Thoughts on Gap Year/Classes?

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tokeneconomy

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Hey everyone,

I'm currently a business major and chemistry/history minor and will have taken all of the chemistry classes and one physics class required for medical school prior to starting my junior year next year. I haven't done much in the way of medicine-related extracurriculars, but I have done some history research with a professor and my non-medicine-related extracurriculars are good. My first question is which of these outside of the general 8 classes you recommend I take (I know that some are recommended by aamc, but I've heard some are useful for the MCAT from friends and siblings):

-molecular biology
-biochemistry (there are versions with and without lab, wondering if I need to take it with lab even though I don't need it for any of my degree programs)
-genetics
-physiology
-general psychology, given that I took the ap version in high school

My second question is if it's looked down upon to not have a science-related major. I love business and will definitely be keeping that as my major, and I would love to declare a double major in chemistry as I like it a lot but I currently have a good science gpa and I know some of the classes in the chemistry major are graded notoriously toughly, so I feel that keeping it at a minor is strategic.

My third question would be if a gap year is necessary. Given that I will only have taken a small portion of cell biology by the time MCAT studying comes along, and though I don't have a problem with self-studying the remainder of the material, I feel like a gap year might make sense. I would prefer not to have to take one, and have enough faith in my performance on standardized tests for the MCAT to not be the sole reason I take a gap year (though I'm sure the MCAT is an entirely different beast), but I am concerned about the extracurriculars. I'm connected to a hospital and won't have trouble getting some clinical volunteering & shadowing that I enjoy over the coming summer as a result, and would intend on doing science-related research for the entirety next summer if I am accepted to a program, but most of my friends on the pre-med track have every science class and some medicine-related ECs under their belt already and I might need time to catch up. Is there anything else you recommend I do so I can avoid having to take a gap year to brush up on those ECs? My parents recommended a mission trip to volunteer, but one of my relatives who works for a medical school said he doesn't like to see people going abroad just to volunteer, so I'm conflicted on that as well.

Thanks for any advice!

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Biochemistry is a class that's pretty much required for the new MCAT. The biochem material on there isn't the easy stuff you learned in intro bio or can self-learn quickly, and there's more of it. It's like 25% of the whole test or something like that. So biochem would be immensely useful.

Med schools don't care which major you're in, as long as you've performed well in your science pre-reqs. As long as your science GPA is high, there's really no need to major in the sciences if you truly would enjoy something else.

You should always apply to med school when you're the best applicant possible. That's a question for you to decide. You only want to apply once because prospects for re-applicants are not good. You should definitely looks into those ECs though - why aren't you doing the medicine-related ECs?
 
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Yeah, I would definitely be taking biochem as a class, but I'm wondering if the lab component is necessary because both classes are 4 credits but one is 7 hours a week and the other is 3 (no lab but specifically tailored to MCAT biochem) and the lab version isn't required for my program. I don't trust myself to do much initial learning on my own besides the remainder of gen bio 2 which I will not have completed by the time I begin MCAT preparation.

I began college intending to go into the business side of healthcare and had a serious change of heart last year, so I don't really have an excuse for not beginning medicine-related ECs during this year but that would explain my freshman year. In any event, I'm joining stuff now. I'm reading up on all things re: med school applications to determine whether or not an extra year would make me an appreciably better applicant, especially so I only have to apply once.

Thanks!
 
Yeah, I think that's more of a personal choice. I personally find lab to be fun and that it helps me learn the material better. Doing and learning is my way of learning.

It's good that you're looking into ECs now and you should be fine. But again, you want to apply when you're the best applicant so that's the part where you'll have to make your informed choice.
 
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