Music Major 66% Chance of MD Acceptance!!!

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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chman said:
True, but keep in mind that, *gasp*, not everyone is going to get into med school.
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This Biochemistry major is so useful in getting me a job.
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Morsetlis said:
This Biochemistry major is so useful in getting me a job.
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Very practical perspective! With a music degree, chances are you are not going to survive. You might do a couple of gigs here and there, but landing a professional job that pays the bills is as hard as a career in sports.
 
What are we arguing about again? :/
 
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bamtuba said:
I am a musician and former music teacher, but I don't even buy the "music MAKES you smarter argument." That is a load of crock promoted by instrument companies and teachers afraid of losing their jobs in the next round of school budget cuts.

What is true is that intelligent, well-rounded people are likely (and this is my hypothesis, of course) to be attracted to music and other artistic forms of expression...or have intelligent parents that see the value of allowing children outlets in sports, academics, AND the arts.
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I find it so interesting that people are generalizing musicians as "extremely intelligent, driven, focused, hard-working, passionate" etc. Okay, yes. I know many musicians who are all of those things. But I also know many chem, bio, and psych students who are just the same. On the flip side, I know many musicians who are hardly any of those things. People within each discipline vary greatly, and you will have the great and not-so-great in each.

As for bamtuba's statement above, from my experience, students who went into music and became good enough to apply for study in the field had parents who presented their children with plenty of support and many resources and opportunities to succeed in life. This includes in the classroom and beyond. Furthermore, it takes a lot of time and money to fund a budding musician. Instruments, supplies, lessons, traveling (e.g. competitions, auditions, lessons), repairs, etc.

As a past music major, I'd have to say that being a musician per se isn't going to help me do well in pre-reqs, get me through med school, and make me a great doctor. If anything, my ability to focus for long periods of time might translate... but even that isn't quite comparable. Practicing scales, Schradieck, Bach, Paganini, and Prokofiev for 5 hours is nothing like studying calc and chem for 5 hours. They may both require focus and mental stamina, but really... in completely different ways. Honestly, I'd take the prior over the later any day. My experience dealing with refined pressure via solo performances, auditions, masterclasses, etc. is another thing that may help me. Whoever said that musicians are more compassionate and able to connect more with others? That is such a strange assumption. I know plenty of socially inept musicians. For those that mentioned time management... I think that may actually be relevant. But consider this. Most people who are able to successfully complete double degree programs are already stellar in one area, and they may not need to invest too much time in the practice room or library (one or the other, if not both).

There are just SO many confounding variables to consider when viewing these statistics. I assure you, if (hypothetically, of course) the majority of music majors suddenly decided to go pre-med and apply for med school, that percentage would change drastically.
 
For those of you wanting to know how your major affects you MCAT Score
Here you go (straight from aamc's website):

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/table18-facts09mcatgpabymaj1-web.pdf

This is data from 2009:

As you can see Math/Statistical Majors Score higher with an average of 30 or above MCAT score and 3.5 or above GPA. Followed by Physical Sciences, HUMANITIES!!!! (humanities score higher on average on the MCAT than Biology and 49% of Humanities get accepted in contrast to 42% of Biology) and Biological Sciences.

FOR ALL MAJORS THAT WERE ACCEPTED THE AVERAGE WAS:
MCAT: 30P with a GPA:3.6

42,269 Apply
18,390 Accepted
44% Are Accepted

Take it or Leave it.
 
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TheFamilyDoc said:
For those of you wanting to know how your major affects you MCAT Score
Here you go (straight from aamc's website):

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/table18-facts09mcatgpabymaj1-web.pdf

This is data from 2009:

As you can see Math/Statistical Majors Score higher with an average of 30 or above MCAT score and 3.5 or above GPA. Followed by Physical Sciences, HUMANITIES!!!! (humanities score higher on average on the MCAT than Biology and 49% of Humanities get accepted in contrast to 42% of Biology) and Biological Sciences.

