Help! Double major in psych/biology to get into med school?

[xEricax]

I'm a 21 yr old undergrad majoring in psych with the intention of getting a MSW. But now I'm considering going into the psychiatry field. If I added a biology major, would that make me competitive enough to get into medical school? Could I just minor in bio and keep my psych major. What other qualifications do I need to get into med school? Please help, I need to make a decision by september. Thanks in advance!

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[NYCMS2]

Major in what makes you happy, and earns you the best grades. Med schools don't care too much about double majors, and minors, and such.

I majored in lib arts, and took the science pre reqs in a post bacc.

There is plenty of info on the Pre-Allo website regarding getting into med school. This is not the best forum for those questions.

Good luck.

 

[tobi44]

I'm a 21 yr old undergrad majoring in psych with the intention of getting a MSW. But now I'm considering going into the psychiatry field. If I added a biology major, would that make me competitive enough to get into medical school? Could I just minor in bio and keep my psych major. What other qualifications do I need to get into med school? Please help, I need to make a decision by september. Thanks in advance!

Copy/pasted from the internet:

The commonly accepted coursework requirements for medical school include a minimum of 1 year of:

General biology
Physics with lab
General chemistry (inorganic chemistry) with lab
Organic chemistry with lab
Calculus
English
Some schools have Sociology, humanities or Psychology requirements

As the above poster mentioned, you only need to do the requirements. A lot of people just do a bio major because there is so much overlap in coursework but you don't have to. I double majored in humanities and bio and got into med school. I don't think your major matters as much as your cumulative GPA, science GPA (GPA that only includes your science requirements), and MCAT. If all these are strong then you have your foot in the door of medical school. If you really want to stand out then do some solid research and volunteering too. I would say save yourself the headache of double majoring, its not worth it. Pick one and try your best to do well in it.

For specific GPA/MCAT numbers take a look at the link.

https://www.aamc.org/download/270906/data/table24-mcatgpagridall0911.pdf

 

[F0nzie]

My wife majored in Psychology and minored in Spanish. Talk to your school counselor to get all your basic science requirements in. As mentioned above, GPA + MCAT scores are a top priority. Try to supplement with research and volunteering to stand out from the crowd. See if you can shadow a physician or work as a scribe to get some experience and increase your contacts.

 

[surftheiop]

Also, tons if premeds fall into the trap of, I need to impress them seeing as Im not bio major so "I'll take X hard class, or take 23 credits/semester" thinking that adcoms will appreciate the hard work. In reality its much better to take 12 credits of super easy classes a semester and make A's than to take 20 credits of physical chemistry and biophysics and make B's.

Several of my interviewers were really impressed by my upward trend in grades, so I didnt go out of my way to point out the fact this was because I was now taking 1 or 2 less classes a semester than previously or that taking 100 level elective classes as a senior makes getting an A pretty simple 😀

 

[JESSFALLING]

I spent a lot of time researching your question and came to the same conclusion as everyone above: your major doesn't matter! So, if you enjoy your psychology major, please rest assured that it will be sufficient for medical school admissions (assuming you do well in it and in the prereq courses). Be aware that a few schools also require biochemistry and/or genetics, so you may also want to add these to your list of prereqs. USC requires cell/molecular biology, which you'll need if you want to apply there. Physiology seems to be the best elective course to help boost MCAT scores (biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics are also reportably helpful), so consider it if you have time (otherwise, you can just self-study the material needed for the MCAT from review books). Other courses like histology, immunology and microbiology may be slightly helpful on the MCAT and may ease some of the learning burden in medical school...but the amount of help is likely minimal...so don't take them if you don't have time or don't want to. Finally, re-rest assured that psychology is a great premed major. In fact, the new (2015) MCAT is going to have 1/4 of the questions drawn from the social and psychological sciences.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

... Finally, re-rest assured that psychology is a great premed major. In fact, the new (2015) MCAT is going to have 1/4 of the questions drawn from the social and psychological sciences.

...especially if you can load it up with behavioral neuroscience type courses.

 

[whopper]

Major doesn't matter but several medstudents have already taken some classes that are taught in medical school at warp speed. Having already taken those classes ahead of time will prep you up a bit.

But I wouldn't make premed about taking every single class in medschool. You need to broaden your horizons.

 

[cleareyedguy]

To put it slightly differently. Admissions care about your major but only if YOU care about it. You can study poetry if you can also make an A in organic and demonstrate devotion to servcie, but we are just as interested in someone who is inspired to do medicine because of a fascination with physiology. Don't be embarrassed about wanting to major in chemistry, but also don't shy away from majoring in math if that floats your boat.

I would say, however, that prelaw and prebusiness majors may be viewed less positively, so if you do want to major in accounting, marketing, econ, poli sci, etc, be ready for a certain amount of unspoken skepticism from the MD's.

 

[Bartelby]

Others have already let you know about the requirements for med school and the relative unimportance of which major you choose. Just chiming in to tell you that I was a psych major who took the requirements (no double major) and I had no problem getting in with that. If you like psych and that will lead to a standout performance (good grades, good rec letters, good awards/accomplishments) I think you will be better off just doing the psych major and forgetting about taking "impressive" courses for med school.

By the way, I don't think any admissions committee is impressed by a bio major anyway. It's extremely common for those applying to medical school. I think something like anthropology or English literature or the psychology is more interesting to your interviewers anyhow!

 

[illegallysmooth]

I was a bio and psych major. Couldn't have mattered less.

 

[xEricax]

thanks everybody for the input. i'll just keep my psych major.

 

[nancysinatra]

To put it slightly differently. Admissions care about your major but only if YOU care about it. You can study poetry if you can also make an A in organic and demonstrate devotion to servcie, but we are just as interested in someone who is inspired to do medicine because of a fascination with physiology. Don't be embarrassed about wanting to major in chemistry, but also don't shy away from majoring in math if that floats your boat.

I would say, however, that prelaw and prebusiness majors may be viewed less positively, so if you do want to major in accounting, marketing, econ, poli sci, etc, be ready for a certain amount of unspoken skepticism from the MD's.

Econ and poli sci are not at all like accounting, marketing, pre-business or pre-law. You're out of touch and unaware of how rigorous they are at some schools if that's what you believe. If you're extra "skeptical" of such graduates with all other things being equal, than it's your loss not theirs.