Most Suitable pre-med major....not bio or chem

[undergrad06]

Hello,
I am an incoming college freshman who is interested in pre-med, but I don't think that I want to major in one of the sciences (bio, chem, phy). Are there any suggestions as to which majors are suitable for pre-meds. I know that it is said that one can major in whatever they want to, but I just need some advice from upperclassmen who've majored in something other than biological sciences. Thanks for your time.

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[shorrin]

Please do what you love!!

Four years is a VERY long time. You may decide medicine is not for you. Not only that, if you are doing something you really love then you will do better in your major and will give you an outlet from those sometimes heavy-hitting sci classes.

Playing the 'what looks good to adcoms' game is useless, worse than the lotto. Adcom members can be a diverse lot.

I was corrected at an interview once by following this mentality myself - luckily it didn't hurt me in the end but it was a proper wake-up call.

 

[Doc AdamK in 2006]

HI there,

I know this is not a popular major and it doesn't even exist at many schools but I think my PHARMACOLOGY/ TOXICOLOGY major prepared me very well for medical school.

My curriculum followed that of most pharmacy majors prior to a Pharmacothreapeutics course (were you learn dosing and all sort of things).

I had all the courses that a normal Bio and Chem major take minus those stupid botany and ecology courses. (sorry plant people)

Here follow this link: Then click on the the link to the pdf version of the cirriculum, its near the bottom of the page.
<a href="http://www.usip.edu/pharmtox/curriculum/index.htm" target="_blank">Link to USP Pharm/ Tox major</a>
<a href="http://www.usip.edu/pharmtox/curriculum/curriculum_02_03_04_05.pdf" target="_blank">pdf version</a>

The best part of this major is that you get heavy doses of the classes that you will be taking the first 2 years of medical school.

Another great part is that there were so few required credit hours, I loaded up with 17-20 hours/semester and took 4 extra immunology courses.

AK

 

[kito]

I wouldn't worry too much about how a certain major may or may not look to a medical school admissions committee. I am a junior who is new to the medical school race, and I am majoring in both physics and mathematics, with minors in economics and chemistry, not because I thought any of it would look good to a third party, or because I thought any of them would be easy (the first two certainly are not) but because I have a great time learning the material, and get great kicks out of the subjects. Don't let anyone tell you what to learn, because in the end what matters most is whether or not you are doing what you love, and if you are, then solid academic performances will follow and that will positively affect your standing with the admissions committees.

 

[kito]

And Philosopher, would you be able to tell us how many physics majors and math majors there are applying to medical school? I go to NYU and we have about 200 people apply every year, and I have not seen one of either. Thank you in advance for the fascinating information.

 

[The Philosopher]

Ankitovich,

No prob! Here ya go:

MATH:

216 applicants/37,092 total applicants

This is only .6% of the entire pool

120/216 accepted = 55.6%

PHYSICS:

174 applicants/37,092 applicants

This is only .5% of the entire pool

97/174 accepted = 55.7%

Hope that helps.

Lemme know for anymore info!

 

[Street Philosopher]

My personal opinion is that everyone should major in philosophy.

Bias aside, something that I wish I'd have majored in was something like Econ, or Business, or Finance... something that deals with managing money, taxes, etc. I am so clueless about things like that, and I'll probably end up paying grips of taxes later on (instead of investing in certain things, etc).

 

[jot]

how many history majors applied? sorry to badger.
-jot

 

[The Philosopher]

No prob Jot,

always wanting to help

383 history applicants
1% of the entire pool
226 (59%) accepted

lemme know about more info

 

[relatively prime]

Go math majors!! Yay!! Look at the MCAT statistics... Math majors and Humanities majors rock the MCAT. Math majors do even a little bit better than Humanities majors... and way better than the average. Math Majors rule!!

 

[Fluffy]

Chemical Engineering or Bioengineering with lots of additional humanities that you interested in. I got a certificate in Spanish along the way. You will be very prepared for the rigors of medical school, you will have exceptional problem solving skills, and you will know your science inside and out for the MCAT. Of course, maintain a high GPA no matter what you major in. That usually means that you need be interested in the subject material enough that you WANT to study it. Chemical Engineering has served me well, but do what interests you enough that you will excel in it because you like to learn it, not because it's what you think the adcom wants. They don't want cookie cutters, they want dynamic individuals who know what they're talking about and show a passion for what interests them.

 

[Jonkst]

Hey Philosopher,
Where are all these stats coming from?? Also, do you know anything about minors? And, I know there are a lot of us, but can you tell me the stats for bioengineering?

 

[The Philosopher]

Jonkst,

No prob J, more than happy to help, don't worry about burdening me.

These stats are coming from the Medical School Admission Requirements (2002-2003) pg. 30. Now, this year's MSAR (2003-2004) doesn't have the actual number of different majors (which I wish it did, because it's quite interesting) so I just decided to keep last year's edition as well.

Sorry, but minors aren't listed at all.

Anyway, Biomedical engineering:

380 applicants/37,092 total

1% of the entire pool

248/380 accepted = 65.3%

Dyammmnnnn!! I shoulda been a BioE!!! I woulda failed those calc and calc-physics classes like a fool...

 

[PeasOnToast]

The advice here is pretty sound. Major in whatever makes you tick -- it will make college so enjoyable. I majored in English and did really well on medical school acceptances. The main thing is to do well in your major and your sciences (I know it's a lot easier to say than it is to do). Think about planning out your general sketch of science courses and then planning your major around it. Decide when you'd like to take your MCAT's (usually the April before you want to apply, but I took mine a year early so I could study abroad during my Junior year), then plan how you'll take your science requirements (2 sem. gen chem, 2 sem. o-chem, 2-sem. bio, 2 sem. physics, and some math for good measure) so that you can really learn all you need before the big test (make sure you're taking either cell biology, o-chem, physics, or biochem the semester you take the test because it will improve your scores to have it fresh in your mind.
Hope that helps.

 

[Tobtolip]

Hey Philosopher!

If its not too much trouble, think you can post the statistics for computer science majors?

Thanks!

 

[moo]

I did math and physics but come to think of it, if I had to do it all over again, I'd just do math. Physics was fun, but the labs were too time-consuming. I'd just do math and take a whole bunch of physics courses for fun. If you're good with math, I suggest you do that. Math is well-respected whatever field you go into (business, medicine, economics).

 

[The Philosopher]

TobTollip,

Computer science was not listed as an option. I am assuming because the numbers were so low that it was not significant. Instead, it was listed as "other" of which there are 17% of the total applicants (which is a lot).

My guess would be that CS majors are quite unique, even less in number than Electrical Engineers (which are listed as 150 total applicants in the U.S with 77 accepted [51.3%].

I hope this helps!