FOR ALL MAJORS THAT WERE ACCEPTED THE AVERAGE WAS:
MCAT: 30P with a GPA:3.6

42,269 Apply
18,390 Accepted
44% Are Accepted

Take it or Leave it.
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By presenting those statistics, you have just proven that you have missed the entire point of this argument. It's not an argument about the actual statistics. It's about the underlying variables and biases inherent in what makes one choose a particular major and then choose to become pre-med and whether or not those qualities/factors also contribute to an applicant's competitiveness (particularly, regarding music majors).
 
TheFamilyDoc said:
For those of you wanting to know how your major affects you MCAT Score
Here you go (straight from aamc's website):

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/table18-facts09mcatgpabymaj1-web.pdf

This is data from 2009:

As you can see Math/Statistical Majors Score higher with an average of 30 or above MCAT score and 3.5 or above GPA. Followed by Physical Sciences, HUMANITIES!!!! (humanities score higher on average on the MCAT than Biology and 49% of Humanities get accepted in contrast to 42% of Biology) and Biological Sciences.

FOR ALL MAJORS THAT WERE ACCEPTED THE AVERAGE WAS:
MCAT: 30P with a GPA:3.6

42,269 Apply
18,390 Accepted
44% Are Accepted

Take it or Leave it.
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BBender716 said:
By presenting those statistics, you have just proven that you have missed the entire point of this argument. It's not an argument about the actual statistics. It's about the underlying variables and biases inherent in what makes one choose a particular major and then choose to become pre-med and whether or not those qualities/factors also contribute to an applicant's competitiveness (particularly, regarding music majors).
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By posting your response without reading mine, you have just proven that you have missed the entire point of my post. My bold text above shows that my post was an FYI, I knew it had nothing to do with the argument. I'm the one who created this thread, so I'm pretty sure I get the point of the argument. I said "for those of you" indicating it was not intended for everyone and "take it or leave it" because it was an FYI add on :idea:.
 
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TheFamilyDoc said:
By posting your response without reading mine, you have just proven that you have missed the entire point of my post. My bold text above shows that my post was an FYI, I knew it had nothing to do with the argument. I'm the one who created this thread, so I'm pretty sure I get the point of the argument. I said "for those of you" indicating it was not intended for everyone and "take it or leave it" because it was an FYI add on :idea:.
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I read your post the first time. I'm leaving it (obviously), and the only issue I have is with the opening statement "For those of you wanting to know how your major affects your MCAT Score", this states that you are implying the causation relationship between major and MCAT score that has been torn to shreds here. If you meant, "For those of you wanting to know how your major correlates with MCAT score..." Then I have no quarrel. So I apologize if that's what you meant. No hard feelings? :)
 
BBender716 said:
I read your post the first time. I'm leaving it (obviously), and the only issue I have is with the opening statement "For those of you wanting to know how your major affects your MCAT Score", this states that you are implying the causation relationship between major and MCAT score that has been torn to shreds here. If you meant, "For those of you wanting to know how your major correlates with MCAT score..." Then I have no quarrel. So I apologize if that's what you meant. No hard feelings? :)
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No hard feelings. You are entitled to your opinions. I personally don't care for all the mumbo jumbo of majors, scores etc. I just posted it for those you who do (obviously there are plenty of the on SDN). Personally, I think SDN'rs should really focus on their own apps, progressions, etc. and they will be successful. But, there are those who still want the comfort of statistics. That is why a think of myself as uninfluenced, my beliefs rarely interfere with my posts. I'm so radical I even post in Pre-Vet threads, when it comes to universal topics, just so I can satisfy one person's question.
 
