Easy Major Vs Hard

[swifteagle43]

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Is it just really about the GPA?

Chemistry Major(hard) Versus Communications Major(easy)

Any comments?

 

[Em1]

Which one is more interesting to you? Which would you rather get a job with if you decide you don't wanna do med school (it could happen)?

If you really like communications, don't hold back b/c you think it will be perceived as easy. But you'd have to have a better answer to the interview question "why communications?" than "it's easy" Also, if you go the communications route, I suggest taking more science than is required- maybe even getting a minor in chem.

On the other hand if you really like chemistry, don't shy away from it b/c you think you'll do badly. How far into undergrad are you? You may have time to change your mind if your gpa suffers in chem.

 

[Centinel]

Which one will challenge you more? Are you already a numerical genius? Will chemistry be like taking candy from a baby? Do communications.

Do you already speak English, understand the media, and understand advertising, and understand other things that fall under communications? (Which is to say, I don't actually know what courses are in this major.) If so, consider chemistry.

I'm of the opinion that challenging yourself with courses involving quantitative reasoning (and objective truth) will make your mind more agile. My friends who are history majors are no better schmoozers nor bull****ters than my friends who do chem, but my chem friends seem to be better at analysis. Could be a self-selection bias, of course.

 

[Long Dong]

Be like an electron and take the path of least resistance.

 

[rhystheprince]

I believe it would not matter as long as you:

1) get to take all the required courses by the medical schools you are applying to and do well on them

2) get a BROAD education to appreciate other fields YET focus on your major field of study and show interest by (again) doing well

3) are prepared to answer the "WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS PARTICULAR FIELD" question on an admissions interview and know how that course of study will help you as a future physician

4) get a letter of recommendation from your advisor indicating that you are one the "exceptional" undergrads at their institute

5) and (last but not least) REALLY ENJOY IT (as in, "you would actually do it as a profession if medicine did not exist" kind of way)

Good luck!

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Don't assume that another major will be easier to get a higher GPA in. While classes in the humanities certainly take less work overall than the sciences do, they take a different type of thinking. You need to learn to synthesize various facts and viewpoints into a coherent argument that you can defend and critique with counter-factual arguments. I've found that many self-proclaimed "nerd" types struggle a lot in the humanities/social sciences even though they dominate the sciences. So in the end, do what interests you, and learn something about yourself as you do it. 👍

 

[Shredder]

i shouldve majored in economics and business instead of engineering, hindsight is 20/20 but i was a real fool

 

[63768]

^^^ me too. i should have done regular economics and kinesiology instead of math econ.

 

[Dave_D]

Well one thing you should be careful about is that one major might be easier than an another but harder as a premed. What I mean is that if you're a chem major you pretty much have to take many of the premed courses for your major.(So chem 1&2, orgo 1&2, calc 1 & possibly 2, and a good chance physics.) So you won't be trying to fit a bunch of premed classes into your limited true electives. However if you were say an english major the department might give you time to take a math and a couple of sciences for diversity requirements but then you have to fit in the other 5-8 premed courses in to very few slots.(Since you still have to take classes for your major and whatever bredth requirements. Hell, loads of schools still screw over students with unit after unit of foreign language. Gee, can anybody tell that I got stuck taking that and in the end all it accomplished for me was wasting my time and money?) So you might have to really work at it to fit everything in versus the chem major who ends up taking all the premed stuff since it's effectively part of his major.

 

[little_late_MD]

I know that there is a general sense on these boards that the humanities and social sciences are worlds easier than the oh-so hard sciences, and in some cases that is true, but I don't think that applies universally. Generally the hard sciences require a great deal of rote memorization and strict application of forumulas. While this can be daunting, once you figure out how to approach the material, you're pretty golden for your college career. The social sciences require a different approach, as there are no hard and fast ways to do things. They involve a great deal of subjective analysis. This is one of the reasons that many of the greatest mysteries in the social sciences remain unsolved. I'm not saying this is more or less difficult than say, chemistry. However, it is different, and requires a different skill set. If it truly was that easy, everyone would be a finance major and make $75K per year out of college.

 

[Dave_D]

I know that there is a general sense on these boards that the humanities and social sciences are worlds easier than the oh-so hard sciences, and in some cases that is true, but I don't think that applies universally. Generally the hard sciences require a great deal of rote memorization and strict application of forumulas. While this can be daunting, once you figure out how to approach the material, you're pretty golden for your college career. The social sciences require a different approach, as there are no hard and fast ways to do things. They involve a great deal of subjective analysis. This is one of the reasons that many of the greatest mysteries in the social sciences remain unsolved. I'm not saying this is more or less difficult than say, chemistry. However, it is different, and requires a different skill set. If it truly was that easy, everyone would be a finance major and make $75K per year out of college.

Well I agree with that it's a different skill set and that some humanities are actually extremely difficult.(For me the hardest class I ever took were foreign languages by far. Way more difficult than organic, studying for the MCAT, etc.) However you probably should definite what you mean by "hard" and easy vs grades. I know a little confusing so this what I mean. When I took say psyc as an undergrad it was not hard to get a B in the course and didn't take much effort. However the extra effort to get say an A was alot and I didn't pull it off. Now chem for example had a lot of homework which you pretty much needed to do to get to the B grade. However once at that level it only took a little more effort to get an A. I guess what I'm saying is what alot have noticed. Some courses don't require much work to at least pass yet it's hard to get a good grade. Other classes require alot of work but once you do the work you're pretty much going to get a B+ or better.

