Good major for getting into med school

[DarkProtonics]

What should I major in when I transfer to my four-year university? I'm currently getting an "A" in chemistry at Cerritos College, and I'm considering either microbiology or chemistry. My goal is to get into a good med school, and eventually become a cardiologist

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[p30doc]

major in whatever interests you and get good grades. med schools don't show preference for any particular major

 

[Thrombomodulin]

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[rickblas]

Any major is good really. In terms of what would logically prepare your for medical school, biology, chemistry, biochemistry etc. would be good choices (although debatable). Any major that allows you to get good grades in the require pre-med courses that you enjoy is an ideal fit; medical schools usually don't discriminate you on your major.

 

[RySerr21]

Any major is good really. In terms of what would logically prepare your for medical school, biology, chemistry, biochemistry etc. would be good choices (although debatable). Any major that allows you to get good grades in the require pre-med courses that you enjoy is an ideal fit; medical schools usually don't discriminate you on your major.

i dont see how biology chemistry, biochemistry majors are any better prepared. Most of those required classes are not medically related and you will never see again. For the classes that are helpful (like biochemistry for example), you can just take them as electives if you want to be "better prepared". There is no point in being a biology, chemsitry, or biochem major unless you happen to love that material and enjoy learning about it. What a waste of time otherwise.

 

[Narmerguy]

I think the benefit from those majors is a constant association and familiarity with biological sciences in general. Of course the extent to which this well help you to the style of science taught in med school is debatable.

 

[RySerr21]

I think the benefit from those majors is a constant association and familiarity with biological sciences in general. Of course the extent to which this well help you to the style of science taught in med school is debatable.

yea i guess, but still not worth it IMO. Id rather learn about stuff I'm more interested in. Besides, Youll become plenty familiar with biological sciences VERY quickly in med school.

 

[airplanes]

yea i guess, but still not worth it IMO. Id rather learn about stuff I'm more interested in. Besides, Youll become plenty familiar with biological sciences VERY quickly in med school.

A certain major might not help you be more prepared for medical school, but I think my background in biology definitely helped me on the MCAT...i Didn't score that high (29) but I think it would have been lower if I majored in something else.

 

[DarkProtonics]

yea i guess, but still not worth it IMO. Id rather learn about stuff I'm more interested in. Besides, Youll become plenty familiar with biological sciences VERY quickly in med school.

But I do find chemistry and biochemistry extremely interesting in its own right. I may want to get my PhD in it, either instead of or in addition to an MD

 

[RySerr21]

A certain major might not help you be more prepared for medical school, but I think my background in biology definitely helped me on the MCAT...i Didn't score that high (29) but I think it would have been lower if I majored in something else.

I only had 1 general bio course before the MCAT and the bio section was my best score. Honestly, if you take one semester of cellular/molecular biology that will cover everything you need to konw for the MCAT. To each their own tho. I found physiology pretty helpful to, but i dind't take it to prepare me for the MCAT i took it b/c it was part of my major and i wanted to take it and you could definitely do fine w/o having it.

But I do find chemistry and biochemistry extremely interesting in its own right. I may want to get my PhD in it, either instead of or in addition to an MD

then by all means major in biochemistry or chemistry! If thats what you love, then go for it! As long as you dont major in it b/c you think adcoms will like it, or it will give you an extra edge, etc. etc. I'm all for majoring in the subject that you find most interesting...i may not agree with you in terms of what is interesting, but thats not the point! haha. good luck.

 

[Wylde]

Honestly, majors like philosophy, english, a foreign language (particularly spanish), economics/finance, sociology, etc. are probably the most beneficial to you. These classes provide perspective that will forever benefit you, whereas all of the science courses you take will be 99% irrelevant because medical school will cover all of the science material that is relevant to a physician. period.

 

[HolyGrail]

I agree with the above poster, I double majored in science, and I found my social sciences/literature classes to be a lot more interesting.

Mine was a case of Yi Fu Tuan's "Cosmos vs. Hearth", too much cosmos, not enough hearth.

I'd encourage you to major elsewhere, unless you're extremely interested elsewhere, enjoy your undergrad, it's only a hoop, it's not even that important. The MCAT is important, good grades are important, so do what you're best at!

By the way, don't become a Chemistry major, it's way more work than Biology... I know, I did both.

 

[Perrotfish]

I still think that you should choose a major that leads to a job you enjoy, rather than just a major you enjoy. Most premeds don't end up in medical school, and if you end up being one of them it would suck to have a major in history of the Simpsons, or whatever.

Also Biology manages to be the worst of both worlds, IMO.

 

[RySerr21]

I still think that you should choose a major that leads to a job you enjoy, rather than just a major you enjoy. Most premeds don't end up in medical school, and if you end up being one of them it would suck to have a major in history of the Simpsons, or whatever.

Also Biology manages to be the worst of both worlds, IMO.

Just as most pre meds don't end up in med school, a lot of people don't end up at a job/career that is directly related to their major. In addition, any undergraduate major is pretty much useless, it seems more and more you need some form of higher education (masters, phd, etc).

 

[roseglass6370]

MAJOR DOES NOT MATTER.

Proof:
The major with the highest percentage of it's students accepted into med-school is (I'm not making this up)...THEATRE.

Note: That's not saying that the highest percentage of students in med-school majored in theatre (obviously not)...it's just the major that has the highest "success rate" with getting it's students into med school. Weirrrrrd.

 

[CHAINCHOMPER]

If you have no interest in anything academically, but wanna be a pre-med, then do bio or chem, since it can link to all of the health fields and courses.

I can't believe people are puzzled as to why everyone picks bio. It is easy in my opinion: Medicine links to biology, so people wanna take bio major so that they can figure out if they really like the stuff. If they don't, then they can switch majors and career and take 2-3 extra years. No problem, that just means more party time.