Good Pre-Med Major

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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aiLoveJuh

aiLoveJuh

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Hi, I recently spoke with a pediatrician that I am friends with regarding what major to select as a pre-med, she stated that she thought it would look good to major in something other than biology. I am wondering what major you all think would be a good one to select?
Thanks in advance.
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The one you are intereted in.

And you will hear the same opinion from 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 of SDN members.
 
if you like science in general, i've always felt (a bit biased here) that the chem major is the best way to get a good fundamental education, great mcat prep (after p chem the whole gen chem thing will be of NO concern), and good research opportunities
 
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in my opinion major in something that interests you...
if your into science, do chem or physic not bio
 
women's, gender, and sexuality major
 
BestDoctorEver said:
Nursing...
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lol. I hope you're kidding.

This is the only bad answer. Really.

Basically, more academic subjects are generally better a vocational looks bad. Nursing (and other allied health) looks bad due to taking up a place in a program putting out nurses (or other important health workers) as well as the lack of rigorous coursework.

Sciences are a fine choice as are liberal arts majors. Go with something you enjoy and stay away from vocational fields.
 
Thanks, all of your replies were helpful.
 
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physiology ftw!

but seriously, major in what you're interested in. I've found that if you like your major, you'll be more inclined to want to study.
 
I'm gonna be the devil's advocate here and say that in SOME schools, a science major may be preferred over a non-science major. It's up to you whether you take my word on SDN at face value, but having looked through the stats and majors of accepted students at top Cali med schools, virtually every single student had a bio, biochem, molecular bio, physics, chem, etc. major. And there are a lot of high GPA non-science pre-med majors out there, but no such love...so what happened?

How did I get a sneak peak at such data? Can't tell ; )

And no, I'm not trolling...no I didn't see their names, and no their ethnicities were not mentioned...

Also, I wrote "SOME" schools. Some schools may prefer it the other way around. Some might not care either way.
 
apumic said:
lol. I hope you're kidding.

This is the only bad answer. Really.

Basically, more academic subjects are generally better a vocational looks bad. Nursing (and other allied health) looks bad due to taking up a place in a program putting out nurses (or other important health workers) as well as the lack of rigorous coursework.

Sciences are a fine choice as are liberal arts majors. Go with something you enjoy and stay away from vocational fields.
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Sciences are liberal arts majors.
 
I highly recommend majoring in something in the humanities. Schools are putting more and more emphasis of "well-roundedness" these days, largely as a consequence of the physician-patient relationship and physician burn-out being such hot topics in medical education these days. Find a subject which interests you and will make you a better thinker, a better people person, capable of self-reflection, etc. These are are skills which are absolutely critical in medicine but largely get glossed over in your training. They make you a more interesting and memorable interview when you're trying to get into med school. Bio/chem/biochem majors with good GPAs and good MCATs are a dime a dozen these days. You'll get all the sciences you need in your pre-req classes. If you're so scared of not having a science major, you can always double-major.

I was a Philosophy and Biology double major, FWIW.
 
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apumic said:
lol. I hope you're kidding.

This is the only bad answer. Really.

Basically, more academic subjects are generally better a vocational looks bad. Nursing (and other allied health) looks bad due to taking up a place in a program putting out nurses (or other important health workers) as well as the lack of rigorous coursework.

Sciences are a fine choice as are liberal arts majors. Go with something you enjoy and stay away from vocational fields.
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i take exception to this.
 
Depends on who you ask, there is no "best" answer.

I think you should major in chemistry. Why? I'm in chemistry.
 
Music! :love:

I keep telling people I'm considering a music major and they keep telling me, "you should do something in science if you want to go to med school." Their ignorance makes me want to barf...
 
bleargh said:
i take exception to this.
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Me too. From what I have seen, being a nursing major is no walk in the park. I would say this is a bad choice for other reasons as well.
 
vasca said:
Major in something that will give you a job you don't hate (and getting a job period) if you never enter med school.
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+1:thumbup: Kind of a tricky decision to make in this economy though- excluding engineering/math/cs majors. Like tennisball said, major in what YOU are interested in - not what you think will look neat or interesting to the adcoms; they have seen it all.
 
tennisball80 said:
The one you are intereted in.