TheFamilyDoc said:
No hard feelings. You are entitled to your opinions. I personally don't care for all the mumbo jumbo of majors, scores etc. I just posted it for those you who do (obviously there are plenty of the on SDN). Personally, I think SDN'rs should really focus on their own apps, progressions, etc. and they will be successful. But, there are those who still want the comfort of statistics. That is why a think of myself as uninfluenced, my beliefs rarely interfere with my posts. I'm so radical I even post in Pre-Vet threads, when it comes to universal topics, just so I can satisfy one person's question.
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I used to love statistics, and then my econ major made me question everything :(
 
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coldblood said:
i really don't see just because these ppl managed to get a good score on MCAT how they are more qualified in any way than someone who is a science major and has good GPA and MCAT similar to theirs.

I really dont see how they correlate their success in medical school over someone who is a science major and has proven success with good GPA because med school is all going to b science related.

with that said, no music major does not make u smarter, does not make u cooler, does not do u anything except great u can now sing. and singing or playing an instrument requires real talent so most of them r fails in their major and kinda have to switch major.

someone above said that small numbers can skew data. i kno u music majors managed to ignore that but thats prolly the reason. and NO ur not smart sorry
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UR not SMMMART. You ooze ignorance. A music major that goes through med school is smart, as is a science major. All I can say to you is... wow. At my school they advise you to actually stray from the usual path. People, do what you want, just work hard at it.
 
Just read the first page but this is interesting, I always thought music was a joke major. I guess maybe it's just at my school or just freshman year or something...but my roommate (music major) seems to have a ton of free time and never has homework or really has to study at all.

Plus you get to play instruments all day :D
 
David1991 said:
Just read the first page but this is interesting, I always thought music was a joke major. I guess maybe it's just at my school or just freshman year or something...but my roommate (music major) seems to have a ton of free time and never has homework or really has to study at all.

Plus you get to play instruments all day :D
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Yes.. common misconception.

I came into college as a music major before I was forced to switch out due to health reasons. So let me give you a breakdown of an average music major's schedule:

Classes required:
-GEs (like anyone else in college)
-6-10 hours of orchestra rehearsals weekly (not counting performances/dress rehearsals which can add another 5 or 6)
-Music theory (which is like a science class, with music notes instead of atoms and numbers)
-Private lessons~ twice a week
-Chamber music rehearsal (4-6 hours a week.. again, not counting dress rehearsals/performances)
-Piano class (even if you aren't a piano major.. need to learn it)
-Music history
-Individual practicing (I did around 5-8 hours a day)
-Performances (music majors are required at most schools to give one individual SOLO recital that is around 1.5-2 hours long each year. And are graded by profs and must pass to continue)

Yeah... that sounds about right.. This is why I destroyed my wrists and was forced into physical therapy for 3 years and couldn't play for 2 years... it's tough.

There are definitely people who do not do much work... they dont bother practicing, miss class, dont go to rehearsals. Trust me. there are many music majors like that. But if they did everything by the book, the above is what their schedule would look like.

How hard you work really is up the person... music major or premed aside.
 
dweji16 said:
Yes.. common misconception.

I came into college as a music major before I was forced to switch out due to health reasons. So let me give you a breakdown of an average music major's schedule:

Classes required:
-GEs (like anyone else in college)
-6-10 hours of orchestra rehearsals weekly (not counting performances/dress rehearsals which can add another 5 or 6)
-Music theory (which is like a science class, with music notes instead of atoms and numbers)
-Private lessons~ twice a week
-Chamber music rehearsal (4-6 hours a week.. again, not counting dress rehearsals/performances)
-Piano class (even if you aren't a piano major.. need to learn it)
-Music history
-Individual practicing (I did around 5-8 hours a day)
-Performances (music majors are required at most schools to give one individual SOLO recital that is around 1.5-2 hours long each year. And are graded by profs and must pass to continue)

Yeah... that sounds about right.. This is why I destroyed my wrists and was forced into physical therapy for 3 years and couldn't play for 2 years... it's tough.

There are definitely people who do not do much work... they dont bother practicing, miss class, dont go to rehearsals. Trust me. there are many music majors like that. But if they did everything by the book, the above is what their schedule would look like.

