Anthropology a bad idea for medical school?

[w110djj]

I am thinking of switching my major from biological sciences to anthropology primarily because I will be applying to medical school in the summer and by switching to anthro I would have my undergrad within a year........ would the anthro degree weaken my chances of entering medical school?

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[GoSpursGo]

No, that's fine. Major doesn't really matter.

 

[DocMcCoy]

I was an Anthro and Bio major. To me the Anthro classes were easier and more interesting, which helped the GPA. From my undergrad, of the Anthro students that applied to medical school, something like 80 percent got in somewhere. Bio was more like 65 percent. Much smaller sample size for Anthro students so take it for what it is worth. I think in the end like Spurs said, it doesn't really matter all that much.

 

[Steeler7588]

It won't hurt you at all. Personally, I find the anthropological scope of analysis to be pretty relevant in medicine. It's also just really interesting.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

Schools don't care what your degree focus is. Degrees that are obviously really easy or obviously really hard, can hurt or help you, respectively. However, it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of your application.

I have a computer science degree and I think that it only helped my application process (something different than the usual bio & chem).

-senior medical student / admissions committee interviewer

 

[DrSmooth]

I think it would be a plus. It would set you apart from the typical premed applicants, give you a unique perspective and skill-set, and provide you with a measure "cultural competence" that many med schools value.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I think it would be a plus. It would set you apart from the typical premed applicants, give you a unique perspective and skill-set, and provide you with a measure "cultural competence" that many med schools value.

See, I think this is going too far. These days, so many pre-meds are doing something out of the natural sciences specifically for this reason or to otherwise "game the system" to boost their GPA or whatever that I don't think that doing a nonscience major really sets you apart anymore.

Bottom line, do what you find interesting. If that's anthropology, great; if it's biochem, that's great too.

 

[filisbug]

don't do it because you think it will look interesting on your app, do it because it's interesting to you!

and (if it is interesting to you) it can be very relevant to medicine! people get PhDs in medical anthropology... and it is a key component of Harvard's social medicine program (http://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/research/medical_anthropology/)

Paul Farmer has a PhD in anthropology....

 

[Infinitydrop]

If you did well in your premed sciences, then go with anthro if you like it. But anthro classes won't boost your science GPA if you need the boost.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

If you did well in your premed sciences, then go with anthro if you like it. But anthro classes won't boost your science GPA if you need the boost.

Actually some anthro courses will count as sgpa. Remember anthropologists do a lot of work with bones to figure out things about culture and behaviors. Those classes constitute Sgpa.There's a very thin thin line between the social sciences and biology frankly. Its why i really think that sgpa needs to be expanded to social sciences as well and not just hard sciences.

 

[goldandapager]

Actually some anthro courses will count as sgpa. Remember anthropologists do a lot of work with bones to figure out things about culture and behaviors. Those classes constitute Sgpa.There's a very thin thin line between the social sciences and biology frankly. Its why i really think that sgpa needs to be expanded to social sciences as well and not just hard sciences.

No they won't. Your science GPA consists of courses taken in your biology, chemistry, math, or physics departments.

 

[BlueElmo]

Like others said, if you're interested in Anthro, do that. Or double major if you want.

 

[starl3tte]

One of the urology residents I work with was an anthropology major in undergrad. He went to a CA med school. I'm a non-science major myself, and I don't think it really matters (but I'm probably biased).

 

[TooMuchResearch]

No they won't. Your science GPA consists of courses taken in your biology, chemistry, math, or physics departments.

Science GPA can include courses taken outside of those four departments as long as the course content is BPCM. From page 53 of the AMCAS 2009 Instruction Manual:

Each course must be assigned a course classification based entirely on the primary content of the course.

A stats course taken from a psych department could count as math, and an osteology course taken in an anthro department could count as biology. Most anthropology courses will not count as BPCM.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

No they won't. Your science GPA consists of courses taken in your biology, chemistry, math, or physics departments.

😛

As stated above, if I have a stats class taught by my psych department then its BCMP. Likewise anthropology has many aspects which study bones and some behavioral physiology.

 

[DocMcCoy]

😛

As stated above, if I have a stats class taught by my psych department then its BCMP. Likewise anthropology has many aspects which study bones and some behavioral physiology.

