This has been discussed many times. I am a freshman at Harvard and have the option to choose Biology Vs Computer Science. However I like computer science. If I take biology as a pre-med major, will I have a better chance for medical school admission?
Computer Science Vs Biology
- Thread starter Markknam
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You will be an invaluable asset to medicine with computer science
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You should do computer science and not even worry about what will look better for medical school. You're getting a degree from Harvard, which will speak volumes.
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CS all the way if you enjoy it. Major doesnt matter for med school admissions but CS could provide you with some useful skills to bring to the class!
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I thought of CS as a 'fun extracurricular' course when I was starting UG. A few years later I began to realize that I could have majored in something I thoroughly enjoyed (though I do love chem, too) if I hadn't been silly enough to think that 'enjoyable' meant 'I should do this as much as possible when I have time after less-fun and therefore clearly more educational things'.
CS is incredibly useful no matter which field you end up in (most definitely including healthcare) and you should do what you love. If anything, it'll help you stand out a bit. More likely, no one will blink an eye at it and you'll end up spending 4 years on something you enjoy and which will help you later.
CS is incredibly useful no matter which field you end up in (most definitely including healthcare) and you should do what you love. If anything, it'll help you stand out a bit. More likely, no one will blink an eye at it and you'll end up spending 4 years on something you enjoy and which will help you later.
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I was a computer science major (check out my MDApps). I had the good fortune to work on 2 clinically based computer science research projects during my undergraduate years: deep brain stimulation artifact removal and an Ophthalmology retinal imaging analysis project (got included on 2 patents out of this one, plus maybe a spinoff company). I found bridging the clinical-digital divide very satisfying. However, it took 4.5 years to graduate with all the Med school pre-reqs and the CS requirements (they do not overlap). I did the Chem/Bio stuff in Freshman/Sophomore year, as I had some AP credits going into undergrad, to get it out of the way. Found studying for MCAT on that stuff a little more challenging, but CS is pretty heavy in the math/physics, so that was pretty easy to just brush up for MCAT. If you are intent on Med School, Researchers are really looking for folks who can translate their clinical issues into programming solutions. I hope to be able to continue some CS work while in MS. Good luck.
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and you can do it making integrated patient charting applications that aren't user-friendly... at all.
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Cs...Harvard...?
I would rather do the cs. That way if med school doesn't work, you can go into the tech industry or whatever involves computers and interfaces. Then again, my school is going into more of a bioinformatics thing, so maybe you can go into a career into developing software and programs that help for medical billing or any other healthcare issues.
I would rather do the cs. That way if med school doesn't work, you can go into the tech industry or whatever involves computers and interfaces. Then again, my school is going into more of a bioinformatics thing, so maybe you can go into a career into developing software and programs that help for medical billing or any other healthcare issues.
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Hi! I'm CS turned Biomed. I've done a decent bit of both. I personally recommend pursuing both. I've done some research in medical informatics and bioinformatics. You're at Harvard, and IIRC, you can dual-enroll at MIT (at least, that's how it is at MIT in regards to Harvard). At MIT, you can do something called Course 6-7 (CS and Bio). I recommend you reach out to your advisors and see if you can undertake a similar program at Harvard (highly likely)
