"Easy" Major

[sunshine02]

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I know it's been said that adcoms don't care what you've majored in and that you can major in anything you want.

However, there are some majors out there that just aren't created equal. For example, at my school, there is a not very well known track in the biophysics major. In this track, the requirements are that you complete your premed requirements and then take an additional year of physics. Then you are done! The other track in the biophysics major is more "legit"--you have your prereqs and then certain 400-level biophysics electives you have to take, courses in x-ray crystallography, etc in order to obtain a biophysics degree.

If students opt for the easier biophysics track, won't adcoms notice that this second track in the biophysics major is too easy, and that students never really take any biophysics courses at all but are still given the degree? In this case, won't they care what you major in?

 

[Ismet]

If students opt for the easier biophysics track, won't adcoms notice that this second track in the biophysics major is too easy, and that students never really take any biophysics courses at all but are still given the degree? In this case, won't they care what you major in?

No and no. They don't care and won't look into it anywhere near as much as this.

 

[boboyahoo]

adcoms will see the transcript which will let them know of this because there are several versions of one type of major under several different departments. This won't really matter to them since they only care for your premed requirements though. Regardless, I think ppl who go the easy way are just making a harder road for themselves in the future. While gpa may be important, it is also important to prepare for med school by taking a courseload that exemplifies some of the courses you might come across in med school or even just apply that same rigor into your ug (aside from the normal premed courses which by way are required). It fascinates me how we often take AP/IB/CLEP to go above and beyond in our college apps but all of a sudden our courses don't matter for med school.

 

[KindofBlue]

Of course I don't know what every single adcom will think at the hundred something med schools, but my guess is that nobody will know or care.
Unless it's an institute specifically related to your undergrad, no one has the time to look into these things.
If the transcript shows signficantly less science classes compared to other applicants, then that might raise a flag I guess.

 

[sunshine02]

No and no. They don't care and won't look into it anywhere near as much as this.

Will it not come up during interviews? They'll have more time to look over your transcript then, and can ask you, "hmm..I see you're a biophysics major. How could you major in biophysics but not take any biophysics classes at all?"

 

[sunshine02]

adcoms will see the transcript which will let them know of this because there are several versions of one type of major under several different departments. This won't really matter to them since they only care for your premed requirements though. Regardless, I think ppl who go the easy way are just making a harder road for themselves in the future. While gpa may be important, it is also important to prepare for med school by taking a courseload that exemplifies some of the courses you might come across in med school or even just apply that same rigor into your ug (aside from the normal premed courses which by way are required). It fascinates me how we often take AP/IB/CLEP to go above and beyond in our college apps but all of a sudden our courses don't matter for med school.

Sadly, I heard this is how the system works.

 

[sunshine02]

So unless your school is one of those famous elite schools adcoms won't care?

 

[Ismet]

There are literally thousands of universities in this country. No one on the admissions committee is going to know that the biophysics major at School X has two tracks and there certainly won't be anyone who knows which track is harder. Add to the fact that biophys majors at School Y could have an average GPA of 2.7 while biophys majors at School Z could have any average GPA of 3.5. Adcoms just don't know.

Exactly why majors don't matter.

Will it not come up during interviews? They'll have more time to look over your transcript then, and can ask you, "hmm..I see you're a biophysics major. How could you major in biophysics but not take any biophysics classes at all?"

It is very unlikely for that to come up in an interview. There are more important things to talk about.

 

[Euxox]

So unless your school is one of those famous elite schools adcoms won't care?

I'd say they that won't care even if you do come from one of those famous elite schools.

Remember, people on admissions committees are faculty members (or students) first and admissions people second. They just don't have the time to learn all this stuff. I mean wouldn't be pretty difficult for an admissions person to memorize the reputations of all the bio courses at MIT? I would guess that there are at least 50 or so that students take pretty frequently. Now add Biochem, Chemistry, Physics, Math. Now multiply that by Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford. We are talking about hundreds -- potentially even thousands -- of courses. It's way to difficult to be worthwhile.

 

[RedWedding]

Some schools are well-known for grade deflation (i.e. Georgia Tech, Cornell, Stanford). I'd imagine it at least crosses their mind, even if it's not a formal consideration.

 

[Lambda Phage]

Is course load factored into the equation that much? In other words, is it worth picking up a minor degree if it means less time for ECs? Is there even a place on the primary to list minor(s)?

 

[Lambda Phage]

Well you had an immensely successful application cycle, so perhaps your courses helped land you the interviews/acceptances? Just because they weren't mentioned in the interview doesn't mean they didn't have a profound impact on how you were assessed as an applicant.

 

[Ismet]

Is course load factored into the equation that much? In other words, is it worth picking up a minor degree if it means less time for ECs? Is there even a place on the primary to list minor(s)?

Minors are useless. The only way they might be a little beneficial is if they're unique and they give some kind of talking point in the interview. I interviewed someone who minored in Russian and I thought that was interesting. I personally minored in music, but music is a big part of my EC's too so music naturally came up in my interviews.

 

[Lambda Phage]

Thank you. I suppose it's possible that my courses played a role in me having such a successful cycle. But I've had 11 interviews and roughly 22 interviewers at this point and not a single one commented on my second major, my minor, or the rigor of my coursework, so I doubt that the course work played much of a role. I could be wrong.

It isn't all about building a med school app though. Undergrad is supposed to be about exploring new things, and having all these required courses has prevented me from taking a lot of cool electives in anthropology, history, classics, earth sciences, etc. I really regret having missed out on that. Almost registered for a history class next semester (my last), but it meets as the same time as some stupid lab course I have to take to satisfy my second major.

I happen to enjoy much of the coursework I'm taking to complete my minors. But the problem is that I enjoy sleeping/research more than the coursework and I may drop my minor if it would otherwise go unnoticed by medical schools...

I'm also taking lots of upper-level biology electives in hopes that it'll help familiarize myself with some of the material taught in medical schools. My last semester is coming up as well, so I'm at odds with what I should schedule: a fun, easy semester or a difficult one that will challenge me.

 

[Lambda Phage]

Minors may be useless, but would excelling in lots of upper-level bio/biochem be appealing? Or would taking an easier/funner route be more advisable?

Also there's a pre-med committee at my school, and I'm not sure how they evaluate candidates academically. I'm hoping it they look at my coursework, otherwise I'm doing this all for nothing. :/

Btw, thank you for your advice, Euxox and Ismet 🙂

 

[sunshine02]

Hi Lambda Phage,

I think if you excel in upper-level bio/biochem that would be appealing, but only if you are sure you can excel. Otherwise, I guess as others have said after I started this thread, a bad grade in a hard course looks really bad and in that case, you would be better off not having taken the course.

 

[Euxox]

I agree with Sunshine. If your BCPM is low and you need to bring it back up, taking upper-level bio/biochem could be a good idea. If you like bio/biochem, taking upper-level bio/biochem could be a good idea. I don't think there are any other good reasons to take extra BCPM classes if you don't have to. So if neither of those things apply, take the fun route. Yes, A grades in upper-level bio/biochem might impress adcoms a *tiny* bit, but it won't be enough to it worth your time. (And what if you end up getting B's in those courses?)