Does a double major give advantage?

[AspiringOne]

This might be a dumb question, but does earning a double major give someone an advantage in medical school acceptance over someone who has say a major and a minor? I have been considering switching to a double major but I am worried about the time consuming factor as well as keeping my GPA up.

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[juice55]

no. do one thing that you can really do well in. high GPA in one major trumps lower GPA in two.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

No, but remembering indefinite articles might.....

 

[Chuckwalla]

A similar question, do minors stand out at all? Should I do a minor with my extra credit hours or just pick unrelated GPA boosting classes?

 

[Chuckwalla]

I did in a Foreing Language! If you can get mostly A's, yeah, go for it!

I can do Poli Sci and well...Poli Sci.

 

[kidthor]

In my opinion, minors are pretty useless aside from fulfilling one's own personal interest.

A similar question, do minors stand out at all? Should I do a minor with my extra credit hours or just pick unrelated GPA boosting classes?

 

[ryandote]

Some people will tell you that it doesn't matter, and some people are grasping onto their double major for dear life. In all honesty, every little bit helps, but it is hard to tell you what the dual-major/GPA trade-off is. Is it worth another major if your GPA drops by .5? Almost certainly not. Is is worth another major if your GPA doesn't change at all, you like the subject, and you would just as soon spend your extra time studying something in addition to science? Sure.

I think that I may have just labeled myself a nerd in the previous paragraph, but I am graduating in December with dual majors in Economics and Biology. If I was doing it again, I would NOT double major. The Economics degree has certainly cost me in the GPA and time section that I wish I had back now. On the other had, I sincerely enjoy economics and might consider a PhD if the MD doesn't work out. I truly enjoyed the breadth of education that an Econ major gave me, but there are other ways to be broad.

These threads are only useful because other people can help you see angles you might not have, trade-offs and incentives to consider that you might not have come up with yourself....but nobody can tell you what's best for you.


That's all my opinion folks.

 

[smuwillobrien]

Double majoring to impress medical schools is ******ed. Get a major in something you like, do amazing, and it'll be even more impressive.

 

[PEN15]

Double majoring to impress medical schools is ******ed. Get a major in something you like, do amazing, and it'll be even more impressive.

Double major with a 3.0 GPA...NO

Double major with a 4.0 GPA...Yes

But a 4.0 is a 4.0 no matter how you get it.

 

[tictaq]

Some people will tell you that it doesn't matter, and some people are grasping onto their double major for dear life. In all honesty, every little bit helps, but it is hard to tell you what the dual-major/GPA trade-off is. Is it worth another major if your GPA drops by .5? Almost certainly not. Is is worth another major if your GPA doesn't change at all, you like the subject, and you would just as soon spend your extra time studying something in addition to science? Sure.

I think that I may have just labeled myself a nerd in the previous paragraph, but I am graduating in December with dual majors in Economics and Biology. If I was doing it again, I would NOT double major. The Economics degree has certainly cost me in the GPA and time section that I wish I had back now. On the other had, I sincerely enjoy economics and might consider a PhD if the MD doesn't work out. I truly enjoyed the breadth of education that an Econ major gave me, but there are other ways to be broad.

These threads are only useful because other people can help you see angles you might not have, trade-offs and incentives to consider that you might not have come up with yourself....but nobody can tell you what's best for you.


That's all my opinion folks.

Econ and Bio double major here
holla back!

 

[Law2Doc]

This might be a dumb question, but does earning a double major give someone an advantage in medical school acceptance over someone who has say a major and a minor? I have been considering switching to a double major but I am worried about the time consuming factor as well as keeping my GPA up.

Folks who get into med school are going to be a mishmosh of sci and nonsci single majors, double majors, major/minors, etc. There is no huge benefit of any. You absolutely shouldn't do this just for purposes of med school admission. Do what you want to do. If something you study catches someone's fancy, that's great. But in general, they will just look at your GPA and move on to the nonacademic stuff without giving much thought to the major(s) or combo.

 

[Tartheheel]

Now, wouldn't a person who's a double major in two completely unrelated fields (Ex. randyote and tictac in Bio and Econ) stand out among his/her peers, and the entire applicant pool if he/she has a good/excellent GPA.

Would the adcoms consider he/she to be well rounded?

Could the second major be a 'safety'...just in case one doesn't make it to med school? For example, doubling in Chem and Econ could help someone get a job in a good pharmaceutical company...just in case?

 

[enigma85]

i agree with everything written here. only double major if they are subjects you really want to study in depth (i.e. not to impress adcoms) and will not hurt your gpa. at the same time, it is impressive if you perform well as a double major in, say, chemical engineering and computer science. a second major in a backup field may be an option if you're not quite sure about medicine. two very different fields like art and biochemistry may also show unique interests or talents. again, only do them if you are passionate about these subjects. any advantage conferred is minimal. all of your classes are reviewed by the adcoms. you only have once chance to study whatever you like and it may be more worthwhile to get a broad liberal education with exposure to many fields.

 

[Jahorgasen]

I'm actually a lot better at politics than I am at biology, so double majoring in the two actually made a lot of sense for me. I'm extremely interested in both, but politics actually brought my GPA up because I've made straight A's in it. If you're posed with a similar situation as that -- you have another potential major that can boost your GPA -- I would go with it. My bio gpa may have gone down slightly because of the increased courseload, but I would imagine it was small, the addition of politics brought my overall gpa up, and the double major will help some in applications. Again, I wouldn't do it unless it's something you're really interested in...otherwise it would just be stupid and overly difficult.

