Is this (premed advisor's) advice true?

[NP545]

One of my university's premed advisers told me that adcoms view light majors lightheartedly when comparing them to science majors. She said psych majors (who have a relatively much lighter courseload) with a high GPA would not fare well against students of an intense science major with an equal or slightly lesser GPA [assuming all other ECs,MCAT, etc are equal).

People say to pick a major that you're passionate about and that's psychology for me. However, it is nowhere near as hard as the Neuroscience majors that a majority of premed's at my college take. Would pursuing this "lighter" psychology major be potentially bad for me to adcoms, as advised by my premed advisor?

Also, another piece of "advice", I've received by a science professor which I am doubting its validity:
There are 2 first level Biochems at my school: Intro to Biochem (300-level) and Biochem I (400-level). Both are valued as equivalents in terms of credits and the prereqs for both are the same, but the 400-level understandably is much harder than the 300-level one. The professor said that adcoms will know that you took the easy way out if you enrolled in the Intro to Biochem 300-level course rather than the 400-level one. Is this true and does it really matter which one I take since they're both a beginning biochem course?

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[altblue]

Psych 3.8 > Neuro 3.6

 

[mcloaf]

Lol no.

 

[Low Flow]

Yeah I would say go with Psych. Way better to be interested in school than just doing it to look good. As far as the biochem goes, are you sure the 300-level one isn't requisite for the 400-level one? That's how it is at our school. The 300 is just an intro, and then there are Biochem I and II that are just more in depth and mostly for biochem majors. But I think the intro biochem would be sufficient enough for med schools' sake.

 

[Holmwood]

One of my university's premed advisers told me that adcoms view light majors lightheartedly when comparing them to science majors. She said psych majors (who have a relatively much lighter courseload) with a high GPA would not fare well against students of an intense science major with an equal or slightly lesser GPA [assuming all other ECs,MCAT, etc are equal).

People say to pick a major that you're passionate about and that's psychology for me. However, it is nowhere near as hard as the Neuroscience majors that a majority of premed's at my college take. Would pursuing this "lighter" psychology major be potentially bad for me to adcoms, as advised by my premed advisor?

Also, another piece of "advice", I've received by a science professor which I am doubting its validity:
There are 2 first level Biochems at my school: Intro to Biochem (300-level) and Biochem I (400-level). Both are valued as equivalents in terms of credits and the prereqs for both are the same, but the 400-level understandably is much harder than the 300-level one. The professor said that adcoms will know that you took the easy way out if you enrolled in the Intro to Biochem 300-level course rather than the 400-level one. Is this true and does it really matter which one I take since they're both a beginning biochem course?

Your pre-med advisor is incompetent. It is harder to fulfill your pre-requisite courses on top of your psych courses (as you're basically taking extra classes), but it's doable. And plenty of people have done it. Its also something you can talk about during the interview, so it is QUITE an advantage.

Your science professor is correct in that the 300 level one may be far different from the 400 level one.
At my school, we had something similar: 1 for nonscience majors, and 2 for science majors.
The non-science Biochemistry simply gleamed over metabolic pathways, vitamins, etc.

For the science Biochemistry, I had to learn the following: metabolic pathways and how it is regulated (as well as what diseases are the result of its disregulation), kinetics, interrelation between metabolic pathways, role of cofactors/enzymes, and MEMORIZING THE STRUCTURE of all those cute sugars. Not to mention a brief overview of solution chemistry (gen chem) and functional groups (o-chem).

Now I'm sure other people's experience with their " sciency biochem" may be different... but generally, it better prepares you for the biochemistry you'll take in medical school.

As for which one you should choose... you can take the easy one. I've seen Neuroscience PHD students take the easy one and still get into loads of schools, so why not med schools. You'd get better answers if you talked to the adcom of the specific school that has a biochem requirement.

 

[LizzyM]

Some adcom members will look down on some majors but I haven't seen them criticize psych majors. On the other hand, sociology, nutrition, environmental studies, feminist studies, peace studies do catch some flack from some adcom members.

Some schools will point out in a committee letter than a student, "took the more challenging Biochem 400 rather than Biochem 300 which also meets the degree requirement." They'll usually be silent if you take the 300 level but given that we see multiple applicants from the same school, we get to know these nuances (ditto for calculus & non-calc based physics, etc).

Always keep in mind that a poor gpa can screen you out and "poor" is a relative term. Protect your gpa above all else but don't shy away from challenging course work. A 3.90 with many challenging courses will be more respected than a 3.99 with no challenges.

