Could I get into medical school as an Information Technology major?

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GoldenEagle18

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I'm currently a second semester Freshman majoring in IT at a highly state-ranked university. I have always loved helping others which is the main reason why I want to become a physician. I decided to major in IT instead of Pre-Med track because my advisor told me that medical schools like to see different types of students in applications. My top choice is Meharry Medical College. I made a 3.25 last semester which I will raise no doubt. Have you ever heard of a non-science major getting into medical school? I'm also a minority.
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Yes, tons of non-science majors get in. Adcoms don't care what your major is, only that you do well. A 3.25 won't cut it, but you've got plenty of time to turn it around.

EDIT: @OchemOficionado is right and your premed advisor is wrong. Adcoms don't care what you majored in. You should choose a major because you like it and you'd be happy making a career out of it if you don't get into med school.
 
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OchemOficionado said:
That’s a terrible reason to choose a major. If you don’t enjoy it you should switch. Just make sure you take all the medical school pre reqs whether they are included in your major coursework or not.
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Right! You should major in something that you are passionate about; something that really shines through when you interview with committee members. If you like IT, then go for it. Also, I was a food science major. Definitely not the traditional major you see, but I still got tons of interviews this cycle and accepted to two schools!
 
Thank you all for the responses. Would you recommend taking science pre-reqs at community college over the summer?
 
GoldenEagle18 said:
Thank you all for the responses. Would you recommend taking science pre-reqs at community college over the summer?
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Ehhh, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but I wouldn't recommend it. I have a lot of friends that go to Meharry; best of luck!! I definitely echo what everyone else said, major in what you enjoy. It'll inadvertently raise your GPA too because you'll find yourself wanting to study more because you actually like the subject
 
Goro said:
One of the smartest doctors I ever met was a Harvard med grad, who was a film major as an undergraduate.
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Yesssss. My time has come.... *breaks out of cocoon*
 
I'm worried most about Chemistry and Physics. Those aren't necessarily my strong suits.
 
GoldenEagle18 said:
I'm worried most about Chemistry and Physics. Those aren't necessarily my strong suits.
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Don't run and take science pre-reqs at a community college. Medical schools would read this like a book. It is best to take the challenge and take science pre-reqs at your home school as said above. If you want to get non-science stuff out of the way at a community college, I think that would be fine.
 
GoldenEagle18 said:
I'm worried most about Chemistry and Physics. Those aren't necessarily my strong suits.
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These courses make up the foundation of which first year and second year courses are based off. If these aren’t your strong suits now, you should consider how you will be able to manage material in medical school. That being said, I would encourage you to find a way to master these courses at your home institution. Many people in college and medical do well simply because they study smart and put in hard work. Trust me, physics doesn’t come easy to me either 🙂. Anyways, the pre Med game is to build yourself to become the best applicant possible. You will be introducing lots of criticism from the committees if you take reqs at CC. It’s better to do all you can to accommodate these courses at your home school. Balance your schedule and get friendly with a quite place.
 
I think what I could do is just add the science courses to my business curriculum to fulfill the requirements. Is that smart?
 
GoldenEagle18 said:
I think what I could do is just add the science courses to my business curriculum to fulfill the requirements. Is that smart?
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Yeah. Really you can major in literally anything and you will still be a stellar applicant, so long as you do well on the prereqs and maybe throw in 1 or 2 upper-level bio courses just to make sure the committee knows your can handle med school material.
 
The smart thing is not to listen to your advisor. The road to medical school is littered with the festering corpses of students who did and found out that the information they'd been given was lousy.

Major in something that you will do well in. Med School admissions is a numbers game and one of the most important numbers is GPA.

Do well in the core courses for medical school and take them at your home institution. Form a study group, go to office hours, get tutoring if it is offered at your school. I'm sure that other students can chime in with advice on how to do well in the weed-out course.

Always consider a "plan B". If you end up not going to medical school, what will you do with your life? I just met two faculty members here with PhD degrees and thriving research programs who originally thought that medical school was what they'd do. One is in toxicology and the other in epidemiology. They are exceptional mentors and helping people in that way as well as conducting research that helps millions.
 
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Its okay to have a favorite school, but don't limit yourself to Meharry. Aim the bar high, REALLY high and then if you come up short you'll still be in a good position =]
 
If you have time over the summer, do the Khan Academy courses for chem and physics. I did it before orgo and it totally saved my butt. Khan Academy is getting better and better and I believe they organize their courses the way most undergrads do so you should be pretty well prepared.
 
LizzyM said:
The smart thing is not to listen to your advisor. The road to medical school is littered with the festering corpses of students who did and found out that the information they'd been given was lousy.

Major in something that you will do well in. Med School admissions is a numbers game and one of the most important numbers is GPA..
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If I could give this a billion likes, I'd do it in a heartbeat!
 
Thank you all for your responses. Since I mentioned I wasn't particularly strong in Chemistry or Physics, if I study my tail off for the MCAT do you think I could master those concepts on the test?
 
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