College Majors?

[Badger MD]

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Dear community,

I just had a question regarding college majors and their practicality in the grand scheme of applying to a medical school. I'm heavily interested in double majoring in Biology and Eastern Culture/European History which would then naturally lead to a minor in a language such as Czech. So here are some questions I have in regards to that:

1. Could I achieve those two majors in four years if I'm still preparing for medical school?
2. If I can do it in four years, would I be extremely overworked?
3. Would the history/language major be appealing to a medical school?

Thanks for any and all help you guys can offer! 🙂

P.S. I wouldn't double major just for fun. The reason I would go with a history major would be because (a) it interests me to an immense degree (b) it would provide a fall-back (albeit, not a great one though...) (c) It might provide some flavor to my medical school application?

 

[nlax30]

1. Could I achieve those two majors in four years if I'm still preparing for medical school?
2. If I can do it in four years, would I be extremely overworked?
3. Would the history/language major be appealing to a medical school?

1/2. Not sure, would probably depend on what your college requires in those 2 majors. They will most likely be in totally separate departments so it can be a little tricky at times to coordinate and come up with a schedule that includes the classes you need at the correct time/semester from 2 different departments... just has been my experience. Certainly is possible in 4 years, but I would imagine it would involved a good bit of work and some summer work as well.
3. Certainly should not hurt you and may even make you stand out a little. Hard to say, but IMHO it's not going to be make or break type of thing assuming you do well in it. At the least it certainly could be a conversation topic during interviews.

Also, keep in mind you don't have to actually major in Biology. You could always just do your language/history major you're interested in while taking the necessary pre-med required courses. Taking those required courses will of course get you fairly close to a bio major anyway but if you're worried about getting done in 4 years then the "extra" courses in the bio major could be an issue.... things like Zoology, ecology, plant bio, etc... that might be required for bio but aren't necessary for med school.

 

[Badger MD]

1/2. Not sure, would probably depend on what your college requires in those 2 majors. They will most likely be in totally separate departments so it can be a little tricky at times to coordinate and come up with a schedule that includes the classes you need at the correct time/semester from 2 different departments... just has been my experience. Certainly is possible in 4 years, but I would imagine it would involved a good bit of work and some summer work as well.
3. Certainly should not hurt you and may even make you stand out a little. Hard to say, but IMHO it's not going to be make or break type of thing assuming you do well in it. At the least it certainly could be a conversation topic during interviews.

Also, keep in mind you don't have to actually major in Biology. You could always just do your language/history major you're interested in while taking the necessary pre-med required courses. Taking those required courses will of course get you fairly close to a bio major anyway but if you're worried about getting done in 4 years then the "extra" courses in the bio major could be an issue.... things like Zoology, ecology, plant bio, etc... that might be required for bio but aren't necessary for med school.

Thanks for the response! Do you think if I didn't get a bio major (only a history one) and just focused on the required courses for medical school, I would be prepared for the MCAT? Or would I need to explore other classes to better prepare myself?

 

[Neurocentric]

Thanks for the response! Do you think if I didn't get a bio major (only a history one) and just focused on the required courses for medical school, I would be prepared for the MCAT? Or would I need to explore other classes to better prepare myself?

Yes, you would be prepared for the MCAT. Not everyone in undergrad is a Biology major, so they don't have the MCAT tailored only for subjects something a person majoring in that would take.

Pick a major you enjoy. Adcoms want to see well-rounded students; you don't want to blindly pick a major that you think will help if you don't enjoy it.

Edited to add: Also, I think learning a language is awesome and sets you apart! It gives you other opportunities too, if you want, like studying abroad in the country of the language you're learning. I'm taking Russian, myself 🙂

 

[Badger MD]

Yes, you would be prepared for the MCAT. Not everyone in undergrad is a Biology major, so they don't have the MCAT tailored only for subjects something a person majoring in that would take.

Pick a major you enjoy. Adcoms want to see well-rounded students; you don't want to blindly pick a major that you think will help if you don't enjoy it.

Edited to add: Also, I think learning a language is awesome and sets you apart! It gives you other opportunities too, if you want, like studying abroad in the country of the language you're learning. I'm taking Russian, myself 🙂

Thank you for the response! This history major looks more likely 🙂

On a side note, I had a question about learning Russian. Is most of the writing done in Cyrillic (as far as computer use goes)? Or have they adopted a Latin alphabet for international use?

