IT Major Here - Looking for some advice

[keunglh]

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Hey guys.

As the title suggests, I'm looking for some advice and input because before I have to start registering for next year's class, I want to know if I'm impeding myself.

So I'm currently a first year Information Technology major, so basically CS but without the abstract math and more added practicality and industrial knowledge, at a relatively small university in the US but I am also interested in medicine as well. I currently have a conditional acceptance to a DO school from a BS/DO program, and because I had the flexibility and leeway, I wanted to pursue this major because I've had an interest in computers and I wanted to see if I could do both. The problem is, there is no course overlap at all as some might think, and because of that I'm afraid that I won't be able to cram all the recommended or even necessary courses before the MCAT. Although I won't be taking the MCAT until my Junior year, I still have tons of classes to take along with my own major and because the MCAT will be covering more topics I have to throw in the Sociology and Psychology courses as well.

Just looking at the schedule, I'll be taking almost 18-21 credits for the next two years although that doesn't compare to what medical school would be like, I'm afraid if I'll suffer academically from it and so I'm wondering if I should just switch back to a science major where I get more course overlap? As terrible as it may sound, I don't really want to do that because I don't want to be lumped in together with the 1000's of other med school applicants who do this, and I also don't want to miss the opportunity to study computers as well. I'm the first in my department to do this, so I have many professor's expectations and although it shouldn't matter that much, I'm really close to many of my professors and I would hate to let them down by dropping and switching my major. I guess my greater fear is that I'll be unprepared because I won't have been able to take the classes I should before the end of my junior year. I'll have most of the basic sciences, orgo and math out of the way no problem by then, but classes like anatomy, biochemistry and the upper-level sciences my psychology/sociology classes I might not be able to take. It's not like a huge state school where classes are offered each semester, some aren't and those that are typically give priority to those within their own majors.

 

[moonwake]

Hey guys.

As the title suggests, I'm looking for some advice and input because before I have to start registering for next year's class, I want to know if I'm impeding myself.

So I'm currently a first year Information Technology major, so basically CS but without the abstract math and more added practicality and industrial knowledge, at a relatively small university in the US but I am also interested in medicine as well. I currently have a conditional acceptance to a DO school from a BS/DO program, and because I had the flexibility and leeway, I wanted to pursue this major because I've had an interest in computers and I wanted to see if I could do both. The problem is, there is no course overlap at all as some might think, and because of that I'm afraid that I won't be able to cram all the recommended or even necessary courses before the MCAT. Although I won't be taking the MCAT until my Junior year, I still have tons of classes to take along with my own major and because the MCAT will be covering more topics I have to throw in the Sociology and Psychology courses as well.

Just looking at the schedule, I'll be taking almost 18-21 credits for the next two years although that doesn't compare to what medical school would be like, I'm afraid if I'll suffer academically from it and so I'm wondering if I should just switch back to a science major where I get more course overlap? As terrible as it may sound, I don't really want to do that because I don't want to be lumped in together with the 1000's of other med school applicants who do this, and I also don't want to miss the opportunity to study computers as well. I'm the first in my department to do this, so I have many professor's expectations and although it shouldn't matter that much, I'm really close to many of my professors and I would hate to let them down by dropping and switching my major. I guess my greater fear is that I'll be unprepared because I won't have been able to take the classes I should before the end of my junior year. I'll have most of the basic sciences, orgo and math out of the way no problem by then, but classes like anatomy, biochemistry and the upper-level sciences my psychology/sociology classes I might not be able to take. It's not like a huge state school where classes are offered each semester, some aren't and those that are typically give priority to those within their own majors.

What does you cGPA and sGPA look like? The thing is you're going to have to take the MCAT either way to get in. If your GPA is decent (3.4+), you shouldn't have a problem getting accepted into a DO program if you apply broadly and get 26+ on it (what that to translates on the new MCAT score scale, I have no idea). As for your course load, 18-21 credits is quite a bit for being pre-med. However, if you're guaranteed acceptance that would mean you wouldn't have to do research, and all the stupid clinical hours/shadowing to make yourself look competitive, which would take time up from your schedule anyway. If the school that you have been pre-accepted pending MCAT/GPA is one you WANT to go to, then I say go for it- it'll be less work even though you're taking more credits since you'll have to take all those classes anyway. If you think 18-21 credits will be too much then maybe you need to decide if you can keep at 3.4+ and if not maybe just go the traditional route. This is 100% just my opinion though.

