Majors?

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Hey everyone!

I know that your major does not matter for medical school as long as you love it, but I was just wondering what you think about the following majors:

Public Health, Neuroscience, Nutrition, Health Management,

Which one would you choose and why?
 
Out of those, I'd probably choose Public Health because I enjoy policy and administration and I imagine Public Health will involve those much more than the others.
 
is it actually true that your major doesnt matter? what if you do a sociology major and you have a weak sGPA? are adcoms gonna think that you just cant handle hard sciences? O_O
 
That's the thing: you have to do well in your science classes.

If you do, and you also make sure to take a few upper levels (usually required anyway for the bio requirement), you should be fine. Or so I've heard.

You can also do a minor in Bio if you really want to, like I'm doing.
 
Hey everyone!

I know that your major does not matter for medical school as long as you love it, but I was just wondering what you think about the following majors:

Public Health, Neuroscience, Nutrition, Health Management,

Which one would you choose and why?

Any of the three but Health Management because undergraduate management degrees are useless.

But seriously, just study what you want to.

is it actually true that your major doesnt matter? what if you do a sociology major and you have a weak sGPA? are adcoms gonna think that you just cant handle hard sciences? O_O

You can study whatever you want to IF you also do well in the prereqs. Medical schools pretty much don't care what your major is (and there's a lot of appeal in bringing in people who have humanities degrees) if you kick ass in all of your courses including science

Humanities premeds historically have some of the highest scores on the MCAT because if they're going to medical school, it's often because they can handle science AND verbal skills.
 
Those are all fine. Nutrition and Neuroscience might add a little bit of science rigor to your program if you're looking for that, but otherwise I don't think adcoms will care.
 
You should get a major that has a good chance of employment in case you don't get into medical school.

Comp science or business (eg finance/accounting/etc). Those are the majors that are paying well today.
 
is it actually true that your major doesnt matter? what if you do a sociology major and you have a weak sGPA? are adcoms gonna think that you just cant handle hard sciences? O_O

Well...yes. If your sGPA is low, then that would be indicative that you did not handle your sciences well. 😕
 
The best major is Spanish IMO if you're not a native speaker. Otherwise go with engineering or computer science. That way you have something to fall back on if med school doesn't work out.
 
I'm a bio nerd so, neuroscience. If only my school had that major...
 
I switched to engineering. Why? Because when I take a gap year or two before medical school I will be able to work and make some decent coin before applying/matriculating. I do not want to be stuck making some peanuts with a nice chunk of school debt on my conscience.

I do not know about the rest of you, but I do not have any wealthy parents or huge stash of savings to fall back on if medical school does not work out. If I am going to put this much money and effort into an undergrad degree it better be in something that is going to grant me the opportunities to get into very well paying positions.

Also if the world goes to sh*** I want to be the guy who has the technical skills to be able to build his own things needed for survival. 😛
 
If MD is something you really want, it can be risky to pick up a degree like engineering. Yes, you have a lot of job prospects after college, but it can tank your GPA if you aren't careful or smart enough to hack it in your program. Also, keeping up with pre-med ECs and trying to land internships for engineering is tricky.
 
If it was available to me, I totally would have done Neuroscience or Organic Chemistry. They are both "hard" sciences which prove academic rigor and would provide reasonable jobs if the med-school plans don't work out.

But most importantly: they are both subjects which I understand and enjoy.

JMHO
 
If it's available at your university, I would choose a major in Clinical Laboratory Science. Lots of medically related knowledge/experience and plenty of job opportunities after graduation.
 
Hey everyone!

I know that your major does not matter for medical school as long as you love it, but I was just wondering what you think about the following majors:

Public Health, Neuroscience, Nutrition, Health Management,

Which one would you choose and why?

If I could start all over (i'm entering my senior year) I would major in either History, Arabic, Sociology, Econ, or Public Health with a minor in something science related (physio, microbio, etc.). So to answer you're question, i'd pick Public Health.
 
Here's a question I have:

I know that you can technically major in whatever you want and schools encourage you to pick what you're interested in. Nevertheless, I have a fear that among the older public schools (e.g. most schools in Texas), there is a "set way" of doing things and the admissions-conservatives will still look down on/not understand somebody who doesn't major in Bio or another similar science.

Sorry if I'm not making sense. What I mean is, among many state schools, there's a bureaucracy in place that has its own expectations and is usually stuck in its ways.


