double majoring with computer science

[roflamingo]

Soo, I'm about to be a senior (high school, lol), and am now thinking quite intensely about what I want to do with my life. So far, computer programmer and doctor have been my two most serious ideas. In high school I've been able to take loads of computer science courses, and I absolutely love it. However, I really don't want to work in a cube(icle) farm my whole life. On the other hand, I've had almost no exposure to anything in the field of medicine, but the idea appeals to me, so I am considering doing computer science and some pre-med degree when I go to college in a year.
That way I have a good backup plan if I end up loving pre-med, but don't get accepted to med school, and also if I end up hating pre-med.
So there's where I am at. I think this is a good idea, but I have a few concerns.
You need a high GPA to get into med school, and while I consider myself to be quite proficient (for my age) at computer programming/science, I am not sure if I will be able to obtain a 3.5+ GPA, especially if I'll be taking rigorous pre-med courses at the same time.
What are your thoughts on this? What if I am only able to get a 3.0-3.4? Let's assume that everything else that contributes to my admission into medical school is adequate. Not amazing, but not lacking. If you were an admissions officer, would you let me in?

Right now, the major thing counting against me is that I've had no exposure to chemistry in high school, and have only taken Biology 1. This may mean that I will struggle through college level bio and chem. However, the good thing counting for me is that I genuinely love learning (NEEEEEEEEERD), and really haven't run into any subject that I don't enjoy. Naturally, I'll strive for that 4.0 , hah.

Thanks for any input.

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[TheRealMD]

Soo, I'm about to be a senior (high school, lol), and am now thinking quite intensely about what I want to do with my life. So far, computer programmer and doctor have been my two most serious ideas. In high school I've been able to take loads of computer science courses, and I absolutely love it. However, I really don't want to work in a cube(icle) farm my whole life. On the other hand, I've had almost no exposure to anything in the field of medicine, but the idea appeals to me, so I am considering doing computer science and some pre-med degree when I go to college in a year.
That way I have a good backup plan if I end up loving pre-med, but don't get accepted to med school, and also if I end up hating pre-med.
So there's where I am at. I think this is a good idea, but I have a few concerns.
You need a high GPA to get into med school, and while I consider myself to be quite proficient (for my age) at computer programming/science, I am not sure if I will be able to obtain a 3.5+ GPA, especially if I'll be taking rigorous pre-med courses at the same time.
What are your thoughts on this? What if I am only able to get a 3.0-3.4? Let's assume that everything else that contributes to my admission into medical school is adequate. Not amazing, but not lacking. If you were an admissions officer, would you let me in?

Right now, the major thing counting against me is that I've had no exposure to chemistry in high school, and have only taken Biology 1. This may mean that I will struggle through college level bio and chem. However, the good thing counting for me is that I genuinely love learning (NEEEEEEEEERD), and really haven't run into any subject that I don't enjoy. Naturally, I'll strive for that 4.0 , hah.

Thanks for any input.

I'd say it's important to use college and discover what you really want to do. Back when I was in high school, I didn't have a clue about how the real world works (still workin on that right now), but you should explore what you want to do. you'll find that after your first year or two in college, you are DEFINITELY not the same person you were back in high school.

As for wanting to get into medicine, I'd really say you should take a look at some of the secondaries people have to write and try to answer those questions. They are extremely hard, and force you to really look at what you're doing and why. Hopefully, you'll learn something about yourself in the process and where your career goals lie.

One last piece of advice, don't take "hard" classes because you think adcoms will care. They do not.

 

[Jew Alcindor]

3.5 isn't as hard as it sounds; the best advice I can give is don't get in over your head early. A lot of people come in and sign up for an incredibly challenging courseload as Freshman, find out college is a lot harder than high school and put themselves in a giant hole they then have to dig out of.