How hard you work really is up the person... music major or premed aside.
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Definitely time consuming, but it doesn't seem bad if you like music. I mean I assume music majors chose it because they enjoy music. If I chose a video game major and had to practice 5 hours per day I sure wouldn't complain :D lol. Obviously it's not exactly like that but they're still basically doing their hobby the majority of the time.
 
David1991 said:
Definitely time consuming, but it doesn't seem bad if you like music. I mean I assume music majors chose it because they enjoy music. If I chose a video game major and had to practice 5 hours per day I sure wouldn't complain :D lol. Obviously it's not exactly like that but they're still basically doing their hobby the majority of the time.
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Hhahaahaha. true true.
But I can tell you (as an avid video game lover myself).. practicing is not playing. If anything, practicing is more similar to studying. You hate it sometimes when things dont go as planned and your fingers dont work the way you want them to, just like when you feel like your brain is exploding and being splattered on the walls when you just don't get chemical reactions. Then again, you love it when things go right. A lot of people practice because they need to, just as much as they practice because they love to be playing their instrument.

And trust me... if there was a video game major, I would do it in a heartbeat as well...

And there also lies the whole risk that music is a physical major. It requires your healthy body, and if any part of your body breaks (even just the tip of one finger), you're life is over. Trust me... it's not a good feeling knowing when something you dedicated 20 years of your life to comes crashing down. Recovery period= 2 years (before I began to care about my life again).

But sitting here... right now.. I'd rather be back practicing my Paganini Caprices than studying thermodynamics...
 
Morsetlis said:
Artistic talent and medicine... nah.

They're separate, and smart people are smart. They could also be computer science majors and pre-med. I personally dislike music theory and prefer noise/industrial. Classical instruments irritate me.

I actually respect Econ pre-meds a lot more than any other ;p
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do keep in mind that music requires you to have a talent in pattern recognition and a long attention spam, both are incredibily useful in studying for anything.
 
I play 13 different instruments and started as a music major. Music is VERY tough. My young life in middle school and high school was spent practicing hours for competitions, and singing in front of jdg3s once or twice yearly. You had state competitins, and want to talk about cut throat, that was it.

I love to sing, play the piano and all the other sinstruments I enjoy. I go to the practice rooms as often as possible, and make use of them. I have a music classthis term, which is great for me.

There is no such thing as an easy major. I fr one love music, and I love A&P and Biology. I may minor in music or something else. I feel incredibly lucky to have had a varied edcuation through my life. I was in chamber orchestra, youth symphony, choir, all the things one imagines a kid into music doing. None of them was easy. I am now able to relate some of my music traning back to math. It's not that I am a genious, I think that it's very good when one can find correlation and ways to relate back to what one has already learned. I find music as a great relaxation for me.

I still just do some things musically to keep myself from drowning or going crazy. I am also good at languages, which I am sure has something to do wth training in music. I am going to make sure that I am fluently bilingual by the time I apply to med school. I think all these things help, they are all incredibly important. When you can do more than one thing, you've opened yourself to a world of possibilities. As long as you havemany skills you have mastered, then no matter what, you can always find some kind of job, or work!
 
NerdyAndrea said:
There is no such thing as an easy major.
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I think there's a lot of wisdom in your post, but I do take issue with this. Many people like to feel as though what they're doing is the hardest, and perhaps as a result, that they deserve the most recognition and respect. It simply isn't true. If all majors were of the same level of difficulty, then one could expect that the national average for GPA's across all majors would be similar. Surprisingly I can't find a list of this anywhere, but I'm fairly confident that this is not the case.

Granted, statistics are dirty and there could be many variables involved in that. Realistically speaking, though, some majors will be easier than others - perhaps not across every single school in the nation, but certainly within a single school (and likely across multiple schools).
 
my school actually has a list, and it's interesting, because most of the students tat are completely into what they're doing have HIGH GPAs. i think it has to do with someone enjoying their major. I feel I am in a hard major it's Biology with a Biochem emphasis, I trudge along forcing myself to get it. For me it's a huge accomplishment, and I am growing, but I know many other majors who love it just as much as I do are plugging away no matter how tough it might be for them.