And you will hear the same opinion from 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 of SDN members.
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QTF, Whatever you'd like just gotta take the Pre-reqs (Gen Chem, Bio, O.Chem. and Physics)
 
chman said:
Me too. From what I have seen, being a nursing major is no walk in the park. I would say this is a bad choice for other reasons as well.
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I agree. I have never seen nursing as an easy major. At my UG, it was extremely intense; however, I have heard this view expressed by adcom members themselves. Apparently, many feel that those majors are not "rigorous." I don't agree personally; however, the OP asked this question in terms of what med school adcoms want to see and many do not view health science coursework as rigorous. In some sense, I suppose I can see their pt in terms of the underlying sciences being very basic (i.e., many nursing majors only require 2 semesters of intro chem -- like the non-science major chem that covers gen chem 1 over 2 semesters -- and no ochem, biochem, etc.). Most of what makes those programs so intense are the clinical req'ts.
 
apumic said:
I agree. I have never seen nursing as an easy major. At my UG, it was extremely intense; however, I have heard this view expressed by adcom members themselves. Apparently, many feel that those majors are not "rigorous." I don't agree personally; however, the OP asked this question in terms of what med school adcoms want to see and many do not view health science coursework as rigorous. In some sense, I suppose I can see their pt in terms of the underlying sciences being very basic (i.e., many nursing majors only require 2 semesters of intro chem -- like the non-science major chem that covers gen chem 1 over 2 semesters -- and no ochem, biochem, etc.). Most of what makes those programs so intense are the clinical req'ts.
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They don't take as many hard science courses. However, it is difficult because of other classes, the sheer amount of material, clinicals, etc. It would be a bad choice for pre-med because one would have no room in their schedule for the pre-reqs and adcoms would also question why one would go to nursing school if one does not want to be a nurse.

EDIT: Of course going to nursing school, working for a few years, then deciding that you want to go to med school is a bit different. That makes a little more sense.
 
I posted this in another thread, but here is a breakdown of how majors do on med school apps at UC-Denver:
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...aRWKfK7P0VqmWg

50.5% of nonscience applicants were accepted vs. 44.9% of bio majors. I would guess p>0.5, although n is quite large (>20,000 students)....
The one group truly at a disadvantage according to these data are health science majors at 28.4%. The strongest applicants here were the mixed disciplines (i.e., double majors in science and humanities) with 52.4% gaining admittance.

By these data:

Interdisciplinary Double Major (science & non-science -- 52.4%) > Physical Sciences (incl. math -- 50.9%) ≥ Non-science Major/Bx Science Major (50.5%) > Biology Major (44.9%) >> Health Professions/Allied Health Majors (28.4%)
 
apumic said:
I agree. I have never seen nursing as an easy major. At my UG, it was extremely intense; however, I have heard this view expressed by adcom members themselves. Apparently, many feel that those majors are not "rigorous." I don't agree personally; however, the OP asked this question in terms of what med school adcoms want to see and many do not view health science coursework as rigorous. In some sense, I suppose I can see their pt in terms of the underlying sciences being very basic (i.e., many nursing majors only require 2 semesters of intro chem -- like the non-science major chem that covers gen chem 1 over 2 semesters -- and no ochem, biochem, etc.). Most of what makes those programs so intense are the clinical req'ts.
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Wait, do adcoms consider the 'rigor' of your major? I thought the most important thing (like posted above) was to do something you're interested in and get a high GPA (irregardless of your major).
 
bleargh said:
if you like science in general, i've always felt (a bit biased here) that the chem major is the best way to get a good fundamental education, great mcat prep (after p chem the whole gen chem thing will be of NO concern), and good research opportunities
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Amen to this, given that you've taken Pchem by the time you're taking the MCAT, of course. The critical thinking in that class and just seeing funky, complicated equations made any equation encountered on the MCAT seem much more approachable.

nuneyah said:
Music! :love:

I keep telling people I'm considering a music major and they keep telling me, "you should do something in science if you want to go to med school." Their ignorance makes me want to barf...
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I know a pre-med music major. She's damn busy, balancing med school prereqs and practicing/rehearsals/concerts/recitals/small ensemble, but doing quite well, I think. The only issue I have with music majors who are also pre-med is that music majors are head-over-heels in love with music and they breathe music every moment of their lives. Med school and beyond, though, would not allow them to enjoy music at the same intensity as before, and that, to me, is really sad.
 
So what about those if us who ARE genuinely interested in biological science above all else? On one hand I don't want to be seen as a run-of-the-mill premed yet I don't wanna major in something else only to stand out as unique. Any recommendations for those of us in a situation like this?
 
CaliGirl14 said:
Wait, do adcoms consider the 'rigor' of your major? I thought the most important thing (like posted above) was to do something you're interested in and get a high GPA (irregardless of your major).
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Yes and no. For the most part no, but apparently some majors are sort of "frowned" upon (to use a WAY overused SDN cliche). Getting a high GPA is most important but the data repeatedly show that health sciences majors tend to do poorly. Some adcoms have said this is due to "a lack of rigor in their coursework." I suppose it is viewed as relatively easy (on the sciences) w/o adding much in terms of diversity (i.e., it may be felt that such majors basically already did a dumbed down version of what they are applying to do in med school so they really have nothing special to add to a class) but that's just a guess as to what is meant by those statements.