 

[leopanther]

You don't have to double major. You can just major in CS and take the pre-med required classes on top of that. You don't have to have a bio degree, it will not count for anything. The best thing you can do is get exposure to medicine as soon as possible by volunteering in a hospital and shadowing. You should do this in your first year of college. CS is a difficult major but if you are good at it, it may actually be less time consuming than many other majors. It's also a good backup plan. So take a CS class or two and see how you do. Aim for that 3.5+ if you do decide that you want to go to med school. If you are finding that you can't pull at least B+s in CS, change yoru major.

 

[shotdiscus]

Yeah I kind of lost interest in computer science in my third semester of college when the classes became more about object oriented programming and data structuring etc. Thats when I changed majors to bio and had to scramble to get my requirements in and graduated in 4.5 years. I'd suggest taking the intro computer science and bio classes at the same time and play it by ear from there. If you like one, pick it. if you like both, do both.

 

[Jew Alcindor]

That's good advice. If you end up doing CS, you might wanna take a couple extra courses in addition to the prereqs though (I've heard a couple non-science pre-meds say this, anway).

 

[Meatwad]

Is your university known for having a difficult CS curriculum? Might be something to look into. I've heard doing pre-med and CS at my school is a pretty heavy courseload, which makes it difficult to keep the old GPA up.

 

[kidthor]

Just be careful! CS can be extremely hard and is notorious for giving you a messed up GPA! There's really no need to double major with it to impress med schools (they WON'T be impressed by that), but if you are really interested in it, then do it!

Also, don't be in a rush to cram everything into 4 years or feel like you have to do it all. Just take your time and make sure you do a good job!

 

[Chrishel]

I just graduated from UIUC in computer science and chemistry in may. I originally was only a CS major, and I decided I wanted to do medicine sophomore year of college. I was not at all looking forward to taking orgo because I really didn't care for chemistry in high school (and was at the time very happy that I would never have to take another chem class again). However, after taking orgo I and II, I decided I liked it enough to pick up a second degree in it.

My reason for keeping the CS degree was twofold. First, I liked the idea of having an employable, in-demand undergrad degree in case medicine didn't work out. Also, I really liked CS, and decided the MD/PhD route would let me take my knowledge in computer science and apply it to clinical medicine. I just started a couple of weeks ago at the University of Chicago in their MSTP, and will likely do my PhD in Computational Neuroscience.

I should also warn you that I had a lot of friends who liked programming to some degree, or had a goal of becoming a video game programmer who ended up dropping out of CS within the first semester or two. Although I can't speak about your background directly, from what I've seen of high school computer science classes (excluding maybe AP Computer Science), they generally do not represent the types of computer science classes you will take in college at all. The academic study of computer science is quite different from writing little windows utilities in Visual Basic, developing a website in PHP, or pretty much anything else high school computer nerds (I use this term affectionately) do in their spare time. Depending on where you go for undergrad, your experience may vary, as some institutions focus more on training programmers, while others focus on training computer scientists, but basically, if you are really interested in taking computer science seriously, and want to dive a little deeper than the O'Reilly "In A Nutshell" books, it is not hard to maintain a solid GPA.

Also, depending on your learning style, you may find your CS classes are significantly easier than your pre-med classes (because in most of CS there is very little straight memorization, and much more challenging problem solving), or your pre-med classes may be a lot easier for you (because the concepts tend to be much simpler, there is just more "stuff" to memorize). Realistically, you will probably be somewhere in between, but if you extremely favor the latter, you will probably have a hard time in CS. Either way, assuming you take the CS route, you will end up with a very useful skill (that many pre-meds lack) of figuring out how to take a pile of random "whatever" (enzymes, amino acids, etc), and find an underlying way to understand them. This will prevent you from just memorizing, and allow you to conceptualize which will lead to better retention of what you learn, and probably a better MCAT score (and from my current experience, a marginally easier time in anatomy trying to find ways to tie all the loose ends together into a coherent concept).

Feel free to reply or PM me if you have further questions.

EDIT: Pay attention to the advice people have given about volunteering and shadowing. Although things managed to turn out fine, I did not know about this, and didn't do ANY volunteering or clinical stuff at all. I consider myself very lucky to have gotten in, and would not recommend anyone take that same risk if they can avoid it.