 

[OCPreMed]

If you are a double major, ex psych and bio, and your gpa is a 3.75 and another applicant is a bio major with the same gpa, you win.

The deal is, like everyone mentioned above, can you hang with 2 majors? The second thing is, if you are getting a second major, don't do 2 sciences, do a science and something else; humanities, etc... 2 science majors is kinda pointless unless you are going for md/phd or something to that effect where the extra knowledge will come in handy and is 'justified'.

I've spoken to counselors, and adcomms and it really boils down to if you can do it and get the grades.


PS.. it doesn't matter if you are a triple major if you dont have a decent MCAT. If you are doing this for a spot in medical school, spend the time you would on that extra major on mcat prep, and ec's...

my 2 cents

 

[dr.z]

This might be a dumb question, but does earning a double major give someone an advantage in medical school acceptance over someone who has say a major and a minor? I have been considering switching to a double major but I am worried about the time consuming factor as well as keeping my GPA up.

I don't think it helps that much.

 

[badgerinchina]

I graduated from the business school at Wisconsin with a second major in biology (which you are well on your way to after taking the med school pre reqs) and it came up and helped a lot in applying to the MD/MBA program at Tufts...

It's a pretty specific instance, but one in which I think it definitely helped.

 

[LizzyM]

The trade-off, from an adcom perspective, is depth in a second subject area over breadth.

All A's in a foreign language (particularly if it a language spoken at home) is sometimes seen as a clever way to boost one's gpa and therefore less impressive than you might hope.

I'd see little advantage of an Econ/Bio major over an Econ only major who has taken the required courses for med school.

How you do is more important than what you do with the exception that some adcom members are somewhat forgiving of engineering majors who have less than perfect gpas. (it might be worth an extra .25 if you have at least a 3.3 gpa).

 

[ryandote]

The trade-off, from an adcom perspective, is depth in a second subject area over breadth.

All A's in a foreign language (particularly if it a language spoken at home) is sometimes seen as a clever way to boost one's gpa and therefore less impressive than you might hope.

I'd see little advantage of an Econ/Bio major over an Econ only major who has taken the required courses for med school.

How you do is more important than what you do with the exception that some adcom members are somewhat forgiving of engineering majors who have less than perfect gpas. (it might be worth an extra .25 if you have at least a 3.3 gpa).

That makes sense. The Biology major (after all the pre-reqs suggested by my undergrad) was only an additional semester, and I was going to re-take the MCAT and be a year behind anyway...

 

[jash0624]

I think it depends on what you want to do. It's not about what looks good, but what interests you. If you are really really passionate about two things, major in them both. I want to do something in physiology or biophys so i double majored in bio and math/physics. It was the best decision for me even if my physics classes bring me down a little because its what I want to do. I wouldn't be happy with just bio.

 

[theothernguyen]

What if you were double majoring in Biology and X, and X is very related and will serve a purpose to your medical career goals and interests. and you talk about it in your application. How would that play out? Will they give it a second look?

 

[LizzyM]

The thing about double majors is that it doesn't give you much in the way of electives. One adcom member I know wants to see a few interesting non-science courses. That's harder to do when you have a Biology/Physics/Chem triple major if you know what I mean.

 

[scholj]

I'm a double major in applied physics and biology with a minor in astrobiology. The minor led right into a good 10 minute discussion about life on other planets and what life is with my interview.

I wouldn't recommend a double major if you can't handle the work load of a single major, but if you really want to pursue an education in more than one area, why stop yourself? I'm glad a stuck with the applied physics and added a biology major onto it, it's given me a great perspective on things.

Oh, and I have two science majors because my school doesn't do anything non-science or non-engineering

 

[cgscribe]

It probably gives you the slightest of advantages (slightest to none at all) in adcomms eyes. Just keep good grades and study what you want. There's no reason to divert from the path you want to try and please someone. I would worry about having other more interesting things to talk about than what my second and third degrees focus on.

 

[Tartheheel]

I realize that trying to double major at the cost of a slightly higher GPA would be worthless if one's intention is just to "impress". But, wouldn't it be worth it if one can stand out from the stereotypical Bio major applicant pool (no offence to Bio majors, I love Bio, but this one of the prime reasons I'm running away from it), especially when it comes to admissions to a top 10 med school ? Wouldn't the double major help?

Are there any stats. showing the acceptance rates of double majors, compared to single majors (and Bio vs. Bio-X majors)?

Although, I've read again and again that major doesn't matter, as long as one has a high GPA, and is passionate about what he/she is majoring in...
what would a good double-major combo/single major be to prep. for applying MD.PhD, MD OR MD.MBA to a top med school (i realise this is probably a very small contributing factor)?:
Biochem-Econ, Biochem-Psych OR a Public Health major (at a top-ranked school like JHU/Harvard/UNC; this 'single' major, I assume, should be relatively easier to do).

Please don't mind my 'neuroticism' about this issue...I'm just a confused premed rookie looking for some good advice.

 

[LizzyM]

I have heard adcoms discuss hundreds of applicants. They never mention "major". They look at gpa then at whether one took honors courses. Then they look at whether one has some very bad grades (Ds & Fs) and the specific grades in O-Chem and Physics. Some, as I mentioned earlier, want to see depth and breadth in classes taken including non-science courses (even polytechnic institutes offer a few courses in the humanities).

A double major that includes biology might inferior to using a couple electives to take a course in music/history/sociology/anthropology, etc