I enjoy the days when I figure out a biostats equation. I've had many days where the light goes on....I suppose learning at this point is the joy. I think easy depends on how much you love something, even then I don't think it's easy, but rather it appears so because you are happy.

A
 
I think there are definitely easy majors. No way is a business major as hard as an engineering major for example. At least at most schools. Honestly I'm kind of getting talked out of majoring in Health and Exercise Science because people are saying I might not get taken seriously with that major over psych or other academic majors. Kinda sucks but idk..
 
MilkmanAl said:
Major in whatever you want. There aren't any majors that don't get taken seriously.
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That's what I heard from admissions boards as well. But nearly everyone at another site (collegeconfidential) told me that a "vocational" major like Health and Exercise science won't be taken seriously and that the rule of "major doesn't matter" only applies to most "academic" majors (never really thought about HES being different in that sense, just easier). I admit that it is considered an easier major (the reason I actually did some more questioning about it is because my chem professor was somewhat shocked at my decision so switch to it) so I see their point I suppose. But I can never be sure and tend to be somewhat OCD about making decisions like this.
 
nearly everyone at another site (collegeconfidential) told me that a "vocational" major like Health and Exercise science won't be taken seriously and that the rule of "major doesn't matter" only applies to most "academic" majors (never really thought about HES being different in that sense, just easier)
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Quite frankly, they're just plain wrong. What the hell is an "academic major," anyway? It's not like you're at a trade school.

I can never be sure and tend to be somewhat OCD about making decisions like this.
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That's definitely understandable when you're getting conflicting info from two seemingly reputable sources. I have to say, though, for all things pre-med and on, this is the place to come. From what little I know about College Confidential, it seems like a place focused on getting people into combined programs and rapidly becomes a whole lot less useful once college actually starts.
 
MilkmanAl said:
Quite frankly, they're just plain wrong. What the hell is an "academic major," anyway? It's not like you're at a trade school.

That's definitely understandable when you're getting conflicting info from two seemingly reputable sources. I have to say, though, for all things pre-med and on, this is the place to come. From what little I know about College Confidential, it seems like a place focused on getting people into combined programs and rapidly becomes a whole lot less useful once college actually starts.
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Thanks, your status says you're a current med student so I'll assume you know whats going on :D

They were saying that a "vocational" major is one that basically gets you ready for a specific job and doesn't have all of the variety of classes that an "academic" major has. I could see that being the case for nursing or something but I said that I didn't really see how a music/art/architecture/psychology major gets you any greater of a variety of jobs than a health an exercise science major would, and they all have about the same amount of liberal learning requirements...but admittedly I may not know all there is to know about the subject.
 
I agree with Velocity's posts. I am also of the school of thought that all majors are not created equal.
 
In general, non-science majors who apply have higher chances of getting in med school than science majors, partly because adcoms seek to diversify their student body.
 
jung1 said:
In general, non-science majors who apply have higher chances of getting in med school than science majors, partly because adcoms seek to diversify their student body.
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Does that include all sciences (like psychology and Health and Exercise Science) or more the physical/biological ones?
 
Ask yourself, how many biology/chem/biochem majors plan to apply to med school versus music majors?

Numbers-wise, I'm fairly positive the majority of med students at any given point have some sort of science degree. The number of science majors applying to med schools every year is probably overwhelming, so a lot of them are weeded out. The very few music majors (just to mention one of the non-trad majors) who actually apply are probably outstanding applicants and thus shift the curve. I wouldn't say they're representative of the average music major.
 
Yeah...I just don't agree with the last point made in that opening post (and didn't read the rest of the thread, admittedly). I took tons of courses that corresponded with stuff we did in med school, and they didn't count for much. Sure, it saved me a little studying, but there's no chance each course was worth the effort if shaving off med school studying was the goal. Those are all classes you should take if you want to, not because you think they'll give you a leg up on the competition. They won't. Really, I'd imagine something like exercise/sports science would be quite a lot more useful than the typical biochem-'til-your-eyes-bleed route. You get to apply what you know instead of just hashing through text.

