Advanced Coursework

If you get A's in all of your pre-med classes and those are the only science courses you take, you're fine. Those are the only ones med schools care about if you're a non-science major. So it won't look bad if those are your only science courses; I know plenty of people who only did the required pre-med courses (keep in mind, some med schools require or recommend a little more than the standard prereqs, like a semester of biochem, or calculus/statistics, etc). I highly doubt it would significantly boost your app if you have compsci classes (unless a med school recommends it), but the important thing here is to take whatever you're interested in while you're in college and do well in it. Check out the MSAR for individual med-school prereqs and recommendations on premed coursework.

 

I agree that adcomms won't care if you take more than their prerequisites, if you generally have a good GPA. An exception might be if you had a bad year, and need to prove that you have what it takes to do well in a science-intense med school environment (and redeem a GPA drop). Even though adcomms don't care, that doesn't mean it's not a good idea, IMO. I feel that having some (or a lot) of the upper-level science classes makes med school less stressful. At the minimum, I'd recommend you take Biochem. Physiology would be my second pick.

 

I was also a psychology major in undergrad. I took the bear minimum in terms of science classes, did moderately well (~3.5), and it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. 5 osteo acceptances.

That said, I sort of regret not taking more science classes as an undergraduate. My GPA would have surely been higher - I was weird and got better grades in more difficult classes. Also, I think taking an extra recommended class or two (biochem, a & p, etc) could have only helped my application.

 

This is good advice. Even if it doesn't help you get in to medical school - those upper level science classes can be a godsend. At my school, everyone is required to take biochem and genetics prior to attending, but I know those of us with a background in things like physiology, neurobio, microbiology, etc. are finding our course material to be much more manageable than those who didn't take the courses. Personally, I would recommend biochem, followed by genetics, followed by neuro, followed by physiology.

 

agree with the taking more than you need.

a crapton of schools are rec'ing comp sci.