Kinesiology

[ASUHOPEFUL]

I am looking to major in kinesiology do people think this is a good major for med school?

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[chessknt]

Major in whatever you are interested in and take all the needed prereq classes.

/thread.

 

[ICmyFuture]

what he said

 

[seelee]

Since you didn't bother to use the search function..I am going to give you the first answer that popped into my head

Kinesiology is a cake major that will not prepare you for the rigor of medical school. It is completely useless and if you don't get into medical school the only other thing you could do with it is be a P.E. Coach.

So, next time type your question into the search menu to find the 800 other threads that have already been posted on this exact same topic.

 

[BoxingTheStars]

Since you didn't bother to use the search function..I am going to give you the first answer that popped into my head

Kinesiology is a cake major that will not prepare you for the rigor of medical school. It is completely useless and if you don't get into medical school the only other thing you could do with it is be a P.E. Coach.

So, next time type your question into the search menu to find the 800 other threads that have already been posted on this exact same topic.

this is absolutely NOT TRUE. in fact, I'd say it's a better option than just plain bio- it makes you a unique applicant and prepares you just as much as anything else, plus there are a TON of job options if you change your mind on med school. (what do people do w/bio majors anyway? perhaps that sounds ignorant but its as ignorant as the above poster's assumption that you could only be a gym teacher.)

depending on your curriculum, if you get a lot of exercise phys it's actually helpful to have for medical school. if you have any of the health promotion classes in your curriculum it's even better- knowing how to prescribe exercise is key for many fields in medicine and its simply not taught well to medical students.

but i'm biased... as others have said, do what you love.

 

[RUc10]

Since you didn't bother to use the search function..I am going to give you the first answer that popped into my head

Kinesiology is a cake major that will not prepare you for the rigor of medical school. It is completely useless and if you don't get into medical school the only other thing you could do with it is be a P.E. Coach.

So, next time type your question into the search menu to find the 800 other threads that have already been posted on this exact same topic.

Possible the most BS I've heard in a while.


Dude first and foremost you major in what you're interested in. This has been said time and time again. You can be an art major but if you have a 4.0 g.p.a. including all the pre-med reqs your app. won't be looked down upon.

I'm an Exercise Physiology major, related to kines. Get ready to have a lot of people that don't know two ****s about the major(or probably anything at all) and thinks it's like athletic training ask you if you want to be a gym teacher when you graduate. It's completely different. Jobs ARE somewhat tight if you get a bachelors and don't go to grad school after since so many students go on to get their masters but if you go to a good school with a good program then you should have no problem. Many of the students at my school actually double think going to grad school because most actually have an offer to work with whoever they did their internship with. I actually just checked the list 2 days ago because we're required to do interships in senior year or 90+ credits and the list is quite extensive. But seeing as to how your goal is to get into med school I won't focus on that.

As far as the difficulty of the major, it again depends on the school. A couple of the required courses for my major at my school are: Bio, Gen Chem, Physics, Systems Phys, Calc I, Exercise Physiology, Biomechanics, and Biochemistry of Exercise. They also recommend you take Organic Chemistry and Genetics. Every class except the Exercise Physiology class and the Biochemistry of Exercise class is taken through the department that teaches it. I.e. you won't be taking the cupcake version of bio that's only offered to certain majors at some schools, you'll be taking bio with bio majors, pre-meds, pharmacy majors, engineers, and the like.
Overall to me the major is great if you're interested. I know a couple people that just did it because many of the courses are required for Physical Therapy school and at times they struggle becuase they don't really have interest in the material. But anyway it's definitely convenient as you should, if it's a good school, knock out many of your pre-med requirements and get to learn things that are challenging but definitely applicable to every day life.

Also... you shouldn't really look for majors that give you a boost in med school as I've read before sometimes it's best to be exposed to the material for the first time especially considering that the methodology of teaching the material and difficulty will be completely different once you get to med school. That being said, I have heard that this major is common for people looking to do Sports Medicine or Orthopaedics. If you want to be an oral surgeon have fun explaining the choice on a PS.

**Sorry if something didn't make sense or there are typos. Just woke up from a nap I took after work and I can't see straight and I really don't feel like proofreading.**

Hope this helps.

 

[seelee]

Possible the most BS I've heard in a while.


Dude first and foremost you major in what you're interested in. This has been said time and time again. You can be an art major but if you have a 4.0 g.p.a. including all the pre-med reqs your app. won't be looked down upon.

