Is a Psychology as a pre-med major a bad idea?

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Perchperkins

Perchperkins

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Hi guys! Well I’m a senior in high school and I’m going to be a freshman in college next semester. I’m going to be a premed student so I dwindled down my major options to either Psychology or Biology. I’m leaning towards psych though since it’s a tad more interesting.
I know that people say you can major in anything but my only issue is that my med school prereqs don’t necessarily satisfy my major requirement. So I’d have to take those courses on top of the ones that I need for my major.
Would that be too much of a burden? Anyone can answer but id like to hear a psych majors perspective. 🙂 If anything I’ll probably just end up majoring in bio.
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Your major doesn't matter. I have friends that did history majors or engineering. You'll need some extra classes, but it can be done. Pick something you ENJOY because you'll be studying it for 4 years.
 
I was a psych major in college. I didn't start pre-med classes until my sophomore year but I had no trouble fulfilling the requirements for both. I also minored in neuroscience, which had a lot of overlap with pre-med. Just plan ahead if you know certain classes are only offered during spring or fall so you can graduate on time (this may not be an issue if you go to a big school).
 
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Depends. It’s not a “bad” major but Psych courses do NOT count towards sGPA! So all your upper divisions won’t count and your sGPA will only be contingent upon the med school prerequisites ... yikes...

Would you be happy with a Psych degree if you decided to NOT apply to med school? I would suggest a Psych minor if you want
 
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chemdoctor said:
Depends. It’s not a “bad” major but Psych courses do NOT count towards sGPA! So all your upper divisions won’t ciunt and your sGPA will only be contingent upon the med school prerequisites ... yikes...
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Oh yes that’s very true! That’s my main issue with Psych. I also was considering if I wanted to be a physicians assistant as a back up plan I wouldn’t be able to because I wouldn’t have the prereqs. If I majored in bio I’d have the prereqs for both medical school and PA school.
I might have to rethink my major, or I might minor in biology instead. But I’m not sure honestly. It’s so much to consider.
Thank you for your response. 🙂
 
aerie91 said:
I was a psych major in college. I didn't start pre-med classes until my sophomore year but I had no trouble fulfilling the requirements for both. I also minored in neuroscience, which had a lot of overlap with pre-med. Just plan ahead if you know certain classes are only offered during spring or fall so you can graduate on time (this may not be an issue if you go to a big school).
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Oh okay thank you so much for your response! I was considering minoring in something like neuroscience or biology. I might see if I can take a couple courses over the summer if it’s possible but I’m not sure. I just want to make sure that I have time for extracurriculars and other stuff while still fulfilling the requirements.
 
Depends on your personal preference. If you like psych enough for the major, do it. If you just want to get in, get out with the fewest classes that are the most applicable towards MCAT then do the biology major.
 
Perchperkins said:
Oh okay thank you so much for your response! I was considering minoring in something like neuroscience or biology. I might see if I can take a couple courses over the summer if it’s possible but I’m not sure. I just want to make sure that I have time for extracurriculars and other stuff while still fulfilling the requirements.
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You should have plenty of time. I worked part-time, got involved in various research activities, and I even had a social life. It's all about good time management.
 
There is nothing wrong with having only the required courses making up your science GPA (sGPA) as long as you've done well in them. You wouldn't want a required botany course for a biology major dragging your sGPA down. That's really a YIKES! Ditto for chem majors taking physical chemistry (P-chem).

If a program of study is more interesting to you, you are likely to do well and that's what most important in terms of admissions. It's all about the metrics.

Do give some thought to what you'd do as a fall-back plan if you didn't get into medical school. Keep in mind, too, that there are always post-bac classes that can help you fill in what you didn't take that you need for admission to a graduate or professional program you had not considered in college. It is also possible to change your major, particularly after your first semester.
 
LizzyM said:
There is nothing wrong with having only the required courses making up your science GPA (sGPA) as long as you've done well in them. You wouldn't want a required botany course for a biology major dragging your sGPA down. That's really a YIKES! Ditto for chem majors taking physical chemistry (P-chem).