Not trying to flame, but none of my anthro classes counted for BCMP using TMDSAS, AMCAS, or AACOMAS.

 

[guyski79]

Doesn't matter either way.

I was an anthro major and have done well this cycle.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Not trying to flame, but none of my anthro classes counted for BCMP using TMDSAS, AMCAS, or AACOMAS.

Did you take and osteology or human behavioral physiology courses? all offered by my schools anthro department and all considered bcpm by my anthro friends when they applied

 

[DocMcCoy]

Did you take and osteology or human behavioral physiology courses? all offered by my schools anthro department and all considered bcpm by my anthro friends when they applied

I took human genetics, physical anthropology, origins of behavior, and comparative primate anatomy and physiology, all listed under ANTHRO, all which I would have considered BCPM worthy but didn't count for it. I'm not saying absolutely no ANTHRO courses count, just saying my experience was different.

 

[Salt and Lime]

FWIW, two of my anthropology courses were classified as BCPM by the AMCAS - one was on human evolution and adaptation and the other was on cross-cultural human nutrition.

 

[Salt and Lime]

I took human genetics, physical anthropology, origins of behavior, and comparative primate anatomy and physiology, all listed under ANTHRO, all which I would have considered BCPM worthy but didn't count for it. I'm not saying absolutely no ANTHRO courses count, just saying my experience was different.

Wow... being that my anthro classes counted and yours didn't, the AMCAS assignations seem to be a little arbitrary. Out of curiosity, how did you classify your anthro courses when completing the AMCAS? I think I listed mine as "Other" and once it was processed, they had been changed to Bio or something like that.

 

[DocMcCoy]

Wow... being that my anthro classes counted and yours didn't, the AMCAS assignations seem to be a little arbitrary. Out of curiosity, how did you classify your anthro courses when completing the AMCAS? I think I listed mine as "Other" and once it was processed, they had been changed to Bio or something like that.

On AMCAS, I just checked and they show up under BESS under Course Classification 'behavioral and social sciences', none of which count for sGPA.

TMDSAS, they are only counted as non-science which was the application service i was working with mostly (I didn't get any interviews from AMCAS schools).

AACOMAS, they are also listed as other non-science.

In entered everything based off of this post by Excelsius that was put up awhile back.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=552026

That is really interesting how others have similar courses counted for science GPA. Hmmm, oh well, its all done for me now. Can anybody else confirm having Anthro classes counted under BCPM?

 

[Steeler7588]

Can anybody else confirm having Anthro classes counted under BCPM?

None of mine were counted as BCPM, but only my class on hominid evolution dealt with a lot of biology. I listed it as a social science, though.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Neh medical schools need to just accept social sciences as science.

 

[DocMcCoy]

I agree! Would have bumped the sGPA a little 🙂 Moral of the story is take what you are interested in. There is a lot of cool stuff out there besides biology and you can get into med school without being a bio major.

 

[Salt and Lime]

Ok, I just went back and double-checked my AMCAS, and the class "Human Biology and Evolution," an anthro class, was listed as "BIOL." I would have suggested that the word biology in the course title may have had something to do with it, but then I noticed that "Biology of Normal & Abnormal Behavior" was classified as "BESS." I was mistaken about the nutrition class, though - it was listed as "HEAL." My human genetics class was listed as BIOL, but it was cross-listed with the Bio department.

 

[MedBoundForSure]

. Can anybody else confirm having Anthro classes counted under BCPM?

Yeah. All of the physical anthropology courses I listed as science counted. Most of them had words like human, ecology, adaptation, behavior reproduction etc. The one I didnt "feel" was bcpm was not changed.

 

[DrSmooth]

See, I think this is going too far. These days, so many pre-meds are doing something out of the natural sciences specifically for this reason or to otherwise "game the system" to boost their GPA or whatever that I don't think that doing a nonscience major really sets you apart anymore.

Bottom line, do what you find interesting. If that's anthropology, great; if it's biochem, that's great too.

The OP asked if an anthro major would weaken their chances. On the contrary, it could only help their chances, for the reasons I gave. According to the MSAR about 67% of applicants are biological or physical science majors. I would guess that fewer than 1% are anthro majors. That would set the applicant apart, making for a more unique application and interview.

 

[sustentacular]

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