FloatOn said:
I know a pre-med music major. She's damn busy, balancing med school prereqs and practicing/rehearsals/concerts/recitals/small ensemble, but doing quite well, I think. The only issue I have with music majors who are also pre-med is that music majors are head-over-heels in love with music and they breathe music every moment of their lives. Med school and beyond, though, would not allow them to enjoy music at the same intensity as before, and that, to me, is really sad.
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We'll manage, somehow! Honestly, I've set music aside a bit in pursuit of medicine (even though I continue to practice and play -- I just don't perform nearly as much) and while I miss it at times, medicine is where my heart is. Music majors live and breathe music while in school but we can manage to take a break while in med school! haha. It's all about what you love. You'll find a way to still play while in med school (even if that means practicing instead of sleeping -- oh wait a second, I forgot, that's what we did while in UG! 2 hrs/day practicing + 10 hrs/day studying + 5 hrs/day class + 1 hr/night w/ friends + 2 hrs/day eating + 4 hrs/night sleeping = 24 hrs -- wait, who needs sleep, anyway? make that 4 hrs time spent at the bar and/or exercising)
 
MichaelRW said:
So what about those if us who ARE genuinely interested in biological science above all else? On one hand I don't want to be seen as a run-of-the-mill premed yet I don't wanna major in something else only to stand out as unique. Any recommendations for those of us in a situation like this?
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Then major in bio. Yes, you ARE going to be the "run of the mill premed" but so what. Study what interests you.
 
Double major, if possible. A biology/philosophy major is no worse than a philosophy major alone.
 
apumic said:
Then major in bio. Yes, you ARE going to be the "run of the mill premed" but so what. Study what interests you.
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Yes, if you love bio then major in it. You could add an interesting minor, such as philosophy, to make you more diverse.
 
MichaelRW said:
So what about those if us who ARE genuinely interested in biological science above all else? On one hand I don't want to be seen as a run-of-the-mill premed yet I don't wanna major in something else only to stand out as unique. Any recommendations for those of us in a situation like this?
Click to expand...


if you actually like bio, then do biology...
i personally am against bio degree's because if you fail to get into medical school your stuck with a degree thats difficult to do much with except have a entry level job. however bio will prep you well for medicine, if you also take some physiology courses you'll be in good shape.
 
Chemistry or physics. Why? Because they're cool.
 
i'll just say
major in psychology.. why? because im majoring in psych.. and its fun.. and useful when dealing with ppl
 
I was entertaining the prospect of majoring in biological science with a minor in the humanities. This should be sufficient. I'm thinking a double major may overload and run the risk of lowering my gpa. Plus, I do enjoy the humanities just not NEARLY as much as bio sci
 
At my uni, I'd say 40% of premeds are biochem, 40% biology, 10% neuroscience (new major, pretty much biology), and 10% rest. So do something other than the first three, unless you really like them for some reason. BTW Biochem (or bio) is definitely the "easy" way to med school in terms of being able to straight bang out the prereq's plus get tons of electives. (at least here)
 
apumic said:
Yes and no. For the most part no, but apparently some majors are sort of "frowned" upon (to use a WAY overused SDN cliche). Getting a high GPA is most important but the data repeatedly show that health sciences majors tend to do poorly. Some adcoms have said this is due to "a lack of rigor in their coursework." I suppose it is viewed as relatively easy (on the sciences) w/o adding much in terms of diversity (i.e., it may be felt that such majors basically already did a dumbed down version of what they are applying to do in med school so they really have nothing special to add to a class) but that's just a guess as to what is meant by those statements.
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Would you consider Environmental Science a 'frowned' upon major?
 
aiLoveJuh said:
Hi, I recently spoke with a pediatrician that I am friends with regarding what major to select as a pre-med, she stated that she thought it would look good to major in something other than biology. I am wondering what major you all think would be a good one to select?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I did psychology but if I went to Oxford I would've done their PPE degree (Philosophy, Politics, Economics).

I think neuroscience is up, history, philosophy, definitely NOT biology.

biochem is also fun/useful.
 
No major is "frowned" upon (with the exception of maybe a "pre-med" major). Similarly, no major will set you apart all that much. Even if you major in something rather outlandish, it's still an offered major at a university...I'm sure they've seen it before. The best thing to do to "set yourself apart" is to have unique life experiences and ECs. That's the one major area you can really be a unique applicant. Any benefit you'd have from a non-science major would be minimal, at best.
 
Engineering. Makes it easier to stand out. Works as a good backup plan if needed.
 
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