Are the Kines Majors Right?

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nkolstate96

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All these people are doing poorly in my intro bio class, and claiming that changing their major to kinesiology would give them a better basis on medicine without the more difficult nature of a biology degree track.

Is this as ridiculous as it sounds, or are they right?

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I don't think any undergraduate major gives one "a better basis on medicine". If one did, we wouldn't have so many kids gunning for med school.
 
They will probably end up with a higher GPA than they would have otherwise, but they will be less prepared for the MCAT and medical school. Biology isn't especially difficult and you will find it is much more applicable to a medical school curriculum. Same with Biochem.
 
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I don't really know much about the major, but it seems a little strange to me and I wonder what one could do with a bachelors in it if not admitted to medical school.
 
I don't really know much about the major, but it seems a little strange to me and I wonder what one could do with a bachelors in it if not admitted to medical school.
That's a legitimate question for almost any major.
 
All these people are doing poorly in my intro bio class, and claiming that changing their major to kinesiology would give them a better basis on medicine without the more difficult nature of a biology degree track.

Is this as ridiculous as it sounds, or are they right?
EDIT:


Kinesiology offers a very watered down physio course. Everything else seems pretty irrelevant to MCAT contents.

Biology offers both physiology and biochemistry, both of which you will need a pretty solid background on for MCAT. Not to mention that Kinesiology majors don't incorporate Ochem coursework!

In the end, you'll be spending more time pursuing a kinesiology major to fulfill prerequisites you can easily finish in biology.
 
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It doesn't matter what you major in.
 
It doesnt matter at all what you major in. I majored in kinesiology and even without med school in the picture, for kinesiology I was REQUIRED to take statistics, calculus, bio 1/bio 2 & labs, chem 1/chem 2 & labs, physics 1/physics 2 & labs, Human anatomy & lab, Human Physiology & lab, cardiovascular physiology & lab , exercise physiology & lab, and upper level nutrition - all taken in the BIO/PHYS/CHEM/MATH departments with all the bio majors. To complete prereqs for med school... remaining I only had to take ochem 1/ochem 2 and biochem (since some schools require it - might as well). The only additional course I took just to look a little better/prepare me more was Cell bio. So with taking cell bio, I was about 2 bio classes away from being a bio major, it's really not too different of classes we take when all the prereqs are done.
 
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major in independent studies (also called interdisciplinary studies or general studies). Take classes relevant to the MCAT, interesting to your, or for easy A's.
Biology bachelor's is pretty useless by itself anyway so you might as well go full-out. With the extra time you have by not being encumbered by stringent major requirements (e.g. relatively useless ecology or plant biology or bioethics, etc) you may even fit in a "useful" minor to fall back on (e.g. accounting or computer science).
 
I don't really know much about the major, but it seems a little strange to me and I wonder what one could do with a bachelors in it if not admitted to medical school.

I have a couple of friends that are doing pretty well for themselves as collegiate coaches and trainers. One is making so much money he plans to start his own gym soon.
 
If you can't do well in undergraduate biology, good luck doing well in a course that is basically the same principles but 10x as much material. That's what most of your M1 classes will be like.
 
If you can't do well in undergraduate biology, good luck doing well in a course that is basically the same principles but 10x as much material. That's what most of your M1 classes will be like.
Quoted for truth. Suppose somehow it did indeed help them get in (which it wouldn't, but let's suppose). Then what? Not being able to handle Bio 1 seems pretty ominous.
 
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