Does anybody have experience applying to Texas medical schools as a non science/non bio major?
 
Here's a question I have:

I know that you can technically major in whatever you want and schools encourage you to pick what you're interested in. Nevertheless, I have a fear that among the older public schools (e.g. most schools in Texas), there is a "set way" of doing things and the admissions-conservatives will still look down on/not understand somebody who doesn't major in Bio or another similar science.

Sorry if I'm not making sense. What I mean is, among many state schools, there's a bureaucracy in place that has its own expectations and is usually stuck in its ways.


Does anybody have experience applying to Texas medical schools as a non science/non bio major?

Gotta love Texas
tigger2.gif
 
Hey everyone!

I know that your major does not matter for medical school as long as you love it, but I was just wondering what you think about the following majors:

Public Health, Neuroscience, Nutrition, Health Management,

Which one would you choose and why?

Health Management is the only one that I'd strictly avoid....unless you actually want to land the type of entry-level jobs that the degree leads to.

Public Health is alright, but it is more advantageous to pick up a MPH credential. Similar to an MBA, the MPH is a professional credential which should enhance both your career prospects and your CV.

Nutrition is a decent major, but you'll likely take a lot of non-medical courses on food prep/sanitation, nutritional education/communication, etc. I personally think that a minor in nutrition is more than adequate (for future doctors), unless of course you would prefer to pursue the RDA cert., or you want to open a restaurant on the side 🙂

So, my vote is for Neuroscience, assuming that you like all of the four options equally. Neuroscience will be perceived as academically rigorous, medically relevant, and it should prepare you to participate in cutting-edge research, if you so should desire to pursue any during your academic or working career.
 
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Assuming you really do like all four subjects equally and would be happiest in each, which may well change in the next few years, there are two ways to look at it -- in terms of statistics or or extra-medical utility.

As far as statistics go regarding matriculation by major, AMCAS suggests (here: https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/2012factstable18.pdf ) that the more successful majors by percentage of matriculation are the ones whose subject material is more principle-based and less specifics-based. For example, specialized health sciences have lower numbers, and those majors usually entail training students to fill specific jobs -- health administration, therapy, etc. Highest percentages are around mathematics and humanities, which develop a lot of principle-based thinking at the expense of specific training. So on that spectrum, it might be prudent to steer away from Health Management and Public Health, though again, personal interest plays the most important part; I've known Library Science majors to get accepted with enough drive.

"Last hurrah for something unrelated to medicine for a very long time" is the other way to look at it, and it's every bit as important (maybe more). Nutrition and Public Health are both complimentary to medicine, but you're not going to get med school before med school in any case, so looking at them as separate entities from medicine might help you get a better perspective on them to help your career down the road, after school. The same could apply to Neuroscience, if you're one of those lunatics who like the idea of spending free time in a lab.

...and I've given that long-winded spiel so much that I should just make a link for it.

If it were me, I don't like the idea of any major that doesn't entail unhealthy volumes of writing, but Public Health has gotten interesting to me in the past few years, and an MPH might be nice to shoot for down the road. Otherwise, maybe Nutrition.
 
Health Management seems like a great way to safeguard against not getting into any schools right away.
However, the neuroscience major seems like the strongest in preparing you for medical school in some sense (depending on their course track though). Of course, nowhere near the detail, speed and volume of medical school.

Here at UCSD I feel that our Human Biology major is great in getting a small preview of the coursework in medical school as most of the medical school professors also teach these undergraduate courses. Being able to take Immunology, Pharmacology, Endocrinology, Reproduction and Development, and other courses that would be seen in medical school has been such an awesome experience and in some way has allowed me to see where my interests lie for now.
 
How does a major in Neuroscience with a Minor in Nutrition sound? vs. a major in Neuroscience and a minor in English?
 
omg people. Your choice of an academic program of study should be based on your own personal interests, first and foremost. Secondly, it should be based on interest. Thirdly, it should be based on interest. See the trend?

Sure, the whole backup plan thing should be considered, but what you pick for a backup should be determined by interest.
 
Does anybody have experience applying to Texas medical schools as a non science/non bio major?

I have never seen a TX applicant from my school have any trouble getting into TX med schools, and most of them are non-science majors.

Whether this is a result of our being an Ivy, I'm not sure, but I doubt schools would care that much about your major.
 
I would choose Neuroscience because that's what I like, but there's no advantage or disadvantage to any of those majors.
 
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