double major...would it help?

[Bob Hanrahan]

Do you guys think that it would be helpful at all for me to get a BA in both biology and chemistry as opposed to just biology? I am curious as to whether or not med schools would care about this. If they don't care, then I may as well only have one major, because it would save me a lot of work.

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[PhysicsDoc]

No. The curriculum overlaps too much; it won't make you seem unique (which I assume is your goal). Only do it if you genuinely enjoy chem classes and want to sacrifice some of your electives for them.

A double major in a non-science discipline (eng, history, theatre, etc.; not psych, sociology, poli sci, etc. since these are very popular and relatively easy majors) or a quant-heavy discipline (physics/math) might make you look unique, but again, only do it if you have a genuine interest in one of the aforementioned subjects.

 

[crazy250]

No they don't care what your major is. Quit trying to impress the med schools. i'll tell you what they will be impressed with, 4.00, 45T, 1000 publications in major scientific journals, and a great personality. now that's impressive.

 

[DD214_DOC]

If you want to look unique, be a history major.

 

[u2psalm40]

it wouldn't hurt

 

[Trekkie963]

Originally posted by JKDMed
If you want to look unique, be a history major.

Bah! I'm a history major. Noone cares. Crazy250 has it right.

 

[mdsiren]

Double-majoring really doesn't matter...however, it does convey a message to the adcoms (which you can also further emphasize in ps) that you are person that has an insatiable quest for knowledge which is a trait that ALL med schools look for in their prospective students. A doctor = eternal student.

 

[XCanadianRagwee]

Originally posted by mdsiren
Double-majoring really doesn't matter...however, it does convey a message to the adcoms (which you can also further emphasize in ps) that you are person that has an insatiable quest for knowledge which is a trait that ALL med schools look for in their prospective students. A doctor = eternal student.

Good thing I emptied out the coca cola otherwise I'd be cleaning up a mess from laughing.

Double major here. No they don't care. Only time it ever came up was in an interview question about why I double majored. I gave them my reason (cuz I liked the psyc classes I took and became good friends with several professors). That was that.

 

[DocWannaBe85]

Do what you want to do, end of story.

 

[ASDIC]

it will help you if you intend to do something with it.

Education without application is useless.

 

[XCanadianRagwee]

Originally posted by thekegalman

Education without application is useless.

my second major will never be applied to anything, but A) I had tons of fun B) met some cool people other than neurotic pre-meds C) am glad I did.

so is it really useless?

 

[DD214_DOC]

Originally posted by Trekkie963
Bah! I'm a history major. Noone cares. Crazy250 has it right.

Not if you want to look unique. Believe what you want, but it does matter. Adcoms are people, and people have lots of subconscious biases. Why do you think this process appears so, "random"? Interviews are entirely subjective.

 

[Trekkie963]

Originally posted by JKDMed
Not if you want to look unique. Believe what you want, but it does matter. Adcoms are people, and people have lots of subconscious biases. Why do you think this process appears so, "random"? Interviews are entirely subjective.

First off, you have read much too much into my nineteen-syllable statement. Of course people have subconcious biases and whatnot, but honestly the major you choose matters very little. An adcom could just as easily think philosophy is a load of crap as think it helps make someone well-rounded. Plus, when making the interview cutoffs, I do honestly believe that little or no attention is paid to major. Adcoms care about GPA, BCPM GPA, and MCAT, with little fudge factor for other things, when considering people for interviews.

Also, it is hardly unique for someone to major in a non-science or have a double-major in a humanities or social science, nowadays. Maybe the most unique major I have come across is music, but I still know two music major pre-meds who applied this year.

I think the selection of people for interviews does end up being relatively random. Of course final acceptances after interviews are more subjective (but can still be relatively random--one reason being the fact that your interviewer is randomly assigned and whether or not you click with him or her can make a big difference in the final decision).

 

[superdevil]

don't do it for med schools. if that's your motivation, its pointless, extra burden. chem-bio dual majors are everywhere at my school (not just pre-meds, either). as far as dual majors go, its quite common.

if you want to be unique, get a novel combo, like, biomedical engineering and.....um, theater. or maybe, if you're say, a white male, go for something totally unexpected like math and women's studies, or physics and african culture. now that's unique, baby.

 

[Algunn]

You'd be mistaken to think that the perceived "difficulty" of doing a double-major will help you in admission to med school. They could care less what you major in, and if anything, it will probably hurt you because you'll end up taking more science classes per semester than a typical pre-med applicant does. I double-majored and double-minored, and while I enjoyed my experience, I wouldn't do it again. I found myself taking 18-20 hours way too often and my grades suffered a little as a result.

 

[Trashino]

I doubled with molecular and cell biology and philosophy. While I don't believe anyone was impressed (although I did discuss heidegger with an interviewer at his request), I think it was a good idea as far as preparation is concerned. Taking logic definitely helped with the mcat verbal, and the ethical aspects of philosophy are valuable in a medical context.

As far as chem and bio, that may help with prep for medicine as well (can't hurt to have more rigor in those two). If you can pull off the same grades as you would in a single major, I would say go for it. Don't sacrifice grades/friends/ecs for a double major, though.