Comp Sci Undergrad?

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alph

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I am currently a freshman computer science major at Carnegie Mellon. I've been told by many people that being in SCS will definitely not hurt me (I was concerned about not being a "traditional" bio or chem major). However, will doing the typical comp sci ECs (internships, co-ops, etc...) instead of the traditional pre-med ECs (being an EMT, volunteering at a hospital, doing bio research etc...) hurt my chances of getting into a top med school?
 
I am currently a freshman computer science major at Carnegie Mellon. I've been told by many people that being in SCS will definitely not hurt me (I was concerned about not being a "traditional" bio or chem major). However, will doing the typical comp sci ECs (internships, co-ops, etc...) instead of the traditional pre-med ECs (being an EMT, volunteering at a hospital, doing bio research etc...) hurt my chances of getting into a top med school?

Those traditional pre-med ECs serve as evidence that you know what you're getting into. You would be ill advised to apply without them. That does not mean you cannot do other things as well.
 
My undergrad major was EE (identical to CS, as far as laypeople are concerned) and I just came out of this application cycle with four acceptances, a waitlist spot, and an interview offer at Stony Brook that I declined.

I don't know what your definition of "top" schools is (the most prestigious place I interviewed, in an "oooh, Ivy League," sense was Dartmouth, where I was waitlisted). I will be attending Tufts next year, which is a great school...but if that doesn't do it for you then I suppose you can skip the rest of this entry.

I did some normal EE extra-curriculars: two internships and a position on my school's solar vehicle team. I also did some pretty extensive volunteer EMT work, some shadowing, and I combined my interests by working on mobile application development with a few local physicians. If anything, I think the EE/CS stuff was helpful on the interview trail; most of my interviewers were very interested in my background. One memorable instance was when I spent a good 20 minutes explaining the minutiae what goes into building a solar-powered vehicle...the guy was absolutely enthralled.

Doing CS extra-curriculars will not hurt you, but what will is thinking that doing those gives you license to skip out on the traditional ECs that help pre-meds understand what a career in medicine is really like.
 
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