How should I fit in pre-med requisites and shadowing opportunities as a CS Major?

[JusSumGuy]

* For further context, my school allows juniors and seniors to take DE credit with the neighboring community college. I will be graduating high school with an associates degree upon graduation (General Studies/CS Specialization), this is originally designed as a transfer degree to Radford University in which they would accept all of my credits. With the number of classes I would have left to complete at college, it would take me a little over two years to finish with my bachelors in CS. If I eventually wanted to get a job with the CS degree I'd assume I would need some sort of internship or previous experience, how would I balance this out with premed type experiences (bioinformatics internships)?

My question is how would I fit in all of the Premed reqresuites and Job Shadowing/Research?

Would it be feasible to work after the bachelors and take a year or two before applying (which would help pay for med school)?

Should I fit this in my first two years at university or should I wait?

Would a Bioinformatics MS be beneficial in anyway if didn't work straight after bachelors, as I find it very interesting?

(Lots of questions, I know...)

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[Blueprint Med School]

So you're in high school now, and you already plan to:

1. Graduate college in 2 years
2. Graduate college with a CS major
3. Be premed the entire time
4. Complete an MS
5. Go to med school

I'd slow down a bit. College is fun, there's no need to rush through it all in 2 years. And it's more than likely you're going to decide to do something other than medicine along the way. If you want to go into CS, be a CS major. If you wanna be a premed, be a premed. I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to do CS if your ultimate goal is med school. My advice would be to either:

1. Focus on CS, be a software engineer. It's an amazing field.
2. Be a premed, graduate in 3+ years, go to med school. Shadow/do research/extracurriculars along the way.

And for applying to medical school, an MS in bioinformatics wouldn't do very much. Do it if you're passionate about it but don't expect it to do much for your medical school application.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[JusSumGuy]

So you're in high school now, and you already plan to:

1. Graduate college in 2 years
2. Graduate college with a CS major
3. Be premed the entire time
4. Complete an MS
5. Go to med school

I'd slow down a bit. College is fun, there's no need to rush through it all in 2 years. And it's more than likely you're going to decide to do something other than medicine along the way. If you want to go into CS, be a CS major. If you wanna be a premed, be a premed. I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to do CS if your ultimate goal is med school. My advice would be to either:

1. Focus on CS, be a software engineer. It's an amazing field.
2. Be a premed, graduate in 3+ years, go to med school. Shadow/do research/extracurriculars along the way.

And for applying to medical school, an MS in bioinformatics wouldn't do very much. Do it if you're passionate about it but don't expect it to do much for your medical school application.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

I appreciate the feedback, I planned to major in CS because I find computation biology and bioinformatics very interesting. However, there are no clear-cut majors for either of these at my college. Do you think it would be a better idea to major in something else or should I stick with CS and "Shadow/do research/extracurriculars along the way"? You mentioned that CS didn't make sense if my ultimate goal is med school, do you think that I should major in something else that would be easier to do in conjunction with premed courses and shadowing?

 

[candbgirl]

If you want to do CS degree and you seem to really want to do it, go ahead. Then when you graduate get a job and work for a few years. At some point reach out and sign up for nonclinical volunteering or clinical volunteering. You could also start with physician shadowing and see if you really think you’d be happy even working the sick, injured and dying for the next 35+ years. If you do decide start your prereqs, study for the MCAT and continue building your ECs to build a competitive application for medical school. There is no rush to get this all done by the time you graduate, and there really isn’t a way to do it successfully. So slow down, make good choices, do well in school and in life and plan to apply ONE time when you are ready. Med schools will still be around when you are ready.

 

[Glassdyr]

If I eventually wanted to get a job with the CS degree I'd assume I would need some sort of internship or previous experience, how would I balance this out with premed type experiences (bioinformatics internships)?

My question is how would I fit in all of the Premed reqresuites and Job Shadowing/Research?

Would it be feasible to work after the bachelors and take a year or two before applying (which would help pay for med school)?

Should I fit this in my first two years at university or should I wait?

Would a Bioinformatics MS be beneficial in anyway if didn't work straight after bachelors, as I find it very interesting?

(Lots of questions, I know...)

You're a little all over the place. You're asking several questions about specific next steps to take, but in reading your post, I don't get the impression you're confident in where those specific steps are heading towards. I'm hearing a bioinformatics MS, a CS degree + internships to get a CS job after graduation, premed prerequisites, shadowing... I think you're putting the horse before the carriage in that you've not even quite decided what you'd like to do. That's perfectly normal for still being in high school -- and even healthy.

