any Computer Science or Mathematics premeds here?

[pioneer22]

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Are there any CS / CE / Math premed people around?

How was your experience taking CS / Math and medical school prereqs?

I am considering a CS or Math major and was wondering about some input regarding overall class difficulty and success.

Thanks

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Are there any CS / CE premed people around?

How was your experience taking CS and medical school prereqs?

I am considering a CS major and was wondering about some input regarding overall class difficulty and success.

Thanks

Hi.
Im a freshman CS major that's going to try to get into medical school. I'll be honest, it's ... not easy. With my schedule, I'm more or less stuck with accomplishing a science pre-req a semester. CS is known for deflated grades as well so it's not an easy route. Onto the positives, it's doable, has been done before, and you will certainly stand out. The HUGE benefit of being a computer science major is that you will always have a generally reliable backup to fall back on.

If you are curious my science pre req schedule is something around, with stuff like English and phsych thrown in somewhere, at some point
1st year - Biology
2nd year - Chemistry
3rd year - Organic Chemistry
4th year - Biochemistry

Physics over some horrible horrible miserable summer. Gap year for MCAT, probably.

A more optimal way to do it is to do both Biology and Chemistry first year, and then you should be able to finish all your pre-reqs. But of course this depends on the school you go to, and it's curriculum. However chem/bio is a pretty lethal combo for those that can handle it.

 

[pioneer22]

Hi.
Im a freshman CS major that's going to try to get into medical school. I'll be honest, it's ... not easy. With my schedule, I'm more or less stuck with accomplishing a science pre-req a semester. CS is known for deflated grades as well so it's not an easy route. Onto the positives, it's doable, has been done before, and you will certainly stand out. The HUGE benefit of being a computer science major is that you will always have a generally reliable backup to fall back on.

If you are curious my science pre req schedule is something around, with stuff like English and phsych thrown in somewhere, at some point
1st year - Biology
2nd year - Chemistry
3rd year - Organic Chemistry
4th year - Biochemistry
Physics over some horrible horrible miserable summer.

when are you planning on med school? after a gap year?

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

when are you planning on med school? after a gap year?

Yeah. Updated post after posting.

 

[Bloohaze]

CS/BME double major here. I did slightly better in my CS classes than I did in my premed classes. Overall though, the CS classes were much harder--especially the upper level courses. I'd say that if you find it difficult your sophomore year to balance your obligations, I'd consider perhaps just minoring in CS, since the classes will generally just get harder from there. If your final goal is to become a doctor, you want to have the time to fully cultivate your premed activities outside of school, and I found that it oftentimes clashed with my coursework as the classes got harder.

The CS major was a good talking point in interviews, and I imagine it helped me stick out. One of the interviewers commented on how it seemed like I enjoyed taking challenges (I assume that was complimentary). It also opened me up to opportunities that I would not have gotten otherwise, such as research I was interested in. However, it made me a weaker candidate in other areas. I'd like to think that I could have gotten a higher overall GPA if I had more room in my schedule to focus on my premed courses. I found it difficult to get letters of recommendation from science faculty, since most of my effort was directed towards my CS classes. I found it difficult to form a coherent narrative about why I wanted to be a doctor, because I put so much effort into endeavors that were decidedly not very "premed". Overall, I would say that the CS major had a neutral effect on my application.

I think the biggest pro of majoring in CS is how it gives you a very reliable backup plan. From personal experience, people at job fairs love CS majors. I've been using my gap year to make money that I would be hard-pressed to match with any other bachelor's degree. If I didn't get into medical school this year, I would still have that job. I would be sad, but at least I'd have dollar bills to buy the softest, most absorbent tissues.