 

[BillrothI]

Some adcom members will look down on some majors but I haven't seen them criticize psych majors. On the other hand, sociology, nutrition, environmental studies, feminist studies, peace studies do catch some flack from some adcom members.

Some schools will point out in a committee letter than a student, "took the more challenging Biochem 400 rather than Biochem 300 which also meets the degree requirement." They'll usually be silent if you take the 300 level but given that we see multiple applicants from the same school, we get to know these nuances (ditto for calculus & non-calc based physics, etc).

Always keep in mind that a poor gpa can screen you out and "poor" is a relative term. Protect your gpa above all else but don't shy away from challenging course work. A 3.90 with many challenging courses will be more respected than a 3.99 with no challenges.

Is there any leeway for folks who majored in sociology, for example, but got straight A's in pre-requisite courses and have a good MCAT score? My hunch is that they don't, simply because they are competing against students who got good grades and chose a more challenging major. However, I'd be interested to hear about what goes on behind closed doors.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Holmwood]

Is there any leeway for folks who majored in sociology, for example, but got straight A's in pre-requisite courses and have a good MCAT score? My hunch is that they don't, simply because they are competing against students who got good grades and chose a more challenging major. However, I'd be interested to hear about what goes on behind closed doors.

Thanks,
Bill

People who got good grades in a challenging major can be WOW, but so is someone who performed well in the sciences despite being from a non-science background.

Additionally, being aware of socio-cultural issues will benefit you as a practicing physician more than some obscure knowledge about string theory. There is an advantage to being a sociology major, which is perhaps why the new mcat has a Sociology and Psych portion.

 

[LizzyM]

Is there any leeway for folks who majored in sociology, for example, but got straight A's in pre-requisite courses and have a good MCAT score? My hunch is that they don't, simply because they are competing against students who got good grades and chose a more challenging major. However, I'd be interested to hear about what goes on behind closed doors.

Thanks,
Bill

Everything the same (gpa, MCAT, grades in pre-reqs) but one student was an electrical engineering major and the other a sociology major. Engineer wins every time with some adcoms but in some cases there will be room for both (at interview & at admission).

 

[NP545]

Some adcom members will look down on some majors but I haven't seen them criticize psych majors. On the other hand, sociology, nutrition, environmental studies, feminist studies, peace studies do catch some flack from some adcom members.

Some schools will point out in a committee letter than a student, "took the more challenging Biochem 400 rather than Biochem 300 which also meets the degree requirement." They'll usually be silent if you take the 300 level but given that we see multiple applicants from the same school, we get to know these nuances (ditto for calculus & non-calc based physics, etc).

Always keep in mind that a poor gpa can screen you out and "poor" is a relative term. Protect your gpa above all else but don't shy away from challenging course work. A 3.90 with many challenging courses will be more respected than a 3.99 with no challenges.

I finished my prereqs by the end of sophomore year, and filled my junior year schedule with all psych classes, some business classes, and Biochem. (15 cred per semester)

What would you think of this course load? Would it be acceptable to you or other adcoms?

 

[LizzyM]

I finished my prereqs by the end of sophomore year, and filled my junior year schedule with all psych classes, some business classes, and Biochem. (15 cred per semester)

What would you think of this course load? Would it be acceptable to you or other adcoms?

Hard to judge in a vacuum. It might depend on what is typical for other applicants to my school from your undergrad or past experience with your undergrad & an adcom's expectations can be colored by the last 3 applications reviewed. Just one more of those things that causes us to say, "Apply Broadly."

 

[BillrothI]

Thanks for your feedback, Holmwood and LizzyM.

I only had one traditional interview last year while the rest were MMIs. At the traditional interview, I received a pretty favorable response about choosing a non-science major. I have no idea what went on in the adcom meetings after the MMIs, though, so I was wondering if my choice of major had hurt me.

-Bill

 

[NP545]

Hard to judge in a vacuum. It might depend on what is typical for other applicants to my school from your undergrad or past experience with your undergrad & an adcom's expectations can be colored by the last 3 applications reviewed. Just one more of those things that causes us to say, "Apply Broadly."

Oh, I had no idea adcoms take into account previous applicants from the same university.

According to the stats released by my university, there are approximately 20 psych majors applying to med schools annually, and only ~5-6 of them receive acceptances. Does this not bode well for me?

 

[LizzyM]

Oh, I had no idea adcoms take into account previous applicants from the same university.

According to the stats released by my university, there are approximately 20 psych majors applying to med schools annually, and only ~5-6 of them receive acceptances. Does this not bode well for me?

