How Med Schools View Double Majors

[NonNocere2015]

Hello all, first post here!

I am wondering how med schools view double majors, compared to a major + minor. Do they prefer a second major since it has more coursework? Or do they not care? Do they view two majors as more rigorous than a major + minor?

I am currently a Nutrition (BS) and Linguistics (BA) with a minor in chemistry. I liked my linguistics major because it gave me a well-rounded social science background. But now I am considering swapping my linguistics major for a biology minor, because I'm not too interested in the remainder of the linguistics classes, and I feel that taking more biology classes will better prepare me for the MCAT and give me more opportunity to find LOR's from science profs.

Thoughts?

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[TriagePreMed]

They don't care. It's just more work for no return.

 

[Aerus]

There is absolutely no benefit in terms of how admissions view this. They want you to excel in whatever you're doing whether it's only one major or a triple major with a double minor. It's the same -- do extremely well in your classes and get a high GPA.

 

[Ismet]

OP, just do whatever you think will work best for you and don't worry about how adcoms will view double major vs. major + minor, because in the big scheme of things, it doesn't matter. Taking the bio classes can help to boost science GPA and will definitely help for the MCAT. Just do well in bio!

There is absolutely no benefit in terms of how admissions view this.

Disagree. Depending on the school and the major(s) you're in, it can be pretty impressive to pull off a double/triple major with a high GPA. It shows that you can handle a higher work load and that you would probably pose less of an academic risk. I definitely agree that it's not a huge factor, and it's not something to compensate for a lower GPA, but double/triple majoring is also not a non-factor.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Disagree. Depending on the school and the major(s) you're in, it can be pretty impressive to pull off a double/triple major with a high GPA. It shows that you can handle a higher work load and that you would probably pose less of an academic risk. I definitely agree that it's not a huge factor, and it's not something to compensate for a lower GPA, but double/triple majoring is also not a non-factor.

It has been shown through data directly from AAMC that no major has a competitive edge over any other major for medical school admissions except health science majors that seem to have a slightly lower admission rate. Double and triple major are useless.

 

[pre med 2014]

As a double major myself I will say in general it is 'useless' to do both and the only reason I did both is because I discovered my desired career path late in the game after basically being done with my first major.

That being said depending on what the two majors are it can be impressive.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Medical schools won't really care but I would do it if it is a passion of yours.

 

[Ismet]

It has been shown through data directly from AAMC that no major has a competitive edge over any other major for medical school admissions except health science majors that seem to have a slightly lower admission rate. Double and triple major are useless.

Right, that data is referring to one major vs another, like there's no edge in majoring in biology vs. majoring in history. That has nothing to do with double or triple majoring.

Hypothetically, if someone is a double major in molecular biology and neuroscience from Harvard with a 4.0, adcoms will see that and think "hey, this person can really handle a heavy workload." That's it. Not a huge benefit, but it's not like they completely don't care either. There are so many pieces of the admissions puzzle that are more important than this, so yes, it ends up not really mattering what you do, but my statement was in response to the person who said that there is absolutely zero benefit to double majoring.

 

[gyngyn]

We have absolutely no preference.

 

[Barcu]

There is absolutely no benefit in terms of how admissions view this.

I think a language as a second major is actually a benefit. For me, my second major was Spanish. Sure, I had a chance to work in a health clinic using my Spanish (which was probably what attracted adcoms the most), but doing the actual major showed that I was actually interested in learning the language (and at least had some competence).

 

[gyngyn]

I think a language as a second major is actually a benefit. For me, my second major was Spanish. Sure, I had a chance to work in a health clinic using my Spanish (which was probably what attracted adcoms the most), but doing the actual major showed that I was actually interested in learning the language (and at least had some competence).

The ability to speak Spanish is the most useful EC.

 

[sfwtboy]

Actually just as a counter point, my second major in Classical Civilizations has come up at all 3 of the interviews I've had so far. Interviewers seem really interested in why I'm pursuing a humanities major in addition to science. Don't know how much it helped overall, but it has at least peaked interest!

 

[gyngyn]

Actually just as a counter point, my second major in Classical Civilizations has come up at all 3 of the interviews I've had so far. Interviewers seem really interested in why I'm pursuing a humanities major in addition to science. Don't know how much it helped overall, but it has at least peaked interest!

We do care about your interests. They do not have to manifest themselves as majors, however.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Right, that data is referring to one major vs another, like there's no edge in majoring in biology vs. majoring in history. That has nothing to do with double or triple majoring.

Hypothetically, if someone is a double major in molecular biology and neuroscience from Harvard with a 4.0, adcoms will see that and think "hey, this person can really handle a heavy workload." That's it. Not a huge benefit, but it's not like they completely don't care either. There are so many pieces of the admissions puzzle that are more important than this, so yes, it ends up not really mattering what you do, but my statement was in response to the person who said that there is absolutely zero benefit to double majoring.

That's guesswork on your part. You can still take hard classes (harder than a double major) and not be awarded a second major or minor.

