Minor for Medical school?

[mideastbroson]

Im a neuroscience major. Im gettinng intimidated by the fact that most of my prehealth professions friends are either double majoring or taking a minor before they apply to medical school. Is it something I should do or is this really a myth that I should get over and be satisfied with a single major at my L.A. college

Thanks appreciate it y'all

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[braluk]

Having a single major is not a detriment to applying to medical school. I mean, in all honesty, part of me thinks that medical schools dont really care what you major in, as long as you do well in your prereqs and your MCAT.

 

[HumbleMD]

Im a neuroscience major. Im gettinng intimidated by the fact that most of my prehealth professions friends are either double majoring or taking a minor before they apply to medical school. Is it something I should do or is this really a myth that I should get over and be satisfied with a single major at my L.A. college

Thanks appreciate it y'all

For me a minor was something I happen to pick up at the end of my Junior year and Senior year (don't stress out over it). If you have a focus to your humanities courses, think about focusing them on a minor. Otherwise, don't worry about.

Oh, and your first problem is having pre-health friends. Avoid them at all costs.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

Im a neuroscience major. Im gettinng intimidated by the fact that most of my prehealth professions friends are either double majoring or taking a minor before they apply to medical school. Is it something I should do or is this really a myth that I should get over and be satisfied with a single major at my L.A. college

Thanks appreciate it y'all

Major, Minor, blah dont make a difference.

Show that you challenged yourself with coursework, have a solid gpa, and rail the mcat (oh yea, dont forgot to get drunk every now and then too, got to keep a balance...)😀

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Here's what matters: MCAT, good grades (especially in science classes and prereq's), relevant EC's. The LOR's will come if the other three are there. Focus your death star at blowing away these three things. Anything else you do is for your own edification only. Some might sprinkle in a little research, but only do it if it's something you want to do.

 

[mideastbroson]

By the way, as far as courses and prereqs are concerned, im not sure if the courses I have taken are particulary challenging?

Well I took the hard part so far:
-gen chem 1 and 2
-physics 1
-calc
-bio 1 2 and 3
-honors organic chemistry 1 (brief explanation: my college offers two organic chemistry courses, a regular one (most premed kids take this) and an honors course which consists of 4 to 5 hour exams, and our labs go from 1pm to usually 6pm. Also the lab reports run in the 30 to 40 page range for most of the total 20 students in the honors section so in other words its like a major boot in the ass.)

Now I am currently taking honors organic chem 2 (which counts as a writing intensive at my school cause now our labs are absolutely f--kin long and very heavily graded) in addition to neurobiology (which is my fav. course so far excluding the physics 2 involved in neuronal signaling lol). Next semester (my junior year) im looking at physiology, biological psychology, an english class, and a requirement. Im waiting to take bio chem in my senior yr bc its closer to medical school (assuming i apply in the summer after my junior yr) and i'll be taking a neuro seminar and applied physio (class where u work with a physician from the area on case based scenarios) and probably histo.

rigorous enough or should i pop in biochem before i take the mcat and call it a brutal junior year?

 

[armybound]

I was a neuroscience major. I found out that all I needed was 1 more chemistry course to pick up a chemistry minor. Gen chem + O-chem + labs = 1 hour short of a minor. I took biochem.

It shouldn't be that hard to pick up a minor.

And your schedule sounds busy enough, take biochem at a later time.

 

[DrBowtie]

I was a neuroscience major. I found out that all I needed was 1 more chemistry course to pick up a chemistry minor. Gen chem + O-chem + labs = 1 hour short of a minor. I took biochem.

It shouldn't be that hard to pick up a minor.

And your schedule sounds busy enough, take biochem at a later time.

Yeah, at my school the Chem minor was something almost every pre-med did since it was only one more class above the organic series to get it.

 

[mideastbroson]

unfortunately the chem minor in my school will req me to take p-chem analytical chem and 4 other chem classes even though i have all the gen chems and orgos out of the way

 

[Tired]

unfortunately the chem minor in my school will req me to take p-chem analytical chem and 4 other chem classes even though i have all the gen chems and orgos out of the way

Two things:

1) No one cares about a minor, either in med school or anywhere else. Unless you're doing a minor in something interesting (ie - foreign language, interpretive dance, animal husbandry), most people won't even notice. And even if it is interesting, all it is is something extra to talk about in an interview.

2) I'd recheck your description of the Chem minor requirements. Most schools allow other science courses to count towards a minor. I was a chem major, and your description of the Chem minor sounds a lot like the requirements for my major. I suspect you read the wrong paragraph in the catalogue. At my school, the minor was Gen Chem + Orgo + another two chem courses + a couple elective science courses. Since most pre-meds were bio majors, they already had the elective science courses from their major.

 

[pennybridge]

the less time you spend on schoolwork the more time you have for important things.

 

[Yachtclub]

Spanish.
Spanish.
Spanish.

There are Spanish MAJORS like crazy at my school...granted they still rocked the aforementioned stuff. But trust me, no one asked about my Econ minor. EVERYONE asked about my Spanish minor/study abroad.

 

[Law2Doc]

1) No one cares about a minor, either in med school or anywhere else.

It can make your parents proud. But other than that, I have to agree with the rest. do it if you want. or don't. Adcoms sure won't care.