 

[paranoid_eyes]

depending on your university, computer science will prolly be a really hard major. let's face it, if you wanna get into medical school, you will need a high gpa. Unless you are absolutely, madly in love with computer science (which you are prolly not seeing as you wouldn't want to work in a cubicle), i would advise against majoring in CS. Why study CS if you wanna be a doctor? You'll get people telling you to major in what you're interested in, and that advise is all good and true. But if your final goal is getting that med school acceptance letter, you may have to make some sacrifices.

I'm just thrownin this out there, but if you want a blend of programming (albeit basic), psychology, and neuroscience, i would suggest looking into Cognitive Science. Again, if you really really really like CS (you don't really know what CS is until you're writing code for hours a day) then do what you love.

P.S. I was a CS Engineering major freshman year, but switched into neuroscience

 

[Kingora]

do both, am finishing my diploma in I.T. and its so invaluable in studying med(+its goood 4 ur CV):free downloaded books,very very very...many online tests to sharpen you 4 the exam etc.

 

[Law2Doc]

That's good advice. If you end up doing CS, you might wanna take a couple extra courses in addition to the prereqs though (I've heard a couple non-science pre-meds say this, anway).

I'm a nonsci person who would suggest the opposite. The prereqs (if they are solid at your school) are all you need for the MCAT and med school. Schools only require the prereqs because that is all they think you need. (If they wanted more, they would require more). Use the rest of your credits to major in whatever you enjoy.

 

[stbxTechie]

In high school I've been able to take loads of computer science courses, and I absolutely love it. However, I really don't want to work in a cube(icle) farm my whole life.

Working in the tech industry is a love it or hate it thing. I hate it. I knew I'd hate it going into it out of college (I was a CS minor), but it's the only thing I could make good money at coming out of college.

BTW, you also don't need a computer science major to work as a software engineer, although it helps. A minor, particularly if that lets you take a project based Software Engineering course, should be adequate.

On the other hand, I've had almost no exposure to anything in the field of medicine, but the idea appeals to me, so I am considering doing computer science and some pre-med degree when I go to college in a year.

As others have said, pre-med isn't a major (at most schools) - it's a bunch of prerequisites, mostly fairly low level. Definitely start your prereqs. Definitely start your CS prereqs. DEFINITELY VOLUNTEER SOMEWHERE, since that both looks good on your application and even more importantly will help you see if you really like healthcare.

That way I have a good backup plan if I end up loving pre-med, but don't get accepted to med school, and also if I end up hating pre-med.

Programming and other computer work is very cyclical, and unless you're lucky enough to graduate at the top of a cycle, it's pretty hard to get into without substantial work experience. So bear that in mind when you're looking at this as a backup plan. OTOH, if you have fun with the material, go for it, and try to get some internships or similar "work while a student" experience.

You need a high GPA to get into med school, and while I consider myself to be quite proficient (for my age) at computer programming/science, I am not sure if I will be able to obtain a 3.5+ GPA, especially if I'll be taking rigorous pre-med courses at the same time.

CS courses involve pretty easy material compared to hard sciences, but they tend to involve projects which are a "lot of work" in the sense of time commitment. How are your time management skills? Are you going to have to do work-study or similar? Are you willing to be a tool, or do you want a typical undergraduate social life?

Right now, the major thing counting against me is that I've had no exposure to chemistry in high school, and have only taken Biology 1. This may mean that I will struggle through college level bio and chem.

I'm in the same boat about chemistry, and actually got into this whole boat when as a CS grad I realized I'd never taken any chemistry (skipped it for the AP computer science in high school) and that it sounded interesting...

One piece of advice for the latter: see if your school has an elementary chem or pre-GChem course. Yeah, everyone says to take the most challenging courses possible, but it's better to really start building a strong foundation than to try to force yourself to cram in a GChem course where everyone else has HS chem (or even HS AP Chem and just didn't get the credit for it.)