 

[SN12357]

That's guesswork on your part. You can still take hard classes (harder than a double major) and not be awarded a second major or minor.

That's not at all her point. Appearances matter in this game, and having an official double major can be a small positive is all she's saying. An adcom member is probably going to at least note your major(s). They less likely to scrutinize your coursework.

It doesn't matter enough to go out of your way to do it, but if someone wants to study two fields in depth anyway it's worth filling out the paperwork.

 

[Ismet]

That's guesswork on your part. You can still take hard classes (harder than a double major) and not be awarded a second major or minor.

No, I'm not guessing. I have some experience in admissions and I'm not saying these things based on my personal opinion. And yes, you are right about the coursework, but adcoms can review the coursework and comment on that as well if there is something particularly impressive.

...having an official double major can be a small positive....It doesn't matter enough to go out of your way to do it.

This is basically what I'm trying to get at. It's absolutely not going to be a game-changer and with all the other factors in an admissions decision, it's pretty insignificant, but I still maintain that these things are noticed.

 

[TriagePreMed]

That's not at all her point. Appearances matter in this game, and having an official double major can be a small positive is all she's saying. An adcom member is probably going to at least note your major(s). They less likely to scrutinize your coursework.

It doesn't matter enough to go out of your way to do it, but if someone wants to study two fields in depth anyway it's worth filling out the paperwork.

Again, this argument doesn't make sense. We know that when majors are compared, all majors do similarly in admissions. If appearances mattered as you say, we'd find an edge for physics, engineering and other fields that are considered "hard." Instead what we find is that a communications major has the same chances as a biomedical engineer, so appearances are not important.

No, I'm not guessing. I have some experience in admissions and I'm not saying these things based on my personal opinion. And yes, you are right about the coursework, but adcoms can review the coursework and comment on that as well if there is something particularly impressive.

What exactly is some experience? Again, majors like chemical engineering or aeronautics are impressive, yet they don't hold a higher acceptance rate. Instead, we are supposed to believe a liberal arts with a double major in education is going to have a slight positive to biochemical engineering single major?

 

[Goro]

We don't care about major, minor or having more than one. What we care about is how well you do.

I am wondering how med schools view double majors, compared to a major + minor. Do they prefer a second major since it has more coursework? Or do they not care? Do they view two majors as more rigorous than a major + minor?

I am currently a Nutrition (BS) and Linguistics (BA) with a minor in chemistry. I liked my linguistics major because it gave me a well-rounded social science background. But now I am considering swapping my linguistics major for a biology minor, because I'm not too interested in the remainder of the linguistics classes, and I feel that taking more biology classes will better prepare me for the MCAT and give me more opportunity to find LOR's from science profs.

Thoughts?

Ahh, the voice of ignorance. We ALWAYS look at coursework, and how you do in them. For example, I'm less impressed by ecology coursework, than by, say, microbio coursework.

"Appearances matter in this game, and having an official double major can be a small positive is all she's saying. An adcom member is probably going to at least note your major(s). They less likely to scrutinize your coursework."

 

[Ismet]

What exactly is some experience?

Sent you a PM

 

[Aerus]

Disagree. Depending on the school and the major(s) you're in, it can be pretty impressive to pull off a double/triple major with a high GPA. It shows that you can handle a higher work load and that you would probably pose less of an academic risk. I definitely agree that it's not a huge factor, and it's not something to compensate for a lower GPA, but double/triple majoring is also not a non-factor.

Double majoring shouldn't affect the difficulty to maintain a high GPA if you plan ahead and avoid making stupid decisions. I'm minoring and all it's doing is forcing me to graduate in 4 years instead of 3. I think majoring in electrical engineering as a single major is far more difficult than a double major of molecular biology and neuroscience. (I'm a neuroscience major, friend was mol bio, and other friend is EE)

All I'm saying is that when reviewing one app with another, the double major isn't going to do anything to factor into their decision. It's something that can be discussed in an interview but you can have a good conversation on just about anything else as well. This isn't my own speculation either. I've talked with adcom members in the past before. Maybe your adcom was the exception, not the norm?


Plus we have posts from two adcoms here:

We have absolutely no preference.

We don't care about major, minor or having more than one. What we care about is how well you do.

 

[pre med 2014]

Actually just as a counter point, my second major in Classical Civilizations has come up at all 3 of the interviews I've had so far. Interviewers seem really interested in why I'm pursuing a humanities major in addition to science. Don't know how much it helped overall, but it has at least peaked interest!

That's because there's not a lot of science involved in medicine. They want to know you're well rounded

 

[Gauss44]

Response to question in title: Last time I checked they didn't give a r*t's a**. It's too bad if you ask me. Double majors increase diversity of minds. While I like medicine, it's not all I care about. I hope to have classmates who can carry on intelligent conversations about all kinds of stuff outside of medicine. One of the things I loved most about undergrad were all the little strange expertise my classmates had in this and that. I definitely think majors are a source of unique talent and demonstrated level of competency.