I'm an Exercise Physiology major, related to kines. Get ready to have a lot of people that don't know two ****s about the major(or probably anything at all) and thinks it's like athletic training ask you if you want to be a gym teacher when you graduate. It's completely different. Jobs ARE somewhat tight if you get a bachelors and don't go to grad school after since so many students go on to get their masters but if you go to a good school with a good program then you should have no problem. Many of the students at my school actually double think going to grad school because most actually have an offer to work with whoever they did their internship with. I actually just checked the list 2 days ago because we're required to do interships in senior year or 90+ credits and the list is quite extensive. But seeing as to how your goal is to get into med school I won't focus on that.

As far as the difficulty of the major, it again depends on the school. A couple of the required courses for my major at my school are: Bio, Gen Chem, Physics, Systems Phys, Calc I, Exercise Physiology, Biomechanics, and Biochemistry of Exercise. They also recommend you take Organic Chemistry and Genetics. Every class except the Exercise Physiology class and the Biochemistry of Exercise class is taken through the department that teaches it. I.e. you won't be taking the cupcake version of bio that's only offered to certain majors at some schools, you'll be taking bio with bio majors, pre-meds, pharmacy majors, engineers, and the like.
Overall to me the major is great if you're interested. I know a couple people that just did it because many of the courses are required for Physical Therapy school and at times they struggle becuase they don't really have interest in the material. But anyway it's definitely convenient as you should, if it's a good school, knock out many of your pre-med requirements and get to learn things that are challenging but definitely applicable to every day life.

Also... you shouldn't really look for majors that give you a boost in med school as I've read before sometimes it's best to be exposed to the material for the first time especially considering that the methodology of teaching the material and difficulty will be completely different once you get to med school. That being said, I have heard that this major is common for people looking to do Sports Medicine or Orthopaedics. If you want to be an oral surgeon have fun explaining the choice on a PS.

**Sorry if something didn't make sense or there are typos. Just woke up from a nap I took after work and I can't see straight and I really don't feel like proofreading.**

Hope this helps.

Look, the reason for my post was to flame the OP for asking the same question that has been asked by 15 million other people. Don't get your knickers in a twist, but really, can you really tell me that flipping exercise science is as rigourous a major as Chemistry or Engineering. If you say yes then you are deluding yourself.

Besides, I wasn't saying anything about what major would get you into medical school. But if you want to take fluff courses then how do you think your going to hang in med school. Good luck with that.

 

[han14tra]

Do what you love or are at least remotely interested in. If I would have known better, I'd probably be a management major rather than a bio major. Honestly, my GPA probably would have higher because I enjoy management (not so much tropical ecology).

 

[RUc10]

Look, the reason for my post was to flame the OP for asking the same question that has been asked by 15 million other people. Don't get your knickers in a twist, but really, can you really tell me that flipping exercise science is as rigourous a major as Chemistry or Engineering. If you say yes then you are deluding yourself.

Besides, I wasn't saying anything about what major would get you into medical school. But if you want to take fluff courses then how do you think your going to hang in med school. Good luck with that.

OP has 5 posts. Everyone has forgotten the almighty "search before I post" rule and it's obviously going to be done for some one that is new to a forum.

And Yes, I can really tell you it's as rigorous as a chemistry major. Engineering, no. The difference between my major and a Chem major is Physical Chemistry and Inorganic chem, two major classes. I wouldn't consider Chem too far ahead when Bio isn't even a requirement. As I said, my major encompasses pretty much all the pre-med requirements. If you think Exercise Science is full of fluff courses then you must of also thought getting into med school was cake and and you probably got a 45 on your MCAT right?

As I said before, it's different at different schools. The term Exercise Science normally includes several different focuses, from Exercise Physiology to Kinesiology, to general Exercise Science, to Sports Management, to Athletic Training. Generally a kinesiology major is a lot more science oriented than the latter mentioned and isn't simple.

Don't care if you wanna flame some one because you have nothing better to do but if you don't know the actual details of something then you probably shouldn't speak on it.

 

[silverhorse84]

Look, the reason for my post was to flame the OP for asking the same question that has been asked by 15 million other people. Don't get your knickers in a twist, but really, can you really tell me that flipping exercise science is as rigourous a major as Chemistry or Engineering. If you say yes then you are deluding yourself.

Besides, I wasn't saying anything about what major would get you into medical school. But if you want to take fluff courses then how do you think your going to hang in med school. Good luck with that.

Maybe at your school it's not a rigorous major, but that doesn't mean it won't be at others. At my school it's actually very competitive to get into kinesiology. I had a roommate who did it and she's not going into PE - same with most of her classmates.