 

[RememberMyName]

I am a CS student, and I would like to warn you that like engineering, CS is no joke. Adcoms don't care whether you majored in CS or Art, your GPA always comes first. If you are confident you can handle the load, then do it. Plenty have done it and succeeded, so its not like its impossible. Major in it if you think that possibly having a lower GPA is worth following your passion. For me, however, I am on the threshold of switching to mathematics with a CS minor, for a number of reasons, including a desire for flexibility in my major and prereqs. By all means, do CS if you like it. You will always have a solid backup. I am not sure as much on mathematics, but from what I have heard is that math is much less of a competitive major

 

[mwsapphire]

CS/BME double major here. I did slightly better in my CS classes than I did in my premed classes. Overall though, the CS classes were much harder--especially the upper level courses. I'd say that if you find it difficult your sophomore year to balance your obligations, I'd consider perhaps just minoring in CS, since the classes will generally just get harder from there. If your final goal is to become a doctor, you want to have the time to fully cultivate your premed activities outside of school, and I found that it oftentimes clashed with my coursework as the classes got harder.

The CS major was a good talking point in interviews, and I imagine it helped me stick out. One of the interviewers commented on how it seemed like I enjoyed taking challenges (I assume that was complimentary). It also opened me up to opportunities that I would not have gotten otherwise, such as research I was interested in. However, it made me a weaker candidate in other areas. I'd like to think that I could have gotten a higher overall GPA if I had more room in my schedule to focus on my premed courses. I found it difficult to get letters of recommendation from science faculty, since most of my effort was directed towards my CS classes. I found it difficult to form a coherent narrative about why I wanted to be a doctor, because I put so much effort into endeavors that were decidedly not very "premed". Overall, I would say that the CS major had a neutral effect on my application.

I think the biggest pro of majoring in CS is how it gives you a very reliable backup plan. From personal experience, people at job fairs love CS majors. I've been using my gap year to make money that I would be hard-pressed to match with any other bachelor's degree. If I didn't get into medical school this year, I would still have that job. I would be sad, but at least I'd have dollar bills to buy the softest, most absorbent tissues.

Minoring in CS sounds like an excellant idea, I'd say if becoming a doctor is your primary goal, then your major should reflect that, to make YOUR life easier. Your minor should reflect the fall through.
"Softest, most absorbent tissues"

 

[pioneer22]

I am a CS student, and I would like to warn you that like engineering, CS is no joke. Adcoms don't care whether you majored in CS or Art, your GPA always comes first. If you are confident you can handle the load, then do it. Plenty have done it and succeeded, so its not like its impossible. Major in it if you think that possibly having a lower GPA is worth following your passion. For me, however, I am on the threshold of switching to mathematics with a CS minor, for a number of reasons, including a desire for flexibility in my major and prereqs. By all means, do CS if you like it. You will always have a solid backup. I am not sure as much on mathematics, but from what I have heard is that math is much less of a competitive major

CS/BME double major here. I did slightly better in my CS classes than I did in my premed classes. Overall though, the CS classes were much harder--especially the upper level courses. I'd say that if you find it difficult your sophomore year to balance your obligations, I'd consider perhaps just minoring in CS, since the classes will generally just get harder from there. If your final goal is to become a doctor, you want to have the time to fully cultivate your premed activities outside of school, and I found that it oftentimes clashed with my coursework as the classes got harder.

The CS major was a good talking point in interviews, and I imagine it helped me stick out. One of the interviewers commented on how it seemed like I enjoyed taking challenges (I assume that was complimentary). It also opened me up to opportunities that I would not have gotten otherwise, such as research I was interested in. However, it made me a weaker candidate in other areas. I'd like to think that I could have gotten a higher overall GPA if I had more room in my schedule to focus on my premed courses. I found it difficult to get letters of recommendation from science faculty, since most of my effort was directed towards my CS classes. I found it difficult to form a coherent narrative about why I wanted to be a doctor, because I put so much effort into endeavors that were decidedly not very "premed". Overall, I would say that the CS major had a neutral effect on my application.

I think the biggest pro of majoring in CS is how it gives you a very reliable backup plan. From personal experience, people at job fairs love CS majors. I've been using my gap year to make money that I would be hard-pressed to match with any other bachelor's degree. If I didn't get into medical school this year, I would still have that job. I would be sad, but at least I'd have dollar bills to buy the softest, most absorbent tissues.

did either of you feel like CS problem solving helped on the MCAT?

