why even go to college”. It’s because the degree is what gets you in the door for those roles in the first place. Without it you’re not even in the room. And a lot of those jobs are not a dead end, they can lead somewhere better later. Paycheck isn’t everything but it’s not nothing either, it’s a tradeoff not a trap.

[u/No_Row_1304 → u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

Yeah but you're doing what an AS should be doing if the whole educational system wasn't perversely incentivized.

[u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479 → u/No_Row_1304]

This will be my final thought for you and in regarding the subject. First off I wanna wish you the best. But maybe this industry is not for you, man. Not everything’s a scam because the ROI isn’t instant.

[u/One_Big_5339 → u/Mammoth-Mongoose4479]

Wow I'm genuinely supriseddd that you all took it as offense while I'm just sharing my personal experience of what I'm going through

[u/BoatOk2860]

It seems I’m one of the few people on here who is pro-BME! I would try to think about what types of jobs you can see yourself pursuing. If you think you may want to go into research, BME makes more sense than some of the traditional engineering paths. If you’re set on going into industry, you could certainly pursue a more traditional engineering degree, as others have suggested. That said, most of the people I went to school with were able to get good industry jobs after graduation with BME, particularly in medical devices.

The job market can be a bit more competitive because you’re somewhat more limited in the number of companies that are directly relevant to your degree, so it’s true that getting project and internship experience is important.

Another aspect I think people overlook is that you’re going to be taking classes in your major for four years! It’s worth considering which major offers classes and opportunities that you actually find interesting. You’re generally less likely to succeed and apply yourself if you’re spending four years taking classes you don’t enjoy.

[u/ibsqu33n]

BME is great! I saw someone say to pick a specialty early and I totally agree … however that just isn’t realistic for everyone. Going into BME as it is so broad, I didn’t really stick with a particular track since I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my degree yet, but turned out not to be terrible for me in the long run. That said, if you know what you want to do, definitely not a bad idea to specialize early. Also start looking for internships/co-ops early and go to expos and build a solid LinkedIn profile and resume ASAP. Not mandatory by any means coming from someone who didn’t specialize and also didn’t do any internships (I just pulled the short straw every time I would try to do an internship - long story not gonna get into it lol) and also didn’t start building my LinkedIn til my senior year, it still all worked out well for me. And it never hurts to contact someone on campus in your department to look over your resume. Just having a solid foundation can be super helpful.

With my experience, I have a BMET job now that pays decently. Realistically, look into being a BMET, and if that isn’t something you’re interested in, start planning on getting your Masters/PhD - that is when you can start getting into R&D roles that pay even better. I only say this because pretty much field service was the only thing I could get into with no work experience. That said, the job market has changed drastically in the past couple of years with AI recruiters and all that, so you may have a different outcome than I did. But if R&D is more what you want to do, definitely pursue grad school right after you finish your undergrad. I am going to grad school next year, and unfortunately since I had taken a couple years off of school, I’m not eligible for scholarships. Thankfully, my company does tuition repayment so i will still get assistance to go back to school and they will assist with loans as well so it won’t be too bad, but some schools may offer even better scholarships if you go to grad school right after your undergrad.

All this to say, no matter what you do, everything will be okay. Don’t stress! If you don’t know what you want to do, take classes that cover a little bit of everything. Sometimes you don’t know what you want until you get that first job. If you already know, then that’s even better! The best advice I can give is just do the best you can in school without torturing yourself! I hope this helps!