Good majors for pre-med?

[nysegop]

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The university I will be attending doesn't offer a pre-med major, but they do have a pre-med option which will allow you to take pre-med classes and assist you in getting into med school. My question is, what are some majors that would be good for getting into med school? I hear that it's actually bad to major in biology or chemistry since med schools look for diversity. Is this true?

Here are some majors I have considered (yes, I am a very diverse person):
Computer Science
Biology
Business Administration - Finance
Psychology
History
English
Some sort of language (probably Spanish)


What do you suggest?

 

[QuizzicalApe]

the concept of a pre-med major has always struck me as stupid

the best major for med school is literally anything you can get a good GPA in while taking the necessary prereqs

go get 'em tiger

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

I have majored in psychology and it isn't too much of a struggle. However I sometimes wish I majored or double majored in biology so as to have a better background in it. But do what you like and what comes easy to you. Enjoy college and don't worry about what is the "best".

 

[LaEsponja]

I just recently had this discussion with my uncle who was on an admissions committee for 15 years. A science major is by no means a "bad" choice for pre-med, but diverse backgrounds can catch the eye. I am majoring in Spanish with a concentration in language and International Business, and I'm actually quite thrilled with my courses. Just make sure that you get great grades regardless of the major, have volunteer/ shadowing hours, and some good ECs. Good luck!

 

[PMPMD]

NOT engineering. Learned that the hard way.

 

[Narmerguy]

You'll probably find much more information than you'll receive in this thread if you use the search function. This is a common question of concern.

 

[druggeek]

Whatever you can do best in.

 

[aSagacious]

Moving to hSDN.

 

[lacrosse87]

NOT engineering. Learned that the hard way.

Completely agree. NOT engineering. Sure, it might interest you and be helpful towards building a good work ethic and thinking quantitatively. But when **** comes to shove, none of that really matters if your GPA is holding you back from getting that golden acceptance and applying it as a working doc.

Being average in your class while competing against Ivy League engineering kids may seem like an accomplishment, but when classes are curved to B+/C-, you're screwed for med school admissions. Plus, the extra post-bac years spent salvaging your GPA taking "upper-div" classes are expensive in terms of tuition, opportunity cost, and your sanity.

Make your life easier. Adcoms want diversity + high GPA's? Major in underwater basketweaving, take the bare minimum premed prereq's, get a high GPA, and get your acceptance. You have to play the game for the acceptance.

Totally lost once you finally get into med school and feel swamped with the work? Think you may have been more prepared by taking a vigorous course of study as an undergrad? Well, at least you got in! You can thank admissions committee's for not weighting the difficulty of major properly, if at all.

Of course, it all comes back the the damn US News Report and all of the sniveling prestige-***** undergrads that use it as if it were the Bible/Koran/Torah/flying spaggeti monster pamphlet/Book of Mormon/Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health by L Ron Hubbard/etc etc (example dependant upon the faith of given prestige-***** undergrad, of course). And with each school's rank (aka "prestige," whatever that means) largely dependant upon the average GPA of it's matriculants, it's no wonder that an Engineering major's gpa of x.y is less competitive than an Underwater Basketweaving's gpa of x.y + 0.1.

Okay, I'm just starting to ramble now. End rant 🙂

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Eh do a liberal arts major and cut half of the BS requirements out of your biology major. Like the bio major at my unversity has so many asinine lower level requirements that absolutely tank student's grades.

 

[Docsted]

I recommend a degree in business, preferably a technical aspect like accounting or finance. I feel this has really rounded me out. I got my degree in accountancy and haven't looked back.

 

[nysegop]

Whoa, my father is on the pre-med board at my state school, he told me that it's better to graduate with a 3.8 in Biology than a 3.8 in Business Administration as med schools will know which is harder (bio). He also said that it isn't true that med schools prefer perspective students with different majors. Why is everyone saying they don't like biology majors?

 

[StraightShooter]

I recommend a degree in business, preferably a technical aspect like accounting or finance. I feel this has really rounded me out. I got my degree in accountancy and haven't looked back.

How was this viewed by med schools? What did the interviewers say?

 

[LaEsponja]

Whoa, my father is on the pre-med board at my state school, he told me that it's better to graduate with a 3.8 in Biology than a 3.8 in Business Administration as med schools will know which is harder (bio). He also said that it isn't true that med schools prefer perspective students with different majors. Why is everyone saying they don't like biology majors?

Perhaps it varies from one institution to another, because my source says very differently. I think saying medschools "prefer" one major to another is misguided, but that having a major other than Biology doesn't hurt your chances and may even catch an eye simply because it's different. Regardless of the major, if you aren't involved in the community and/or have some sort of medical experience (vol/shadowing) then you can pretty much kiss any chance goodbye.

 

[Docsted]

Whoa, my father is on the pre-med board at my state school, he told me that it's better to graduate with a 3.8 in Biology than a 3.8 in Business Administration as med schools will know which is harder (bio). He also said that it isn't true that med schools prefer perspective students with different majors. Why is everyone saying they don't like biology majors?

When you get to college and take an intro accounting course you may think otherwise. Although business management has a reputation for being easy, the more technical majors like accounting and finance do not. Try taking an upper level corporate tax or audit class and mix in ochem and physics, not an easy route. Every interview I had I was able to talk about how my experience in business will translate well into a career in healthcare. Your number one priority is grades, your second is standing out.

 

[nysegop]

So I guess the consensus is major in whatever you want? But do all pre-med required courses.