 

[Bloohaze]

did either of you feel like CS problem solving helped on the MCAT?

I didn't feel like my CS courses helped me at all with the MCAT. I'd say that having in depth knowledge about the subject matter for the MCAT is much more valuable than any clever CS problem solving skills.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yay, first math major. I took some of my prereqs while still in undergrad. Obviously, physics was not an extra burden, since it's just like an extra calc course. Taking the other courses was a bit extra, but I just kept my credit load manageable. I typically do not need to spend lots of time studying to get good grades though.

Honestly, if you're looking for a backup career in case medicine doesn't work out, don't pick math unless you are okay with either teaching math, doing stats analysis in industry, or going to law school. CS is probably a better backup if you're not thrilled with math.

@freak7 Do you agree?

Edit: I think math definitely helped in answering MCAT questions, but that's limited to practices for now. I'll let you know when I take the real thing, but I think it'll hold true. Especially in upper level math courses, you learn great critical thinking and logic skills.

 

[pioneer22]

Yay, first math major. I took some of my prereqs while still in undergrad. Obviously, physics was not an extra burden, since it's just like an extra calc course. Taking the other courses was a bit extra, but I just kept my credit load manageable. I typically do not need to spend lots of time studying to get good grades though.

Honestly, if you're looking for a backup career in case medicine doesn't work out, don't pick math unless you are okay with either teaching math, doing stats analysis in industry, or going to law school. CS is probably a better backup if you're not thrilled with math.

@freak7 Do you agree?

Edit: I think math definitely helped in answering MCAT questions, but that's limited to practices for now. I'll let you know when I take the real thing, but I think it'll hold true. Especially in upper level math courses, you learn great critical thinking and logic skills.

which upper-level math courses did you think helped the most at this point?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

which upper-level math courses did you think helped the most at this point?

Real/complex analysis requires a lot of proof writing and building concepts from the ground up (you are constructing the real/complex numbers from nothing and proving various properties along the way).

Topology is great for visualizing things in three dimensions (and higher dimensions, although that really ends up being a projecting onto R^3 since we can't really conceive of higher dimensions objects) and for seeing how things can be congruent even if they don't initially appear that way.

Abstract algebra was great if even just for thinking outside the box and thinking in a completely abstract way.

Mathematical modeling was good not only for critical thinking about a realistic, applied problem, but for research techniques as well.

 

[BeddingfieldMD]

In general, if planning for med school, choose a major that interest you and you can do well in. If you are fairly confident that you have a good shot of getting into med school, you can really choose any major you want--regardless of its potential employability (an increasing concern for students these days). If you are less confident about your med school chances, you may want to keep your potential major's ability to land you a job more in the back of your mind. Finally, though it may be unfortunate, do realize that you may not even get past the initial screening at many med school admissions committees if you have a low GPA in a very difficult field. At the same time, nobody will be impressed if you clearly construct your major and entire undergraduate schedule with the goal of optimizing your GPA for med school admissions purposes.

 

[Turkishking]

Are there any CS / CE / Math premed people around?

How was your experience taking CS / Math and medical school prereqs?

I am considering a CS or Math major and was wondering about some input regarding overall class difficulty and success.

Thanks

Major in what ever you enjoy. Your major is for you, not medical schools. That being said, a 3.95 with an Art major beats a 3.6 computer science major.

 

[Geo16]

Minoring in CS sounds like an excellant idea, I'd say if becoming a doctor is your primary goal, then your major should reflect that, to make YOUR life easier. Your minor should reflect the fall through.
"Softest, most absorbent tissues"

There is "Video game programming" minor that I'd like to do with Earth Science major (if I transfer to USC in the first place, that is).
But I'm kinda scared as people say that CS is going to be hard. I did take baby step Visual Basic introductory course.. but not sure how hard C/C++ will be in the future.