Does the major matter?

[trilingdoc]

I am considering major in biology or japanese,

Any advice will be appreciated!

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[TTSD]

It all depends on your overall package. There's no "good" major or "bad" major. Though if you did underwater basketweaving.. there may be cause for grave concern.

What they're idealistically looking for is someone of reasonable intelligence that shows a committment to the field of medicine and all that it entails.

So if you did your major in Japanese, aced all your prereq classes, showed a good deal of extra-curriculars and maybe went beyond just the pre-reqs and did well on your MCAT, wrote a strong personal statement, good LORS, I do not see how your major would adversely affect you.

Though I would imagine the adcoms will be looking more closely at your grades and especially science gpa. If you went for biology.. generally a little bit more leeway I think is granted as they expect for you somewhere to overload yourself and crawl into a corner and cry like a baby.. as long as you pick yourself back up.

Though if you went for Biology, it would at least provide a good foundation for you to build on for your medical education so you won't have to hurt your brain as much wrapping it around some of the more difficult concepts.

 

[bigbaubdi]

actually with a Japanese major, you might actually stand out amongst the horde of bio/chem/physics majors (myself included). Maybe you might also think about double majoring or minoring in one or the other subject?

 

[quideam]

Me = philosophy major

applied to 11 schools, including 4 top-tens and 2 10-20;
so far received interviews at 9.

Getting into med school? Great.
Enjoying your college years? Awesome.
Majoring in what you like and having an edge over other applicants? Priceless!

- Quid

 

[trilingdoc]

thanks you all, very inpiring !

 

[DD214_DOC]

How many times will this question be asked? I suppose as long as there are premeds and pre-med advisors pushing biology.

Funny anecdote though. At my university, classes that typically help premeds on the MCAT, such as Physiology or Human Anatomy/Physiology, have had their requirements altered so that only a biology major or minor may take them. Physiology now requires Cell Biology as a prerequisite, and Human Anatomy/Physiology is only able to be taken by biology majors. Looks like a cheap way to sucker the premeds into inflating the department's student body to leech more funding.

 

[musiclink213]

Hedy, i'm new here, just wanna say Hi first.

At my school, it's the same thing, a lot of the classes are for majors. But me, i get the best of both worlds. I'm a biochem major, so i can take basically any classes i want, granted that i have the prereqs, which are usually requirements for my major.

but i actually know someone who is an engliash major, and got into a bunch of medical schools, and i think she's going to Cornell (don't quote me on that, i could be wrong, I know she got in though)

 

[TTSD]

Originally posted by JKDMed
How many times will this question be asked? I suppose as long as there are premeds and pre-med advisors pushing biology.

Funny anecdote though. At my university, classes that typically help premeds on the MCAT, such as Physiology or Human Anatomy/Physiology, have had their requirements altered so that only a biology major or minor may take them. Physiology now requires Cell Biology as a prerequisite, and Human Anatomy/Physiology is only able to be taken by biology majors. Looks like a cheap way to sucker the premeds into inflating the department's student body to leech more funding.

Yeah, my school too. We essentially cannot TOUCH upperdivision biology courses without taking them in specific order. Two quarters of anatomy before physiology. But before that we need things like biochem, molecular.. and just about every other requirement.

But on the flip side is, the teachers all expect us to already have taken those courses so they don't feel bad about abusing us and not explaining things and making us dig out our old textbooks to figure out certain conversions/etc.

 

[yoni]

Originally posted by quideam
Me = philosophy major

applied to 11 schools, including 4 top-tens and 2 10-20;
so far received interviews at 9.

Getting into med school? Great.
Enjoying your college years? Awesome.
Majoring in what you like and having an edge over other applicants? Priceless!

- Quid

Yes, I am also a liberal arts major and would have to agree. During my interviews they also tend to ask me something about my major. Pick something you would enjoy.

 

[Street Philosopher]

I would only major in Japanese if you are not ethnically Japanese because people might consider that a cop-out.

 

[Amy B]

Do whatever major you want. Just make sure you take all the requirments for med school and I would suggest a few upper level science classes to prove you can handle the upper level courses if you aren't a science major.

I know a dance major and a spanish major that are both in med school now. Different majors set you apart from everyone.

 

[jlee9531]

agree with the amy b......

do what you want.
if you are japanese and want to learn more about your language/culture/heritage then by all means go for it.

noone said you cant take the opportunity to learn everything you want and still not go to med school.

just do well on prereqs and mcat. and you are all good for the application process...

aiite smell ya later........
"king of belair"

 

[lisa13579]

Speaking of dance majors... I was and now have 5 interviews for med school. The key is doing well in your premed requirements and MCAT to show you can handle the curriculum.

 

[drkewl]

I'm majoring in Biology and minoring in Astronomy.

EVERY interviewer I have had has asked me about my astronomy minor. They seemed fascinated by the choice. I guess they like seeing different things other than the typical bio/chem/phys majors that apply every year.

Anything that sets you apart and makes you a memorable applicant would be great.

 

[NRAI2001]

Does a public health major stand out?

 

[Nutmeg]

Originally posted by NRAI2001
Does a public health major stand out?

Specialized health science majors have the lowest MCATs and GPA's as an applicant pool. But they are also the matriculants with the lowest MCAT scores and lower GPA's (along with social sciences and humanities on GPA), which suggests that for a given GPA and MCAT score, you have a better chance of admission as a specialized health science major, or in the social scinces or humanities. So I think it does make you stand out.

 

[NRAI2001]

Originally posted by Nutmeg
Specialized health science majors have the lowest MCATs and GPA's as an applicant pool. But they are also the matriculants with the lowest MCAT scores and lower GPA's (along with social sciences and humanities on GPA), which suggests that for a given GPA and MCAT score, you have a better chance of admission as a specialized health science major, or in the social scinces or humanities. So I think it does make you stand out.

Awesome, but I m a double major in IB and PH, would I still stand out with double majoring?

 

[musiclink213]

how about a biochem major with a french/bio/probably math minor?

BTW-i didn't choose to pick all those minors, they just kinda happened with the classes i was taking.

 

[NRAI2001]

Originally posted by musiclink213
how about a biochem major with a french/bio/probably math minor?

BTW-i didn't choose to pick all those minors, they just kinda happened with the classes i was taking.

Wow thats an ish load of majors.

 

[ducam]

no one had said my major. Economics.

As I say, if we are going to be making lots of money, might as well know how to handle it. (j/k, don't flame)

 

[lisa13579]

I have to rescind my earlier opinion a bit. I think my fine arts major does help me to stand out, but I HAVE had to defend my ability to do well academically more than I thought I would. Even though I received A's in EVERY pre-med prerequisite. I had to start talking about high school (which was almost 10 years ago) to prove that I was "smart". Kind of silly, but just be prepared if you don't major in science. Or take more upper level science classes for proof of your academic ability in science.