If a program of study is more interesting to you, you are likely to do well and that's what most important in terms of admissions. It's all about the metrics.

Do give some thought to what you'd do as a fall-back plan if you didn't get into medical school. Keep in mind, too, that there are always post-bac classes that can help you fill in what you didn't take that you need for admission to a graduate or professional program you had not considered in college. It is also possible to change your major, particularly after your first semester.
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Of course not. I was just saying, incase OP struggled in Orgo or something haha.
 
Perchperkins said:
Oh yes that’s very true! That’s my main issue with Psych. I also was considering if I wanted to be a physicians assistant as a back up plan I wouldn’t be able to because I wouldn’t have the prereqs. If I majored in bio I’d have the prereqs for both medical school and PA school.
I might have to rethink my major, or I might minor in biology instead. But I’m not sure honestly. It’s so much to consider.
Thank you for your response. 🙂
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Is PA school considered a backup plan? Those schools are pretty competitive and my fellow undergraduates who go to PA school are smart and driven.
 
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JohnDenver said:
Is PA school considered a backup plan? Those schools are pretty competitive and my fellow undergraduates who go to PA school are smart and driven.
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Podiatry is my backup, PA maybe if I got a lot of clinical hours. Pharmacy is probably third in line.
 
Doktor_dud3 said:
Podiatry is my backup, PA maybe if I got a lot of clinical hours. Pharmacy is probably third in line.
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Does anyone know what pharmacy schools think of med school rejects? I heard dental schools blacklist you or something.
 
You can get Chemistry minor probably with one additional course after satisfying pre-med requirements.
 
I was a psych major in undergrad after switching over from bio; like everyone else has said, doesn't matter what you major in.

I did manage to get a few of my psych courses to count towards my BCPM: mostly my stats and psychobio courses. If they're very bio or neuroscience heavy, or they are courses that are the same course in a BCPM Dept, they can count from what I've seen and read. But ymmv
 
You can fit pre-med courses with Psychology, esp if you take a gap year.
If PA is your back up, check out the PA pre-req which are not the same...they want Anatomy and Physiology for example. So if you take the superset of all the courses you will be good to go.
 
Princeton Medical Student said:
Not always a good idea. If you are sure you WANT medicine, better to stick something you can get a 4.0 in. I had the same mindset, and I regret it deeply now.
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That’s what I was thinking, my only concern is if I don’t do so well on my prereqs. I’ve heard that med schools mainly consider the science GPA
 
Perchperkins said:
That’s what I was thinking, my only concern is if I don’t do so well on my prereqs. I’ve heard that med schools mainly consider the science GPA
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That’s true. Idk if it’s a good idea to have ALL your sGPA classes be your med school prereqs. Personally, I needed my upper divisions because Orgo wrecked me. Ymmv
 
@Perchperkins
If you major in something you enjoy and find interesting, you will get good grades. If I could go back, I wouldn't have majored in Biology. I would have chosen art (because I'm naturally good at drawing) or psychology (because its an interesting subject). You want to make sure you maintain a high GPA.
 
Shotapp said:
@Perchperkins
If you major in something you enjoy and find interesting, you will get good grades. If I could go back, I wouldn't have majored in Biology. I would have chosen art (because I'm naturally good at drawing) or psychology (because its an interesting subject). You want to make sure you maintain a high GPA.
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I was considering art too! But I decided against it only because of the time commitment outside of class and how subjective the grading might be. That’s definitely something for me to consider though. I took AP biology and while it was decent, I wouldn’t say that it’s something that I’m truly passionate about though. When I took a few classes on psychology I realized that it does interest me more. I feel like it may be a better major for me. I’ll probably just have to minor in a science to make sure that I have some other science courses in there
 
I could back I wouldn’t have majored in biology. Even though I graduated with a good gpa , i would have chosen something else like engineering. I’m only saying this cause I’m a reapplicant
 
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