How managab;le is a double major in English Literature and Spanish Foreign Language with Pre-Med?

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litdoc27

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I'm currently taking my general requirements at a junior college and plan to transfer to university in a year. I love reading and am passionate about literature, but I also would really like to learn Spanish and study abroad. I honestly don't think I can choose just either of them, but if I have to I'll probably just minor in one of them. But I'm curious as to whether or not this is often done. I also like the idea of studying both English and Spanish to better compare and contrast the two, and since my main goal is medical school....and I will be dedicated my entire life to science and medicine as a doctor, I want to take my undergraduate years to learn something I might never get the chance to full focus on again, but I don't know if these two interests will completely overload me or not.

Is this a manageable course load? Will a Spanish major really help me actually learn the language fluently? Is it worth it?

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With the new requirements for the new MCAT it may be a little much but entirely possible. People double major all the time. It's much easier with a humanities major. Majoring in Spanish doesn't guarantee fluency. In fact, I hear a lot from the Spanish majors at my college and previous college that majoring in Spanish is not an effective way to gain fluency because they focus on all aspects e.g. reading/writing/speaking. The commitments at the two schools I've been to, as far as the language classes, are kind of meek. The work for your English and Spanish classes will be minor compared to your sciences classes.

It may be difficult to study abroad as well due to the progression of the chem series, 1 yr chem->1yr ochem-> biochem. Some schools you can knock that out in 2 years but others you have to wait until you finish ochem.
Your schedule for your premed classes will probably look like
Year 1: physics, chem, bio Year 2: ochem (maybe physics) Year 3: biochem, MCAT
Sprinkle in the new requirements and you got all of the premed requirements filled. You'll be able to study abroad year 3.
If your sole goal is to be fluent in Spanish then majoring in Spanish is not worth it. I would say if you want to stay in the field of biology/medicine if medical school doesn't work out then I would not major in either of those. If that's true pick something that is more flexible.
 
Don't double major. Just major in one of them and take as many classes as possible of the other as time permits. That way, your schedule can be a lot more flexible while maintaining all the benefits of the double major that matter to you. Unless there are specific classes that are major only, I doubt you will ever NEED to double major.
 
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I double majored in English and Biochem and it was awesome. One thing to consider is that as a non science major, you should try to take some upper level science courses and you have a very little buffer if you get a B or two in a science course it will knock your sGPA. Two lit based majors plus premed is just a TON of reading. If you can handle that go for it!

Definitely make sure your schedule can be worked out. It's also worth making a schedule so that if you can't get all the courses for the Spanish major that you can get the minor as a backup plan. I would imagine it would be just as good to volunteer at a spanish speaking free clinic or something than major in it and read Borges in Spanish.
 
Impossible - but that's just me
 
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