Majoring in something other than bio/chem?

[deleted838145]

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What's it like majoring in something atypical of a premed (as in, biology, chemistry, physiology, biochem, etc)? Is it harder? I'm planning on majoring in Cognitive-Behavioral Neuroscience (because I love the subject), but I'm worried that it will be difficult to balance the premed requisites. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[bbob5]

Lots of people who plan on attending med school don't major in the typical "pre-med major". I'm one of those people.

I'd say go for it on the neuroscience major. You'll probably enjoy college more and will likely end up with a higher GPA since it's a subject you like. I'm a philosophy major and I love it. It's gives me a nice break from my science classes and I find it interesting. I'm not having any problems balancing my prerequisites. You really just have to plan things out. Definitely doable!


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[Lawpy]

What's it like majoring in something atypical of a premed (as in, biology, chemistry, physiology, biochem, etc)? Is it harder? I'm planning on majoring in Cognitive-Behavioral Neuroscience (because I love the subject), but I'm worried that it will be difficult to balance the premed requisites. Any thoughts appreciated.

People major in physics, engineering, philosophy, literature, linguistics, anthropology, classics, computer science etc. and manage to crush the prereqs on top of doing well in classes and in MCAT. Major doesn't matter. What matters is following your passion and excelling in it.

Just plan well and have good time management, and you will do fine.

 

[HooliganSnail]

I trained in clinical laboratory sciences, you know, the degree for the people who work in the lab

It is heavily science based, has all of your major classes you need for med school and MCAT prep.

It has a huge emphasis on medical microbiology, hematology, immunology, which are all classes that we get maybe two weeks of in medical school. The micro especially helped. I find bugs/drugs to be frankly easy, most of my classmates struggled, and that is all because of my exposure in undergrad.

The best part is, if you don't make it into medical school, you have a viable career path, unlike a biology degree which is worth exactly dick.

 

[Doctor-S]

What's it like majoring in something atypical of a premed (as in, biology, chemistry, physiology, biochem, etc)? Is it harder? I'm planning on majoring in Cognitive-Behavioral Neuroscience (because I love the subject), but I'm worried that it will be difficult to balance the premed requisites. Any thoughts appreciated.

It's not a problem so long as you do well in pre-med pre-requisites and exercise good study skills and good time management skills. FWIW, as a triple major, I did the same thing that you're thinking about doing *only* because I was interested in science courses as well as liberal arts. UG provides you with a unique opportunity to enroll in a variety of interesting courses that are fascinating, fun and educational. If you truly enjoy those courses, you will likely do well in them. Have fun and enjoy them while you can!

 

[LizzyM]

I see tons of excellent applicants who majored in neuroscience. It seems to be a very popular major among pre-meds.

 

[deleted838145]

I see tons of excellent applicants who majored in neuroscience. It seems to be a very popular major among pre-meds.

It's called neuroscience, but it's offered as a joint major between the school's Psych and Cogsci depts.