TL,DR: Using college as a med school prep course is completely fruitless, so don't bother trying. Major in whatever you want.
 
MilkmanAl said:
Yeah...I just don't agree with the last point made in that opening post (and didn't read the rest of the thread, admittedly). I took tons of courses that corresponded with stuff we did in med school, and they didn't count for much. Sure, it saved me a little studying, but there's no chance each course was worth the effort if shaving off med school studying was the goal. Those are all classes you should take if you want to, not because you think they'll give you a leg up on the competition. They won't. Really, I'd imagine something like exercise/sports science would be quite a lot more useful than the typical biochem-'til-your-eyes-bleed route. You get to apply what you know instead of just hashing through text.

TL,DR: Using college as a med school prep course is completely fruitless, so don't bother trying. Major in whatever you want.
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Hopefully. At this point I'd actually be fine with a psych major too as it turns out only about 2 classes that are left for me are the type I hate (statistical/writing courses about studies) and as it turns out there's 2 of those classes in the HES major anyway. I still would prefer HES but the difference isn't as significant now.

Too bad that link they provide for MCAT score by major doesn't work. Any idea of a link that would have that information? I wonder if it's more causation or just correlation (like if biochem majors tend to study more specialized health majors would), maybe both.
 
I know all the highest ranking people in my class were also the top band students. Yay maybe those 8 years of band will help me in med school.
 
NerdyAndrea said:
There is no such thing as an easy major.
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Let's just say there's a pretty high correlation between marketing majors and partying on Thursday/Friday/Saturday nights, with Tuesday/Wednesday thrown in for occasional good measure.
 
You really are kidding yourself if you think that there's no such thing as a major that's typically a lot easier than most others. There are also some that can go either way depending on whether you're looking to cruise or planning to pursue the major professionally.
 
I so would've loved to be a Music Major but... I'm terrible at really hearing the music. I personally believe you have to at least half-way to genius to make it through the major.

You really need a keen sense of hearing and unmatched focus for the major, not to mention the ability to process what you heard as soon as you hear it.... ugh... it's one of the most difficult majors at my school.
 
I posted this thread 5 months ago and I still enjoy reading this thread. Hope everything is going well on your medical paths SNDers!!!
 
This thread is going about it all wrong.

Nothing has been established until you compare Music majors with a variety of other non-traditional majors' acceptance rates.

Otherwise selection bias will account for the difference.
 
I really think this has very little to do with their specific major, but instead the fact their GPAs are typically higher, along with their MCAT scores.
 
I have both a BM and MM in voice. Yes, it is tough.

I performed for several years, did the college professor thing for a while, now going back to school to do pharmacy pre-req's and try to get into pharmacy school.

A couple of points:

Music is a selective major. You don't just pick it. You have to audition and get accepted.

Music has a very high flunk-out rate in many schools. In my Music Theory I class, there were 24 of us. Come graduation day, 2 of us were left.

A lot of the courses are sequential in nature. You have Theory I, II, III and IV. Obviously, you can't take II until you pass I. Some people never make it past Level I, and get frustrated and drop out or get kicked out.

Music classes are "under-valued," credit-wise. Ensembles are generally 1 credit, even though you might spend 4-5 hours per week in there, plus be expected to practice at least 1-2 hours daily. Scholarship students are usually expected to be in at least 2 ensembles per semester.

Because of the under-valuing of classes, 15-18 credits often equals 9-11 CLASSES per semester, some of which have tremendous time commitments.

The big point of all this is that someone who has FINISHED a music major program has already survived a pretty severe weeding-out process. The subgroup of those people who then apply to medical school are going to be choice students who would probably succeed no matter what field they chose.
 