 

[morrian14]

Transfer somewhere with bioinformatics so you can get the best of both worlds. Lol. I would definitely advise against taking that many credits. I know that I couldn't personally handle it and most people probably couldn't. I almost can't handle bioinformatics and all the requirements for my 4+4. At the end of the day, schools care more about numbers than anything. They treat theater majors and nuclear engineering majors as equals when it comes to GPA. If you have to maintain a certain GPA, I would change to a more science related major. It will also save you money because I'm sure you'll have a course overload payment. The only other thing I can suggest is possibly taking your upper-level IT courses during the summer so you can actually focus on your upper-level bio courses. You're going to be paying courses overload fees doing it the other way anyway.

 

[becomingdoctor]

Unprepared for MCAT: Not an issue. After taking one year biology plus biochem, most people should be able to handle the material on MCAT. If you still feel you are not well prepared, a prep course will be more helpful than most upper-division coursse. I have never taken any physical science up-level course and ended up with a 14 on PS, and ironically I ended up with a 12 on BS after having a BS in biology and many graduate level bio courses.

CS major: Maybe. But I don't think CS major will prepare you equally well as data science or stats major. If your motivation to do CS major is purely interest, go ahead and do it, nothing wrong with it and I believe you can handle the classes very well since you are interested in it. But if you want to do CS because you want to become a physician with an unique background, I recommend you to keep you options open. Knowing how to analyze clinical and genomic data will open more doors for you than CS throughout your career. I am not saying CS is not gonna help physicians, just my personal experience in clinical science and NGS make me feel this way.

 

[keunglh]

Transfer somewhere with bioinformatics so you can get the best of both worlds. Lol. I would definitely advise against taking that many credits. I know that I couldn't personally handle it and most people probably couldn't. I almost can't handle bioinformatics and all the requirements for my 4+4. At the end of the day, schools care more about numbers than anything. They treat theater majors and nuclear engineering majors as equals when it comes to GPA. If you have to maintain a certain GPA, I would change to a more science related major. It will also save you money because I'm sure you'll have a course overload payment. The only other thing I can suggest is possibly taking your upper-level IT courses during the summer so you can actually focus on your upper-level bio courses. You're going to be paying courses overload fees doing it the other way anyway.

Hi thanks! Unfortunately, my school doesn't really offer a bioinformatics course, so I can't really get a 'both of best worlds', else I would have already. It's a tough decision because yes, it's a lot of credits and I enjoy what I learn I just fear that enjoyment of learning it won't matter when it comes down to a number-based admission committee. Also, I don't really mind the paying course overloads, because I have a scholarship that would cover those costs. But thanks for the tip, I had to go back and make sure

 

[keunglh]

Unprepared for MCAT: Not an issue. After taking one year biology plus biochem, most people should be able to handle the material on MCAT. If you still feel you are not well prepared, a prep course will be more helpful than most upper-division coursse. I have never taken any physical science up-level course and ended up with a 14 on PS, and ironically I ended up with a 12 on BS after having a BS in biology and many graduate level bio courses.

CS major: Maybe. But I don't think CS major will prepare you equally well as data science or stats major. If your motivation to do CS major is purely interest, go ahead and do it, nothing wrong with it and I believe you can handle the classes very well since you are interested in it. But if you want to do CS because you want to become a physician with an unique background, I recommend you to keep you options open. Knowing how to analyze clinical and genomic data will open more doors for you than CS throughout your career. I am not saying CS is not gonna help physicians, just my personal experience in clinical science and NGS make me feel this way.

Alright, I was just afraid that with the new MCAT format, I might be unprepared. If I changed majors now, it wouldn't be that bad since I was able to take in enough credits to offset the waste. Although I know it won't prepare me as well, it is interesting to me, but like I noted in the other user's comment, I'm afraid that although I may enjoy it, the workload may get to me and cause me to suffer.

