Grades and GPA do matter to an extent-- if you are applying to graduate school, you need to have the grades to be accepted into a program. That academic experience is also a requirement for some jobs....

BME is a little bit of everything, and I think that's great because you can essentially pick what aspect you're interested in as a career. You get so many opportunities to develop those specific skill...

I think that you definitely want to have some sort of experience to put on your resume-- especially if you're applying to the big companies. I wouldn't say that internship/co-cop experience is require...