Majors for Medical School

[premed0176]

Hello,

I am currently a health science major but am unsure if this major will compromise my candidacy for medical schools. I am under the impression that GPA and MCAT score are primarily considered when applying but a friend recently told me that I should be a biology major if I want to be a strong applicant. I am a sophomore and I earned a 4.0 GPA this past semester. As long as I fulfill the prerequisites, will being a health science major affect my ability to get accepted to medical schools? What are your thoughts? Thank you for any advice.

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[Lannister]

Your friend is wrong. Get a degree in something that will allow you to get a good GPA and will give you a viable backup plan if med school doesn't work out.

 

[Sidthekiddd]

I feel like ur a UCF student. You're good. Provided you cover your ground MCAT and extracurricular wise, you will get in.
I was a health science major and now that I've gone through the app cycle- I wouldn't have changed that for the world. It did me just fine. Dont change ur major if it fills the prereqs and its what you want to major in.

 

[HomeSkool]

I am under the impression that GPA and MCAT score are primarily considered when applying

This is correct. Those are the first screening items that will determine whether your app goes to the review pile or the recycle bin.

a friend recently told me that I should be a biology major if I want to be a strong applicant

Your friend is misinformed. Correct him. Friends don't let friends pull stuff out of their butts about med school admissions.

I am a sophomore and I earned a 4.0 GPA this past semester.

Strong work, mate!

As long as I fulfill the prerequisites, will being a health science major affect my ability to get accepted to medical schools?

The criteria for your major should be the following:

• Something you enjoy
• Something in which you can earn a strong GPA
• Something conducive to a plan B in case you don't get into med school on your first try (i.e., employable at the bachelor's level)

Your major doesn't matter. GPA and MCAT are what will make or break your application.

 

[premed0176]

Thank you for all of the advice!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Also, and this is just an interesting tidbit, but bio majors do worse on average on the MCAT than math and stats majors and humanities majors.

 

[21Rush12]

Friends don't let friends pull stuff out of their butts about med school admissions.

This is so perfect we should make T-Shirts of it.