I was on the edge about getting a double major last year as well. I started with a biochemistry major. Because of AP credits, I would have been forced to graduate if I didn't declare a second major. I was in no hurry to graduate early since a scholarship was paying for a full 4 years of undergraduate school, so it was in my best interest to get everything out of that opportunity. Anyways, I guess I was channeling Warren Buffet when he said "the best investment you can make is in yourself."
I ended up choosing a second major in finance for several reasons...
I knew I didn't want another major in science simply because I was curious of what else the university had to offer.
I didn't want to get a fine arts major (painting, photography, music) because I knew those majors, while not particularly difficult, required a major time commitment, especially for me because I can spend months on a single project or piece of music to get it just right.
I wanted to choose a major that was ubiquitous in nearly all careers...something that I can see myself using later on in life...and it didn't necessarily have to do with medicine. When I went to an Q & A session hosted by my school with a couple of physicians, I asked them if they could go back to UG and choose a different major that they thought would most benefit them in the future, which major would they choose. They all said something in the business field, and the most common major was finance. I also had the opportunity to work with an optometrist in her private practice the summer after my freshman year, and she also expressed how much a background, even if its just a brief knowledge in finance, would really help her navigate the business side of medicine such as knowing some of the jargon, understanding the processes that go behind financial and management decisions, ect.
I have to say, there are some things I've learned that I can definitely see will be helpful in the future (and they aren't all major related skills). For example, all business majors are required to take a speaking course (I took interpersonal communication). I also took a project management course and an IT course on Excel. It seems like, from the classes I've taken, business majors emphasize a "project/group problem solving" approach rather than just going to class, taking notes, and studying for a test by yourself (which is generally what science majors at my school do, not sure if it's the same at other uni)
When I apply for medical school, an MD/MBA joint degree suddenly becomes a less intimidating and more enticing option to pursue, or I could just stick with a regular MD. But if I did decide to get an MD/MBA, the background in finance coupled with that MBA degree opens a lot more opportunity in terms of career choices outside of being a regular physician. Maybe one day I get to traveling to different countries working with their gov. and financial budget to develop a new healthcare system...who knows, right?
In the end, for me it came down to getting the degree to open more opportunities and make life easier in the future if I decide to open my own practice or move away from the traditional "physician or works in the hospital" route.
The only other thing you need to consider is the opportunity cost of pursuing that second major. Because the prereqs for a business major doesn't exactly mesh with a premed's reqs, I spent a lot of time taking a heavy load of classes (19-21 hours a semester regularly), so if I didn't manage my time well enough, I would miss out on clubs and volunteering. You may have to sacrifice goofing around and procrastinating to get both EC and a second major done....although now you can talk about how pursuing such unrelated majors has forced you to use your time efficiently and it shows you can handle a heavy course load, do research, volunteer, and manage a club.
However, like the post above me said, you should be do this without having your GPA drop.
Just my opinion
(I did not feel like proofreading, so excuse my oddly worded sentences and spelling errors LOL)