 

[seelee]

Sorry, everyone. It was late and I was acting a mite trollish.

 

[87138]

Kinesiology as a major is very different at various schools. Fortunately for the OP, ASU has a great program and is highly regarded.

In and of itself, Kinesiology can be an attractive major, but also makes it likely that you'll need a graduate/professional degree in order to do something more lucrative/productive with it. If it's something you love, and you plan on attending medical school (or some other health professional school), it's a great choice.

For some reason people on here forget that everyone has to take the same core classes to get to medical school. They also like to suggest that bio majors somehow are the exalted and enlightened ones who clearly are the only people prepared for the "rigors of medical school." Those (in my observations) seem to be the ones who fall flat on their face the first few months in medical school.

Above all, "do something you enjoy" (to beat an SDN cliche into the ground). Like it or not, most adcoms are probably going to look at a 4.0 in Basketweaving in higher regard than a 3.0 in Superawesomepremedbio. The adcoms essentially subscribe to the classic reasoning: "It is better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt."

 

[KTownGT]

OP has 5 posts. Everyone has forgotten the almighty "search before I post" rule and it's obviously going to be done for some one that is new to a forum.

And Yes, I can really tell you it's as rigorous as a chemistry major. Engineering, no. The difference between my major and a Chem major is Physical Chemistry and Inorganic chem, two major classes. I wouldn't consider Chem too far ahead when Bio isn't even a requirement. As I said, my major encompasses pretty much all the pre-med requirements. If you think Exercise Science is full of fluff courses then you must of also thought getting into med school was cake and and you probably got a 45 on your MCAT right?

As I said before, it's different at different schools. The term Exercise Science normally includes several different focuses, from Exercise Physiology to Kinesiology, to general Exercise Science, to Sports Management, to Athletic Training. Generally a kinesiology major is a lot more science oriented than the latter mentioned and isn't simple.

Don't care if you wanna flame some one because you have nothing better to do but if you don't know the actual details of something then you probably shouldn't speak on it.

BS in Chemistry at my school requires 2 semesters of Gen Chem, 3 semesters of O. Chem, 2 of A. Chem, 2 semesters P. chem, and 2 semesters I. Chem, Calc I/II/III, molecular Biochem, and 2 semesters of Bio for majors.
Chemistry is definitely not an easy major. 👎

 

[RnD4Lyf]

BS in Chemistry at my school requires 2 semesters of Gen Chem, 3 semesters of O. Chem, 2 of A. Chem, 2 semesters P. chem, and 2 semesters I. Chem, Calc I/II/III, molecular Biochem, and 2 semesters of Bio for majors.
Chemistry is definitely not an easy major. 👎

No differential equations? Weak!

 

[KTownGT]

No differential equations? Weak!

That's Calculus II or III, my curriculum guide doesn't go into detail which is which.

Oh, there is also 2 semesters of Physics.

 

[seelee]

No differential equations? Weak!

Off topic, but that is not so uncommon. The only thing chemists require diff eq for is quantum (schrodinger's equation and the like). Usually the math needed for that can be taught in the P Chem class.

My school offers a "math for scientists and engineers" which is a 3-D calc/Diff eq hybrid, it is pretty useful.

 

[Scean]

OP,

I love it, and I'm accepted, go for it

 

[MSUSpartan642]

It is a good major if it is what interests you. When I started my undergraduate I was a Kinesiology major but 2 years in I switched to Human Physiology because many of the classes in the Kin curriculum were cake walk classes. I was taking classes about the mechanics about throwing a baseball? I dont care about that. I found myself to be much more interested in the deeper science classes. Whatever makes you happy though, do that.

 

[Forbes]

Also... you shouldn't really look for majors that give you a boost in med school as I've read before sometimes it's best to be exposed to the material for the first time especially considering that the methodology of teaching the material and difficulty will be completely different once you get to med school.

From talking to medical students I know, this isn't 100% true. I have heard it from both sides, and the consensus I gathered is anything that you learn about anatomy/physiology/whatever can't hurt as long as it is correct. Just because it's harder and they teach it differently in medical school does not mean having a knowledge base to build upon is a bad idea. Totally off topic, sorry.

In regards to the major - do what makes you happy. Biology & the Polish language are the subjects I enjoy, so it is what I do. If you are looking for an easy way into medical school then you are chasing your tail.