My honest recommendation is to spend the first year in whatever college/university you have exploring. You have several questions, yes -- but the most important ones here, the ones you're not asking in this post, are what only you can answer. Do you want to go premed? Volunteer at a clinic; shadow a doctor. Do you want to go CS? Try an internship; compete in a few code-a-thons; take random classes online, like through Coursera.

You could even pull up in college and go on a completely random path other than CS or medicine. For example, I showed up in college convinced I was going to dedicate my life to ornithology. Then I lost my sanity somewhere along the line and ended up premed. You could easily do the exact same thing -- so many people do. To fence yourself onto a pathway before you've even gotten chance to see if it's right for you is horribly limiting and rarely ends well.

Life is long. Explore.


Edit:

I appreciate the feedback, I planned to major in CS because I find computation biology and bioinformatics very interesting. However, there are no clear-cut majors for either of these at my college. Do you think it would be a better idea to major in something else or should I stick with CS and "Shadow/do research/extracurriculars along the way"? You mentioned that CS didn't make sense if my ultimate goal is med school, do you think that I should major in something else that would be easier to do in conjunction with premed courses and shadowing?

I think our point here is that you're trying to have your cake and eat it too -- trying to be both premed and CS. This will be fairly unproductive and, as both can be competitive fields, would shaft you in both. Sure, you could take ochem along with your CS major classes while shadowing a doctor, scrubbing ER room floors at a hospital, and slathering tomato sauce on spaghetti code at a CS internship, but you would struggle to show up in a way that's productive and meaningful. I would do one first and then the other.

 

[JusSumGuy]

I appreciate all the feedback, I think I need to do some long thinking about what I want to major in after high school (CS still being a viable option). I do know that I want to go into medicine, I just want to do it in the most optimal way possible (time-wise and monetarily).

 

[Glassdyr]

...I do know that I want to go into medicine...

How do you know? (I'm assuming) you ain't done nothing in it yet. Again: Don't fence yourself into one path yet.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

It depends on the school you’re going to attend because some are more flexible than others. At my school, it was very common (or at least somewhat common) for premeds to major in econ/CS because the school offered a great deal of schedule flexibility. I know you mention the specific school, but I don’t know if they offer this flexibility and I am unfamiliar with format and other students at the school.

Personally, I like the idea of premeds trying to major in something other than biology/neuro/chem because the fact of the matter is that most premeds won’t end up in med school for a variety of reasons. With an econ or CS or finance major, you’re much more employable if you decide to change paths.

CS is definitely useful in medicine and although I haven’t started med school yet, I have already identified a number of research opportunities at the school I will be attending related to ML/AI. These labs publish much more frequently due to the nature of the research. In addition, with a CS background, you can add value assuming a knowledge of data science/statistical computing. If I didn’t have a solid foundation in CS, these opportunities would almost certainly be closed off.

 

[jhmmd]

* For further context, my school allows juniors and seniors to take DE credit with the neighboring community college. I will be graduating high school with an associates degree upon graduation (General Studies/CS Specialization), this is originally designed as a transfer degree to Radford University in which they would accept all of my credits. With the number of classes I would have left to complete at college, it would take me a little over two years to finish with my bachelors in CS. If I eventually wanted to get a job with the CS degree I'd assume I would need some sort of internship or previous experience, how would I balance this out with premed type experiences (bioinformatics internships)?

My question is how would I fit in all of the Premed reqresuites and Job Shadowing/Research?

Would it be feasible to work after the bachelors and take a year or two before applying (which would help pay for med school)?

Should I fit this in my first two years at university or should I wait?

Would a Bioinformatics MS be beneficial in anyway if didn't work straight after bachelors, as I find it very interesting?

(Lots of questions, I know...)

Without any further background, your post reads exactly like you want to #1 Be a doctor #2 Have computer science as your backup plan. Med schools don't look very kindly upon this type of setup. You need to make a decision. If you're smart enough to get good grades in engineering/CS courses, you can probably hack the pre-med courses. But this is only something you want to do if you enjoy the work. Don't major in life sciences if you hate life sciences...ya know. Making a decision now will save you thousands in opportunity costs down the road (e.g. avoiding gap years by focusing on bio pre-reqs now vs. graduating with a CS degree, if that's what you choose instead)...best of luck to you.

 

[JusSumGuy]

Without any further background, your post reads exactly like you want to #1 Be a doctor #2 Have computer science as your backup plan. Med schools don't look very kindly upon this type of setup. You need to make a decision. If you're smart enough to get good grades in engineering/CS courses, you can probably hack the pre-med courses. But this is only something you want to do if you enjoy the work. Don't major in life sciences if you hate life sciences...ya know. Making a decision now will save you thousands in opportunity costs down the road (e.g. avoiding gap years by focusing on bio pre-reqs now vs. graduating with a CS degree, if that's what you choose instead)...best of luck to you.