 

[Neurocentric]

Thank you for the response! This history major looks more likely 🙂

On a side note, I had a question about learning Russian. Is most of the writing done in Cyrillic (as far as computer use goes)? Or have they adopted a Latin alphabet for international use?

Yeah, it's done in Cyrillic, for computer and writing. My computer can do Cyrillic (I just have to set it up; it's real easy) but I can never find which key I need for each letter. There's a website that actually sells stickers that you put on your keys so you can type in Russian much faster, hehe. I can give you the website if you're interested.

The Russian alphabet is definitely interesting, but once you remember the pronunciations, it's incredibly easy 🙂

 

[Badger MD]

Yeah, it's done in Cyrillic, for computer and writing. My computer can do Cyrillic (I just have to set it up; it's real easy) but I can never find which key I need for each letter. There's a website that actually sells stickers that you put on your keys so you can type in Russian much faster, hehe. I can give you the website if you're interested.

The Russian alphabet is definitely interesting, but once you remember the pronunciations, it's incredibly easy 🙂

I'd love to see that website! Is it actually that easy once you have the alphabet down? I was considering Russian (before Czech) but was intimidated by having to learn a whole new alphabet as opposed to just some special characters.

 

[Neurocentric]

I'd love to see that website! Is it actually that easy once you have the alphabet down? I was considering Russian (before Czech) but was intimidated by having to learn a whole new alphabet as opposed to just some special characters.

http://masterrussian.com/ This is a great website to begin looking at. It has videos, lessons, etc. It's really nice. On the side you will see the link to purchasing the stickers for your keys.

I haven't gotten too far in my Russian studies yet - I'm mostly self taught; I start actual classes for it next week. However, once the alphabet is mastered, I would think it is like learning any language. You still have conjugations, learning the genders of nouns, etc. Writing the language is also interesting, as the written letters in Cyrillic do not always look like the block letters you might see on the computer. Other than that, it's like any other language, in my opinion. I listen to Russian music (and sing along when I can), I watch Russian TV shows that I find on youtube, and just try to immerse myself in the language and make it fun. I find that is the best way to learn something. 🙂

 

[Badger MD]

http://masterrussian.com/ This is a great website to begin looking at. It has videos, lessons, etc. It's really nice. On the side you will see the link to purchasing the stickers for your keys.

I haven't gotten too far in my Russian studies yet - I'm mostly self taught; I start actual classes for it next week. However, once the alphabet is mastered, I would think it is like learning any language. You still have conjugations, learning the genders of nouns, etc. Writing the language is also interesting, as the written letters in Cyrillic do not always look like the block letters you might see on the computer. Other than that, it's like any other language, in my opinion. I listen to Russian music (and sing along when I can), I watch Russian TV shows that I find on youtube, and just try to immerse myself in the language and make it fun. I find that is the best way to learn something. 🙂

Good tips! 👍 I agree that really immersing yourself in the language is the way to do it! My first language attempt (Spanish) failed because I looked at it as something everyone just did... Perhaps I will consider Russian now 😉

 

[Neurocentric]

Good tips! 👍 I agree that really immersing yourself in the language is the way to do it! My first language attempt (Spanish) failed because I looked at it as something everyone just did... Perhaps I will consider Russian now 😉

I am with you on that!! I was required in HS to take it, and I was never so miserable taking a language in my life. It was just not what I wanted to learn, and so I did poorly in it.

If you do decide to take Russian, maybe we can quiz each other sometime, haha. Good luck!!

 

[Badger MD]

I am with you on that!! I was required in HS to take it, and I was never so miserable taking a language in my life. It was just not what I wanted to learn, and so I did poorly in it.

If you do decide to take Russian, maybe we can quiz each other sometime, haha. Good luck!!

Sounds like a plan! Make sure to post here again once you've attended some of the classes! I'd like to hear the pace at which they teach it, etc.

 

[Neurocentric]

Sounds like a plan! Make sure to post here again once you've attended some of the classes! I'd like to hear the pace at which they teach it, etc.

Well, I'll do the best I can, as the pace is not like a normal class. I registered late, so the only class available was an 8-credit intensive, so it's like taking 2 Russian courses in one semester. Luckily it's an Intro class, so hopefully it won't be bad, but I'll try and explain as best I can on how the course is taught at my school.