 

[ASUHOPEFUL]

can someone tell me if this looks like a good kinesiology program?

http://catalog.asu.edu/files/majormap09/LAKINBS.pdf

 

[87138]

.

 

[87138]

can someone tell me if this looks like a good kinesiology program?

http://catalog.asu.edu/files/majormap09/LAKINBS.pdf

Check your PMs.

 

[RySerr21]

Since you didn't bother to use the search function..I am going to give you the first answer that popped into my head

Kinesiology is a cake major that will not prepare you for the rigor of medical school. It is completely useless and if you don't get into medical school the only other thing you could do with it is be a P.E. Coach.

So, next time type your question into the search menu to find the 800 other threads that have already been posted on this exact same topic.

LIFE RULE #1: When you dont know what you are talking about, you should probably keep your mouth shut. 👎


I have only come to realize recently that kinesiology varies widely among schools. I didnt even konw that it had this reputation that you just described until recently...why is this? B/c at my school kinesiology is f*ckin hard. To graduate with a kinesiology major, you have to take all of the pre med pre reqs (it doesnt matter if you are applying to med school or not). On top of that, you have 6-7+ other kinesiology courses that you have to take, NONE of which are easy. Ive taken courses in human anatomy, human physiology, exercise physiology, nutrition, biomechanicsetc etc. I for one feel extremely prepared for medical school, and talking with close friends who have recently graduated AND ARE IN MEDICAL SCHOOL now, they express that they are very prepared and doing well. Every year we have people apply to medical school (this year is no different) and every year they do well (myself included). Off the top of my head i can think of 2-3 people for each graduating class since i have been here that is now in med school (this is out of a grduating class of like 7-10 people). The other people apply and do well for programs like PT and PA. I know everyone of the graduating seniors in my major, not one is going to be a PE coach, and many are already accepted into the top programs in the country for their field.

In case you dont understand, let me reiterate LIFE RULE#1:

When you dont know what you are talking about, you should probably keep your mouth shut. 👎

 

[RUc10]

BS in Chemistry at my school requires 2 semesters of Gen Chem, 3 semesters of O. Chem, 2 of A. Chem, 2 semesters P. chem, and 2 semesters I. Chem, Calc I/II/III, molecular Biochem, and 2 semesters of Bio for majors.
Chemistry is definitely not an easy major. 👎

Yea everything varies from school to school. Chem at your school is clearly a bit harder. Chem majors here have to take all that minus the bio related classes and I think Calc III. I guess where the difference is comes with the physics requirements.

LIFE RULE #1: When you dont know what you are talking about, you should probably keep your mouth shut. 👎


I have only come to realize recently that kinesiology varies widely among schools. I didnt even konw that it had this reputation that you just described until recently...why is this? B/c at my school kinesiology is f*ckin hard. To graduate with a kinesiology major, you have to take all of the pre med pre reqs (it doesnt matter if you are applying to med school or not). On top of that, you have 6-7+ other kinesiology courses that you have to take, NONE of which are easy. Ive taken courses in human anatomy, human physiology, exercise physiology, nutrition, biomechanicsetc etc. I for one feel extremely prepared for medical school, and talking with close friends who have recently graduated AND ARE IN MEDICAL SCHOOL now, they express that they are very prepared and doing well. Every year we have people apply to medical school (this year is no different) and every year they do well (myself included). Off the top of my head i can think of 2-3 people for each graduating class since i have been here that is now in med school (this is out of a grduating class of like 7-10 people). The other people apply and do well for programs like PT and PA. I know everyone of the graduating seniors in my major, not one is going to be a PE coach, and many are already accepted into the top programs in the country for their field.

In case you dont understand, let me reiterate LIFE RULE#1:

When you dont know what you are talking about, you should probably keep your mouth shut. 👎

This. One of the things that actualy enticed me to keep my major after constantly getting the... "oh... so you want to be a gym teacher" statements was the statistics that the HPO gives at my school and majors at my school, not even just the Physiology majors, have a pretty good acceptance rate compared to the average acceptance rate of all students.

 

[ASUHOPEFUL]

Yea everything varies from school to school. Chem at your school is clearly a bit harder. Chem majors here have to take all that minus the bio related classes and I think Calc III. I guess where the difference is comes with the physics requirements.



This. One of the things that actualy enticed me to keep my major after constantly getting the... "oh... so you want to be a gym teacher" statements was the statistics that the HPO gives at my school and majors at my school, not even just the Physiology majors, have a pretty good acceptance rate compared to the average acceptance rate of all students.

Im sorry but im a little confused can you clarify this for me thank you.