Thanks for the response, I appreciate the feedback.

For more context, I originally began my associates degree in computer science at my local community college as this was offered and I saw no downside to starting a degree in high school (this was in 10th grade and I am now an 11th grader with about five classes left to complete my degree). You mentioned that Med schools would view cs as a "backup plan" however wouldn't this be the case for any other engineering-type major or is this because of the fact that I wouldn't be completely indulged in medical related endeavors throughout undergrad? Wouldn't it be easier to pay for med school if I had some sort of salary after undergraduate or do you think it would be more beneficial to major in something else in undergraduate?

* I know this is a bit basic but I'd also like my undergrad degree to be marketable. So in a general wouldn't any undergraduate degree be a "backup plan" if medicine goes south for the applicant? I just don't want to major in life sciences, finish all premed requirements, hours of research/shadowing/internships, only to not get accepted and have thousands of dollars in debt...

 

[Kmani6]

The whole med schools don't look favorable on statistics/engineering/CS degrees with premed as a backup is totally overblown IMO. The only time med schools won't look favorably upon a quantitative major is if the GPA/sGPA suffers.

If you can balance the GPA and get involved in activities that normal bio/chem majors wouldn't have access to, you can craft your quantitative skill set as a strong X factor.

How would you go about this? Here's an example for a strong applicant graduating in 3 years:

1. Two-three years of sustained computational biomedical research.
2. summer between fresh/soph: intern at a health tech company
3. summer between soph/junior: intern at a healthcare consulting or medical imaging company
4. during gap year computational research assistant at the NIH IRTA or some large academic center

Now you've combined 4 strong activities with your major (extreme case) and have shown sustained and devoted interest in the bioinformatics space.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Without any further background, your post reads exactly like you want to #1 Be a doctor #2 Have computer science as your backup plan. Med schools don't look very kindly upon this type of setup. You need to make a decision. If you're smart enough to get good grades in engineering/CS courses, you can probably hack the pre-med courses. But this is only something you want to do if you enjoy the work. Don't major in life sciences if you hate life sciences...ya know. Making a decision now will save you thousands in opportunity costs down the road (e.g. avoiding gap years by focusing on bio pre-reqs now vs. graduating with a CS degree, if that's what you choose instead)...best of luck to you.

Eh fat disagree. My CS degree has helped me to stand out and has been looked on favorably by adcoms.

 

[JusSumGuy]

The whole med schools don't look favorable on statistics/engineering/CS degrees with premed as a backup is totally overblown IMO. The only time med schools won't look favorably upon a quantitative major is if the GPA/sGPA suffers.

If you can balance the GPA and get involved in activities that normal bio/chem majors wouldn't have access to, you can craft your quantitative skill set as a strong X factor.

How would you go about this? Here's an example for a strong applicant graduating in 3 years:

1. Two-three years of sustained computational biomedical research.
2. summer between fresh/soph: intern at a health tech company
3. summer between soph/junior: intern at a healthcare consulting or medical imaging company
4. during gap year computational research assistant at the NIH IRTA or some large academic center

Now you've combined 4 strong activities with your major (extreme case) and have shown sustained and devoted interest in the bioinformatics space.

This is definitely a possibility, as I did plan on interning during undergrad. In regards to the GPA/sGPA, would Med-schools differentiate from classes I took at my local community college and my undergrad university (my college would combine the associates GPA with the remaining courses I would take at university)? (*If it matters at all. I am currently sitting at a 3.71 and will finish around the high 3.7 range or low 3.8.)

 

[jhmmd]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate the feedback.

For more context, I originally began my associates degree in computer science at my local community college as this was offered and I saw no downside to starting a degree in high school (this was in 10th grade and I am now an 11th grader with about five classes left to complete my degree). You mentioned that Med schools would view cs as a "backup plan" however wouldn't this be the case for any other engineering-type major or is this because of the fact that I wouldn't be completely indulged in medical related endeavors throughout undergrad? Wouldn't it be easier to pay for med school if I had some sort of salary after undergraduate or do you think it would be more beneficial to major in something else in undergraduate?

* I know this is a bit basic but I'd also like my undergrad degree to be marketable. So in a general wouldn't any undergraduate degree be a "backup plan" if medicine goes south for the applicant? I just don't want to major in life sciences, finish all premed requirements, hours of research/shadowing/internships, only to not get accepted and have thousands of dollars in debt...