 

[keunglh]

What does you cGPA and sGPA look like? The thing is you're going to have to take the MCAT either way to get in. If your GPA is decent (3.4+), you shouldn't have a problem getting accepted into a DO program if you apply broadly and get 26+ on it (what that to translates on the new MCAT score scale, I have no idea). As for your course load, 18-21 credits is quite a bit for being pre-med. However, if you're guaranteed acceptance that would mean you wouldn't have to do research, and all the stupid clinical hours/shadowing to make yourself look competitive, which would take time up from your schedule anyway. If the school that you have been pre-accepted pending MCAT/GPA is one you WANT to go to, then I say go for it- it'll be less work even though you're taking more credits since you'll have to take all those classes anyway. If you think 18-21 credits will be too much then maybe you need to decide if you can keep at 3.4+ and if not maybe just go the traditional route. This is 100% just my opinion though.

As of now, since i only have one semester so far and based on my midterm grades from this semester. My cGPA is like 3.6 and sGPA is 3.0 (I have only taken orgo so far and I have gotten B's). I definitely think I can pull up my sGPA and maintain that cGPA. But the thing is, yes I like the school i've been pre-admitted to, but I also don't want to limit myself. I don't want myself to become complacent and just coast through it (granted it'll take work to even coast), I want to keep my options open.

 

[moonwake]

Unprepared for MCAT: Not an issue. After taking one year biology plus biochem, most people should be able to handle the material on MCAT. If you still feel you are not well prepared, a prep course will be more helpful than most upper-division coursse. I have never taken any physical science up-level course and ended up with a 14 on PS, and ironically I ended up with a 12 on BS after having a BS in biology and many graduate level bio courses.

CS major: Maybe. But I don't think CS major will prepare you equally well as data science or stats major. If your motivation to do CS major is purely interest, go ahead and do it, nothing wrong with it and I believe you can handle the classes very well since you are interested in it. But if you want to do CS because you want to become a physician with an unique background, I recommend you to keep you options open. Knowing how to analyze clinical and genomic data will open more doors for you than CS throughout your career. I am not saying CS is not gonna help physicians, just my personal experience in clinical science and NGS make me feel this way.

that doesnt work for everyone though. i suck at physics i got a's in it both semesters but i couldnt get above a 9 on PS (im really good at the chemistry section). you gotta see where your strengths are. i feel like a lot of schools' class curriculum dont test the same way the mcat does and it takes a whole different level of thinking. i agree that doing a major that involves your prereqs is the best option. i took 18 credits every semester and my last one i took 21 and still managed a 3.7. a lot of it has to do with how you manage your time. learning just enough to get the grade you want since youre going to forget everything you learn in ug after a few years anyway. if you see ug from an objective standpoint its just a means to an end not some glorified education.

 

[DrPerrla]

Transfer somewhere with bioinformatics so you can get the best of both worlds. Lol. I would definitely advise against taking that many credits. I know that I couldn't personally handle it and most people probably couldn't. I almost can't handle bioinformatics and all the requirements for my 4+4. At the end of the day, schools care more about numbers than anything. They treat theater majors and nuclear engineering majors as equals when it comes to GPA. If you have to maintain a certain GPA, I would change to a more science related major. It will also save you money because I'm sure you'll have a course overload payment. The only other thing I can suggest is possibly taking your upper-level IT courses during the summer so you can actually focus on your upper-level bio courses. You're going to be paying courses overload fees doing it the other way anyway.

The part I bolded is not entirely true. Perhaps on initial screening but some schools and I would actually argue that more than you think, do consider difficulty of major and classes taken. We look to see if you're just trying to pad your GPA and if your an engineering major with say a 3.5 vs a theater major with a 3.9, the engineer will be more favorably looked upon. Of course there is much more to the process and uniqueness definitely counts too but I'm giving an example with all else being equal.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

the first interview I went to had a professional dancer instructor who had been doing that for 20ish years (but now she knows she wants to be a doctor...). I do feel like med schools eat that unique major stuff up hook, line and sinker.
My thought is, no matter what your major you should be shooting for A- or better in every class, and then as high an mcat as you can get.

I don't think dance is considered equal to engineering in difficulty, but it is considered much more 'unique' or 'special.' I woud say the Dance major actually has an advantage over the engineer due to 'fit' considerations. After all, how many dancers apply to med school? If they have a simular MCAT, the dancer is more likely to be taken in my opinion, due to their app being much less common.