 

[ShyRem]

It is a sad commentary on medicine in today's society when we, as future physicians, are actually discussing taking courses that are EASY for the sake of the almighty GPA instead of courses that are difficult, interesting, and teach you something new about the world.

I know med school admissions are totally f*cked up in this regard, but who do you want as your physician - the guy who got a 4.0 and majored in basketweaving 'cuz is was easy or the guy who got a 3.0 and majored in nuclear physics 'cuz he was interested and wanted a challenge? Unfortunately, the guy with a 4.0 in basketweaving probably got into med school while the 3.0 physicist didn't.

Med school application process sucks and is TOTALLY screwed up.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Personally any major will be "hard" if you take it seriously enough to truly learn it as you should. If you're looking for a cakewalk, I highly recommend a second thought about medicine as a career choice.

 

[Uncle_Tbag]

Remember, you are getting an undergrad degree to get into med school. You will likely never fall back on information learned in your undergrad studies. If you take a harder major like chem, much of the material you learn will have no bearing on your future studies. What you need to know for the MCAT and to be a well-prepared med student is contained in your pre-req classes. Look at the stats for med school matriculants, there is no significant bias toward hard science majors.

With all that said, I think you should take a major that really interests you, and more importantly, take upper level classes in your major. I loaded up on 4 and 5000 level classes in psych, English, and criminology that I didn't really need, taking them because they look great on a transcript (and I really enjoyed them).

You will have to study longer if you take a hard science major compared to certain majors such as psych or English. People will argue that there is some material in "easier" majors that will demand as much work as chem or physics, and for the most part I think that's BS.

 

[ChuckRock]

I am a finance major and it has to be one of the best decisions I have ever made, just the personal finance knowledge was worth the effort. The fact that I majored in finance hasn't come up once in three interviews so far. So I would DEFINITELY base your decision solely on what interests you. Sure, I get some crap from some of the science majors in my school, but that's just becuase they are miserable in a major they chose for all the wrong reasons.

 

[Centinel]

I know that there is a general sense on these boards that the humanities and social sciences are worlds easier than the oh-so hard sciences, and in some cases that is true, but I don't think that applies universally. Generally the hard sciences require a great deal of rote memorization and strict application of forumulas.

If it were true that 'hard sciences' require a great deal of rote memorization and strict application of formulas, I would agree with you. However, it's actually the 'soft sciences', such as biology and the social sciences, which require memorization and formulaic application. The hard sciences are all about math; that is, they are all about derivations of formulas. Hard sciences, when well taught, are all about analysis.

Likewise, strong Humanities/Literature/etc. programs are about analysis (and theory), and they can be just as challenging. I think we'd both agree that classes based on memorization (low level science, low level humanities) are easier than classes based on analysis.

 

[riceman04]

i shouldve majored in economics and business instead of engineering, hindsight is 20/20 but i was a real fool

You still are a fool....nothing has changed...

I pity the fool who never learns!!!!

Go Texas Tech!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SirTony76]

I am majoring in Biomedical Engineering and I ****ing love it.

 

[riceman04]

^^^ me too. i should have done regular economics and kinesiology instead of math econ.

Yeah you should have....but it's hard to understand people in the econ dept b/c half of them can barely speak english......I took Dr. Gibsons Physiology classes (kine classes) and they were great.


Psyc was cool too!

 

[little_late_MD]

If it were true that 'hard sciences' require a great deal of rote memorization and strict application of formulas, I would agree with you. However, it's actually the 'soft sciences', such as biology and the social sciences, which require memorization and formulaic application. The hard sciences are all about math; that is, they are all about derivations of formulas. Hard sciences, when well taught, are all about analysis.

Likewise, strong Humanities/Literature/etc. programs are about analysis (and theory), and they can be just as challenging. I think we'd both agree that classes based on memorization (low level science, low level humanities) are easier than classes based on analysis.

Just to be clear, when I say hard sciences I mean (as is normally the division) bio, chem, physics, engineering, math. The soft sciences usually include the social sciences and IT.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Don't assume that another major will be easier to get a higher GPA in. While classes in the humanities certainly take less work overall than the sciences do, they take a different type of thinking. You need to learn to synthesize various facts and viewpoints into a coherent argument that you can defend and critique with counter-factual arguments. I've found that many self-proclaimed "nerd" types struggle a lot in the humanities/social sciences even though they dominate the sciences. So in the end, do what interests you, and learn something about yourself as you do it. 👍

thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. i get so sick of the general sdn attitude that all non-science majors are easy. i started out as a chemistry major and switched to history because i liked it more -- i made a's in both, and neither was easier. my chem major friends actually had trouble making a's in the history and english classes they took at my school and generally didn't, so, no, non-science majors aren't all slackers or idiots.

i will concede that there are easy majors out there, but largely it depends on the specific school you attend.

 

[Dave_D]

Just to be clear, when I say hard sciences I mean (as is normally the division) bio, chem, physics, engineering, math. The soft sciences usually include the social sciences and IT.

Umm, just as a clarification you don't mean to count computer science as IT, right?(Because comp sci is extremely mathy, to the point you do proofs about what can and can't be computed.)

Since we're all weighing in my problem with the social science/humanities is at least the stuff I took alot of it was about BS'ing the prof into what he wanted to hear. The main analysis was figuring out what that was. Of course that's more of a "horribly taught class" thing.(Since in theory it shouldn't be that way.)

 

[DrBowtie]

As a physics major, I often question why I do it to myself.