1. The latter
2. With respect to your second question, most med students take out loans. Huge loans. It's technically a gamble but most of them pay it off in no time. If your MCAT/GPA was on target that means that you have the potential to keep scoring high on the important tests required to move forward.
3. With respect to your third question, yes your undergraduate degree should have some kind of "backup plan" and be marketable. Ideally, if you like the life sciences, then you won't have a problem working in this capacity. I'm having a hard time understanding why you dislike life sciences and yet want to be a doctor...forgive me if I'm wrong.

Eh fat disagree. My CS degree has helped me to stand out and has been looked on favorably by adcoms.

While I have no doubt that this helped you, the OP was asking about how to structure his/her undergraduate education and how to fit in ECs/pre-med activities. Engineering/computer science requires a lot of studying time in order to do well, and this takes time away from pre-med activities.

The number one most important thing OP should be focusing on right now is maintaining high GPA/getting a good MCAT score, in order to pass the cursory screening at med schools. Life sciences have a reputation for being slightly easier than engineering, and this would give the OP more time for pre-med activities. I think that this is what the OP was asking about. It would be much easier to make a decision now than to take a gap year later. I stand by what I said.

This is definitely a possibility, as I did plan on interning during undergrad. In regards to the GPA/sGPA, would Med-schools differentiate from classes I took at my local community college and my undergrad university (my college would combine the associates GPA with the remaining courses I would take at university)? (*If it matters at all. I am currently sitting at a 3.71 and will finish around the high 3.7 range or low 3.8.)

Yes, every single college course you have ever taken is factored into your AMCAS/AACOMAS GPA. DON'T cut corners and omit transcripts, because you could get in trouble later on for doing so.

 

[JusSumGuy]

1. The latter
2. With respect to your second question, most med students take out loans. Huge loans. It's technically a gamble but most of them pay it off in no time. If your MCAT/GPA was on target that means that you have the potential to keep scoring high on the important tests required to move forward.
3. With respect to your third question, yes your undergraduate degree should have some kind of "backup plan" and be marketable. Ideally, if you like the life sciences, then you won't have a problem working in this capacity. I'm having a hard time understanding why you dislike life sciences and yet want to be a doctor...forgive me if I'm wrong.


While I have no doubt that this helped you, the OP was asking about how to structure his/her undergraduate education and how to fit in ECs/pre-med activities. Engineering/computer science requires a lot of studying time in order to do well, and this takes time away from pre-med activities.

The number one most important thing OP should be focusing on right now is maintaining high GPA/getting a good MCAT score, in order to pass the cursory screening at med schools. Life sciences have a reputation for being slightly easier than engineering, and this would give the OP more time for pre-med activities. I think that this is what the OP was asking about. It would be much easier to make a decision now than to take a gap year later. I stand by what I said.


Yes, every single college course you have ever taken is factored into your AMCAS/AACOMAS GPA. DON'T cut corners and omit transcripts, because you could get in trouble later on for doing so.

So far I've taken and done well in Biology 101, Biology 102, Human Anatomy and Physiology 142, Human Anatomy Physiology 143, First Aid, and Pulmonary Resuscitation, Psychology 200, Sociology 200 among others that I will take next year. It's not that I don't enjoy life sciences in particular, I'm just aware that if I were to major in something like Biology or Chemistry I wouldn't have as much marketability after college. It just so happens that I've dabbled into many different classes in CS and in life sciences as I don't mind working in either. I find that my main issue is that I don't want to have to take out huge sums of student loans after undergrad (although I am realizing I still may need to do it anyway).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

If the OP in in high school now, ask any academic advisor and prehealth advisor you meet in your college tours or final looks before orientation. If they can't help you figure this out, then your task will be much more challenging.

We do need computational biologists in the workforce and industry by the way.

 

[jhmmd]

So far I've taken and done well in Biology 101, Biology 102, Human Anatomy and Physiology 142, Human Anatomy Physiology 143, First Aid, and Pulmonary Resuscitation, Psychology 200, Sociology 200 among others that I will take next year. It's not that I don't enjoy life sciences in particular, I'm just aware that if I were to major in something like Biology or Chemistry I wouldn't have as much marketability after college. It just so happens that I've dabbled into many different classes in CS and in life sciences as I don't mind working in either. I find that my main issue is that I don't want to have to take out huge sums of student loans after undergrad (although I am realizing I still may need to do it anyway).

It all depends on what you want to do. This link shows you that the median annual wage for someone with a biology degree is $65k in the U.S., which is comparable to what you can earn with a computer science degree (off by maybe 10-20k). If you want to invest your time trying to get into med school, of course you will make more if you succeed.

The main point about loans is that you WILL pay them off eventually. Don't be afraid to invest in your future--that's why it's called an investment