Nontypical majors?

[YankeesfanZF5]

So I am a sophmore finishing up orgo 2, physics 2 and calc. Only prereqs I think I have left are biochem. I am right now a typical, boring, cookie-cutter biology major with two minors (psych & chem). It feels so boring and useless but I know I need to take some more bio courses to increase my science gpa (3.5) (got Bs in gen bio and physics). I really enjoy humanitites courses and a wide variety of education. I really am only really interested in taking about half my bio major classes like vert zoo, anatomy, and physiology but cell and molecular and micro sound awful. It is just soo nice that it pretty much fulfills the classes needed foralmost every graduate level health care job! I came into school with a year of college done so I have time to kind of branch outand I would not mind going to college 5years because it is affordable. Any classes suggestions that you guys liked to break the monotony? Any good majors you guys suggest?

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[katashark]

So I am a sophmore finishing up orgo 2, physics 2 and calc. Only prereqs I think I have left are biochem. I am right now a typical, boring, cookie-cutter biology major with two minors (psych & chem). It feels so boring and useless but I know I need to take some more bio courses to increase my science gpa (3.5) (got Bs in gen bio and physics). I really enjoy humanitites courses and a wide variety of education. I really am only really interested in taking about half my bio major classes like vert zoo, anatomy, and physiology but cell and molecular and micro sound awful. It is just soo nice that it pretty much fulfills the classes needed foralmost every graduate level health care job! I came into school with a year of college done so I have time to kind of branch outand I would not mind going to college 5years because it is affordable. Any classes suggestions that you guys liked to break the monotony? Any good majors you guys suggest?

Not exactly humanities and I don't know how into environmental stuff you are, but I minored in natural resources and liked all those classes. Took environmental philosophy and that was a good class. It was a nice blend of humanities and science.

But you should seriously take any class you want. You're only a sophomore, you have time. Also 3.5 is not bad for a science gpa.

 

[Devastating]

Major technically doesn't matter, as long as you have all the prereqs necessary for whatever school(s) you plan to apply to (which it sounds like you already have!)

I think it's already pretty cool that you have 2 minors going on! That can definitely help you stand out. If you really don't like being in Bio, and have already completed most of your prereqs, then you may as well switch to anything that would interest you more. Again, it really doesn't matter to vet schools what your major was--most people just tend to go for science related majors like Bio, Chem, Animal Sci because they already include most of your needed vet/health prerequisites, as you mentioned. Personally, I majored in Animal Sci. over general Biology because it included pretty much the same framework of necessary science courses while having much more focus on hands-on animal stuff (farm courses, a few courses on companion animals etc.) whereas bio majors were required to take things like Calc

I gotta say though, you may still want to take things like Microbiology if you can--some schools require it, taking upper-level sciences like that is a good way to work on your science GPA, and I actually enjoyed the lab portion!

 

[vetmedhead]

I gotta say though, you may still want to take things like Microbiology if you can--some schools require it, taking upper-level sciences like that is a good way to work on your science GPA, and I actually enjoyed the lab portion!

I agree with Deva about Micro - it's incredibly important to just about any health profession, and a good foundation in microbiology will help you when you get to bacteriology, virology, immunology, and pretty much any pathogen-related topic in professional school.

As for majors - pick anything you'd like! So long as you get the prereqs done, the schools don't particularly prefer that you be one major over another. I personally know someone who got into vet school as a theater major - and there are tons of others who are English majors, etc. (check out the successful applicant threads and look at some of the variety of majors listed on there, if you'd like).

 

[hazelmoo]

If you like the zoology classes you're taking, that may be an option for a viable major that has similar classes. My advisor told me that zoology and biology majors were pretty much the same (at my university anyways), except for the fact that there is less flexibility with what upper level electives you can take. I've taken intro to zoo, herpetology, wildlife, and developmental bio/embryology to fulfill those, whereas a bio major could take any bio classes they wanted to fulfill their upper level electives (which helps a lot of pre vets because they can often use their vet prereqs to count). However, I still had to take the same required courses as biology majors such as ecology, evolution, and cell bio (eek). I love my major, but my advisor highly advised against it since it would add extra time until graduation for me. Some schools don't even have that major anymore, but instead may have wildlife/animal biology as a major. I've also taken some animal science classes that I don't need for vet prereqs such as animal anatomy and animal physiology which I loved, but they were just for fun. You can also basically take any classes you want as long as you have the time/money, even if they don't pertain to your major.

I don't think your major particularly matters to anyone except you, so truly just pick whatever you like and whatever makes the most sense with the time that you have as an undergrad.