Expert: Susie Watts - 4/24/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi, so to be short, I am from Canada (Quebec) and I am 17 years old. I want to move up to the United-States for university, for many reasons, which are not important in the context of my request. So I am pretty interested in both biology (HUMAN physiology, just like medicine) and physics (engineering), so I was wondering if there were any programs, such as bio-engineering or something like that (or is it better to do medicine and specialize later???). Also, do you know what universities could be interesting for my case (international student)?
I must also specify that here, in Quebec, we got some pre-college called Cegep, in which we learn a lot of useless things, and I am just about to finish it.
Then, (I know, I am being long to read, I apologize...) how exactly must I process to go there? What tests must I pass? Will I need my Cegep marks (those are really not good, and I don't care at all about them), or High school ones will do (mid 80%ies)?

I know this will be long to answer, but please understand that here, the government DON'T want people to quit Quebec for studies, so I got no idea what to do and they won't help me...
Thank you very much, and have a nice day!

ANSWER: I think colleges will be more interested in your high school grades and test scores.  You should take the SAT if you have not already done so.  You can go to the College Board website and sign up or get information on test locations.  It is collegedirection.org.  Some schools you might want to look at would be the following which all offer biomedical engineering but many other majors as well:
Marquette University
Carnegie Mellon
Michigan State
Syracuse
Temple University
University of Rhode Island
Each of these schools has a website which explains in detail how to apply and their requirements.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi, thanks for your quick answer (I seriously did not expect THAT fast :) ). I was wondering if you could explain me a little more in detail what exactly is biomedical engineering program (what kind of jobs it leads too, and what you do in these jobs), and also, I'd like to know the requirements for medicine (do I need like 98% averages in high school? or just hyper high test scores will do?)
thank you very much!

Answer
The great thing about going to college in the US is that you do not need to have a major when you enter the school.  Most of the time you have two years to take the required core classes before you actually decide what you want to concentrate on in your final two years.  That gives you plenty of time to take different courses and find out what you really want to study and major in.  Biomedical engineering can lead to many areas in the medical field.  It is a combination of science and the medical field.  The biggest thing medical schools are looking for is strong grades in your major.  They don't care what you major in but want to see a passion for your interest in learning.  That right now should be your biggest concern.