Is majoring in what you like even important?

[mootpoot]

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Most people seem to support the mantra of majoring in what you're interested in, as long as you finish med school prerequisites. On the flip side, what if majoring in what you like leaves almost no room for prerequisites (only leaving time for the bare minimum that most med schools require and skipping out on things like English and Calc, which some don't require)? Is it still worth it to major in what you "like"?

Most med schools encourage taking upper-level, non-required courses in preparation for medical school. As the same time, they encourage majoring in whatever floats your boat and "distinguishing yourself in your area of study." To me, that sounds like you should choose a major in your interest area and devote time to taking the prescribed course of study for that subject (as outlined by major requirements) while doing things like research/internships in that area. No problem, except what if being prepared for medical school (by med schools' own definitions) and exploring my interest areas are at odds? Which wins out?

Due to my situation (late-bloomer pre-med), I can either:
1) major in what I'm interested in (psych or philosophy) with BARELY enough time/space to finish minimum pre-med courses and no time for those "recommended" pre-med courses
-or-
2) major in a BIO major (not my end-all, be-all interest), while having a decent amount of elective space to take whatever I want (psych and philosophy).

Is it fine to be a BIO major for the flexibility and choose not to apply myself in the area I am most directly interested in?
How important are those "recommended" courses that med schools list?
Which is MORE ancillary to an application: taking every prerequisite that a wide array of med schools require and some "recommended" courses, or, "distinguishing yourself in your area of study"

 

[Phoebus Apollo]

I was a non-sci major and I pretty much took the bare minimum in terms of “required courses”. By bare minimum, though, I mean at any school I was interested in... so I also took courses that are slightly less common, like biostats and a full year of biochem and orgo. That said, I wasn’t taking fancy upper level sciences. With a solid GPA + MCAT I had zero issues.

If you’re interested in majoring in something other than bio, then I want to encourage you to do that—follow your interests. Here’s why.

A) it refreshes your brain, and it’s healthy to have a fun and different home base. (I felt like even doing “the bare minimum” I spent ~95% of my time on science. I was glad to have a 5% break that I cared about a lot.)

B) i guarantee a non-bio major will come up during interviews — in a good way. I’m actually pretty sure I got into several schools partly because of what I had to say about my major. I get the sense that adcoms are tired of people who major in bio, especially if it’s for the convenience of it (as opposed to people who are genuinely passionate about bio and immerse themselves in it beyond pre-med things)

Finally, a caveat: if you have another reason for which you need to have every pre-req done perfectly by the time you graduate—and if being a phil major endangers that (e.g. if you are low income and you required your school’s fin aid to complete pre reqs) then go ahead and do the bio major. I understand there is hefty priviledge associated in majoring in “whatever floats your boat”— and I encourage you to do what sets you up for confidence, happiness, and financial health.

 

[RangerBob]

Are you trying to graduate early? It seems odd to me that psych and philosophy don’t allow enough electives-at my university they had just as many electives as most other majors. The only majors that really limited your elective time were engineering programs.

I double-majored in what I liked (neither bio-related) and had plenty of time to take electives-most of which were not the “recommended courses.”

English however, was required by my college. So was some math-I took two quarters of calc so I could take calc-based physics.

While I did take some additional science courses for fun (space sciences, p-chem, neurobio), I took them all just for fun. I don’t actually see any merit in taking classes you’re just going to repeat in medical school, like anatomy.

 

[mootpoot]

Are you trying to graduate early? It seems odd to me that psych and philosophy don’t allow enough electives-at my university they had just as many electives as most other majors. The only majors that really limited your elective time were engineering programs.

I double-majored in what I liked (neither bio-related) and had plenty of time to take electives-most of which were not the “recommended courses.”

English however, was required by my college. So was some math-I took two quarters of calc so I could take calc-based physics.

While I did take some additional science courses for fun (space sciences, p-chem, neurobio), I took them all just for fun. I don’t actually see any merit in taking classes you’re just going to repeat in medical school, like anatomy.

No, I'm not trying to graduate early. I spent the first two years of college as a nursing major, which entailed a lot of classes that aren't exactly applicable to any course of study other than nursing. So, you're right that I'm rushing it, but only because I don't want to spend 6 years in college. I'm trying for 5 years total (2 years nursing + 3 years everything else). So, essentially, I'm trying to fit everything into the next 3 years.