Not just other psych majors but all applicants from your school. Slightly more than 40% of applicants get admission and I'm not about to do a test of significance to see if 5/20 is statistically significantly different from 40%. There could be many things going on including a lack of research experience, minimal clinical experience, something that is hurting GPA, etc.

 

[Goro]

Not at my school. And for what it's worth, I have clinician colleagues who were math, English and Drama majors. Wonderful clinicians all.

One of my university's premed advisers told me that adcoms view light majors lightheartedly when comparing them to science majors. She said psych majors (who have a relatively much lighter courseload) with a high GPA would not fare well against students of an intense science major with an equal or slightly lesser GPA [assuming all other ECs,MCAT, etc are equal).

 

[NP545]

Not just other psych majors but all applicants from your school. Slightly more than 40% of applicants get admission and I'm not about to do a test of significance to see if 5/20 is statistically significantly different from 40%. There could be many things going on including a lack of research experience, minimal clinical experience, something that is hurting GPA, etc.

Thanks for your reply. And just to put it in perspective, my undergrad's med school acceptance rate is ~50%, with 400 applicants each year being Biology or Neuroscience majors.

Not at my school. And for what it's worth, I have clinician colleagues who were math, English and Drama majors. Wonderful clinicians all.

One of my university's premed advisers told me that adcoms view light majors lightheartedly when comparing them to science majors. She said psych majors (who have a relatively much lighter courseload) with a high GPA would not fare well against students of an intense science major with an equal or slightly lesser GPA [assuming all other ECs,MCAT, etc are equal).

Great to hear that adcoms are not solely interested in the science majors anymore!

 

[ridethecliche]

Honestly so much of this depends on the schools mission as well. Hard to narrow it down, which is why applying broadly is important (as LizzyM stated).

 

[Detective John McClane]

My major in undergrad was biochemistry. It was very difficult at my UG institution and Medical Schools didn't care one bit about its difficulty.

I loved biochemistry and enjoyed all of my classes. Sure my GPA was lower than it would have been had I taken biology, but I would have been less engaged and less proud of what I did. If psychology is what you're passionate about then do it and stop caring what medical schools will think. You always have time to change majors anyway.

 

[NP545]

Honestly so much of this depends on the schools mission as well. Hard to narrow it down, which is why applying broadly is important (as LizzyM stated).

There are missions that incline towards science majors? Never knew

 

[type12]

Just remember that if you don't get in anywhere and don't get an advanced degree, your median salary will be 29k

 

[ridethecliche]

There are missions that incline towards science majors? Never knew

If my comment was directed at you, I would have quoted you. My point was that applicants with the same stats but different experiences can leap frog each other with regard to interest at different schools. Schools have missions and some stick to them pretty closely. These could be oriented to primary care, caring for the underserved, religion, etc.

 

[ems2doc]

While it's true that your specific major doesn't matter, the rigor of your course load is still important. If it looks like you just did the prereqs for your major and premed, and then took a whole bunch of "filler" classes (ones that many students take for a GPA boost), then you will have some explaining to do.

I double minored in religion and polisci in college. Both of these are considered "easy". Nobody questioned me, but that's because I also took very rigorous upper-level science electives.

 

[NP545]

While it's true that your specific major doesn't matter, the rigor of your course load is still important. If it looks like you just did the prereqs for your major and premed, and then took a whole bunch of "filler" classes (ones that many students take for a GPA boost), then you will have some explaining to do.

I double minored in religion and polisci in college. Both of these are considered "easy". Nobody questioned me, but that's because I also took very rigorous upper-level science electives.

After I finished my prereqs, my schedule now is/will be just psych classes each semester coupled with some business ones. These psych and business ones are "easy" classes compared to rigorous science classes. But I will have taken 15+ credits each semester. Would i have to explain to them, and if so, what should I say?

 

[Holmwood]

After I finished my prereqs, my schedule now is/will be just psych classes each semester coupled with some business ones. These psych and business ones are "easy" classes compared to rigorous science classes. But I will have taken 15+ credits each semester. Would i have to explain to them, and if so, what should I say?

For business, say you're trying to start your own practice some day or something.

And maybe the 400 level course didn't fit your schedule, so you took the 300 level one.

please don't smite me adcoms

 

[gettheleadout]

Being a psych major will not be a disadvantage. Take a broad liberal arts courseload, perform well academically regardless of your major, perform well on the MCAT. Aim for no one to be able to question your chops and it won't matter what you studied.