I am still a senior in high school, but I have just applied for college as a history major. If I want to go to med school how will I be able to finish my prerequisites in time?
how to complete prerequisites as a history major
- Thread starter janechen
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It'll be no problem at all. Surprisingly, majors can be as little as 30-45 units (Science and Engineering are typically more). GE is around 30 more units. That leaves 45-60 units for you to do whatever you want: a second major, a minor, prerequisites for grad school, etc.
As long as you take: General Bio 1 and 2, Chemistry 1 and 2, Organic 1 and 2, Physics 1 and 2, English 1 and 2, and possibly 2 math classes and 2 upper division bio, you will be golden. If your school is like most, that's ~40 to ~60 units (some classes are 4 units, some 5, and others 3). On top of that, some of these courses (e.g. English) will count toward your GE.
Sit down with an adviser and plan it out.
As long as you take: General Bio 1 and 2, Chemistry 1 and 2, Organic 1 and 2, Physics 1 and 2, English 1 and 2, and possibly 2 math classes and 2 upper division bio, you will be golden. If your school is like most, that's ~40 to ~60 units (some classes are 4 units, some 5, and others 3). On top of that, some of these courses (e.g. English) will count toward your GE.
Sit down with an adviser and plan it out.
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You are not taking into account the changes that are coming to the MCAT in 2015 or the possible changes in medical school admissions that may accompany the new MCAT.
To the OP: Go to this website (https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/mcat2015/) and familiarize yourself with the changes since you will likely take the new test. Plan your classes accordingly and be flexible in your major selection. And definitely talk to your new university's premed advisor (assuming they're competent). Also, be cautious with the advice given on this website.
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+1. Talk to your adviser and flip through your course selection guide sometime before you start frosh year. Otherwise, chillax and enjoy senior year! 🙂
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First of all, it depends on what "on time" means for you. Are you applying right after you graduate from college? Are you going to take a gap year? Will you take more or less than four years to graduate? And where are you going to college?
Every college has different "weed-out courses" for pre-meds that are quite difficult, and you don't want to take a weed-out prereq and another at the same time. So for instance, at my college, general chemistry and (to an extent) organic chemistry are the weed-out courses, while biology and physics are infinitely easier. So I'm taking gen chem and organic chem separately, and took biology and physics together. At your college, biology might be the weed-out class so that'll change what pre-reqs you take, and when.
When it comes to medical/graduate school, there really isn't as rigorous a timeline as there is for high school. Plenty of people take five years to graduate. Plenty of people (from what I read on a college's website, more than half of applicants) take one year or more off in between college and their next degree-granting track. The median age of people getting into medical school is 24, even though most graduate college at 21 or 22. So for right now, I wouldn't worry about planning out pre-reqs. Just take what you can manage, don't burn out, and trust that things'll work out with a bit of planning. You aren't the first or the last person to want to go into medical school without a science major 😀
Every college has different "weed-out courses" for pre-meds that are quite difficult, and you don't want to take a weed-out prereq and another at the same time. So for instance, at my college, general chemistry and (to an extent) organic chemistry are the weed-out courses, while biology and physics are infinitely easier. So I'm taking gen chem and organic chem separately, and took biology and physics together. At your college, biology might be the weed-out class so that'll change what pre-reqs you take, and when.
When it comes to medical/graduate school, there really isn't as rigorous a timeline as there is for high school. Plenty of people take five years to graduate. Plenty of people (from what I read on a college's website, more than half of applicants) take one year or more off in between college and their next degree-granting track. The median age of people getting into medical school is 24, even though most graduate college at 21 or 22. So for right now, I wouldn't worry about planning out pre-reqs. Just take what you can manage, don't burn out, and trust that things'll work out with a bit of planning. You aren't the first or the last person to want to go into medical school without a science major 😀
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Add biochemistry, anatomy, statistics and ethics to the list of classes to take. Most medical schools don't require them, but plenty of schools recommend them. Some schools also require calculus. If you're mathematically inclined, I'd recommend taking it.
I graduated as a history major. You probably already know this, but unless you want to teach history or use college as a stepping stone to medical or law school, there aren't any jobs out there for history majors. If I had to college over again, I would have chosen something that would be useful for employment in the real world.
I graduated as a history major. You probably already know this, but unless you want to teach history or use college as a stepping stone to medical or law school, there aren't any jobs out there for history majors. If I had to college over again, I would have chosen something that would be useful for employment in the real world.