I think my detour into nursing has cornered me into pursuing a BIO major (lest I take 6 years total in undergrad, which would be enough time for pre-med courses and any major I want). I worry about coming across as a run-of-the-mill BIO pre-med who is majoring in it for convenience, and I'm wondering how important it is distinguish myself from that in terms of med schools admissions (aside from the fact that I actually do love psych/phil). Basically, I have to do a BIO major if I want to graduate in three years. Or, I could take a few classes in the summers (along with pursuing shadowing, experience, etc.) and possibly tack on a few extra quarters to major in what I want (nearing 6 years in undergrad).

I'm not sure if that is worth it, to me, or to medical school admissions. At this point, I'm thinking about the return-on-investment of pursuing what I like and excelling in it, and the positive message it might send med school admissions.

Mostly, these are questions to ask myself. I came here to see how much of a boon to my application it would be to major in what I like, which is just one of the considerations I care about.

I've been treating my intellectual interests as if they're nothing more than whatever message they might or might not send to med schools. It's like how most people wonder if it's ok not to major in BIO (the answer is a resounding yes), but instead I'm asking instead if it's ok to major in BIO.

 

[Phoebus Apollo]

I'm asking instead if it's ok to major in BIO.

The answer to that is also a resounding yes. If you are a competitive candidate for medical school, whatever major you choose to get will not matter a jot

 

[mootpoot]

The answer to that is also a resounding yes. If you are a competitive candidate for medical school, whatever major you choose to get will not matter a jot

Ha! fair enough

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

You typically need about 30hrs for a major. And maybe that much more for gen ed classes that won’t apply to your major. Out of 120 hours needed for your degree...you’ll have plenty of classes to get your med school req out of the way.

 

[mootpoot]

You typically need about 30hrs for a major. And maybe that much more for gen ed classes that won’t apply to your major. Out of 120 hours needed for your degree...you’ll have plenty of classes to get your med school req out of the way.

My response to RangerBob explains why I'm trying to finish everything within three years. I wasted 2 years on a nursing major, and I'm trying to keep my undergrad tenure under 5 years, hence trying to graduate in the next three. Also, I'm on a quarter system. The way it works out is like this:

Philosophy major (59 credits):
135 (3 years' worth of credits) - 30 (Gen Ed) - 59 (PHIL major) = 46 cr.
46 credits is about equal to 9 classes, which is enough for BIO, CHM, and O-CHM, but not physics, biochem, calc, stats, English, etc.

Psychology major (88 credits, of which I have already completed 30):
135 - 30 (Gen Ed) - 58 (remain Psych courses) = 47 cr.
47 credits, again, is about 9 classes, which is enough for BIO, CHM, and O-CHM, but not physics, biochem, calc, stats, English, etc.

A BIO major, on the other hand, would be relatively straight forward and would leave a few spaces open for electives in Psych and Phil.

Given these constraints, I was asking if it would be in my best interest to do something like take classes throughout the summer and tack on extra quarters just to major in "my interest area," which many med schools recommend to do.

After hearing everyone's thoughts, I think it might not be important enough to me, or to my application, to be worth the effort.

 

[deomnibusdubitandum]

I ended up taking two summer semesters in order to graduate on time in something that was interesting to me (philosophy) and complete the prereqs

 

[deleted804295]

You typically need about 30hrs for a major. And maybe that much more for gen ed classes that won’t apply to your major. Out of 120 hours needed for your degree...you’ll have plenty of classes to get your med school req out of the way.

30 hours for a major? My bio major was 75/120 hours lol.

Op: Major in whatever will get you the best grades and is fun. If you're a bio major this will likely also fulfill your pre-reqs. Hopefully you can find a major that can fulfill both.

 

[hmockingbird]

With the additional context I would not do a major that would extend your time (unless it was something that led more directly to a career like an engineering major) just due to the cost of an extra year. Bio is more than fine.

 

[mootpoot]

With the additional context I would not do a major that would extend your time (unless it was something that led more directly to a career like an engineering major) just due to the cost of an extra year. Bio is more than fine.

Thanks, that's what I'm thinking too