Tenor CS said:
I have both a BM and MM in voice. Yes, it is tough.

I performed for several years, did the college professor thing for a while, now going back to school to do pharmacy pre-req's and try to get into pharmacy school.

A couple of points:

Music is a selective major. You don't just pick it. You have to audition and get accepted.

Music has a very high flunk-out rate in many schools. In my Music Theory I class, there were 24 of us. Come graduation day, 2 of us were left.

A lot of the courses are sequential in nature. You have Theory I, II, III and IV. Obviously, you can't take II until you pass I. Some people never make it past Level I, and get frustrated and drop out or get kicked out.

Music classes are "under-valued," credit-wise. Ensembles are generally 1 credit, even though you might spend 4-5 hours per week in there, plus be expected to practice at least 1-2 hours daily. Scholarship students are usually expected to be in at least 2 ensembles per semester.

Because of the under-valuing of classes, 15-18 credits often equals 9-11 CLASSES per semester, some of which have tremendous time commitments.

The big point of all this is that someone who has FINISHED a music major program has already survived a pretty severe weeding-out process. The subgroup of those people who then apply to medical school are going to be choice students who would probably succeed no matter what field they chose.
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A-MEN to that! I love being a music major and pre-med, don't get me wrong, but the reaction to the two is so different. The pre-med part gets me the ooohs and aaaaahs and "wow, that must be so difficult" and the music gets the "well, that's nice too I guess". I would say that my Romantic Music Theory class was at the same difficulty as Organic Chem. Try explaining that to ANYONE :eek:
 
even after taking Step 1 and med school exams blah blah I still think that my first semester music theory final exam was one of the hardest.. we had like an hour and a half to part-write (w/ complete harmonic analysis) a 32 measure melody AND write out the roman numeral about 20 bars of some Brahms piano piece.
 
Eh, more music majors would self select themselves out of the application game than bio majors.

A bio major has medicine as his goal as soon he starts college. Even if he gets two bad MCAT scores, he's going to go for that goal and apply. Afterall, he's been taking genetics, molecular bio, immunology, and anatomy over the past 2 years. He's not just going to self select himself out of the game and render his last two years of taking advanced bio classes meaningless.

A music major may not have medicine as his only goal. If he gets two bad MCAT scores, he is more likely to just self-select himself out and never apply to medical school.
 
DrDre2001 said:
Eh, more music majors would self select themselves out of the application game than bio majors.

A bio major has medicine as his goal as soon he starts college. Even if he gets two bad MCAT scores, he's going to go for that goal and apply. Afterall, he's been taking genetics, molecular bio, immunology, and anatomy over the past 2 years. He's not just going to self select himself out of the game and render his last two years of taking advanced bio classes meaningless.

A music major may not have medicine as his only goal. If he gets two bad MCAT scores, he is more likely to just self-select himself out and never apply to medical school.
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This, I'd be willing to bet a higher percentage of statistically mediocre students apply with hard science degrees than with fine arts degrees.
 
That and I'm willing to bet that the types of people who would do an unrelated major as a pre-med are a group that have higher success with their mcat. These types of people are more self-guided and generally smarter. It has absolutely nothing to do with what non-related major it is (music). I bet history major pre-med applicants also have higher acceptance rates.

It's similar to foreign students having higher success rates than the general population of american students--because the ones who come here are already selected for being highly motivated, smart, whatever.
 
coldweatherblue said:
I studied music in undergrad... it was awesome. I use it every day in med school.. like listening to Bach while studying and following the polyphony and modulations stimulates your right brain while you sit there and memorize countless analytical details with your left. Music attaches some sort of emotional or relevant stimuli (amygdala) to the material that aids in forming long-term associations. or something I'm really making this up.. I just know that when I take some ridiculous exam I always hear the same music in my head that I was listening to when I was studying, and it's super relaxing and aids recall. like if i studied listening to Mozart piano sonatas i'll listen to one of those in my head while taking the exam. out of everything in the world music is the best!
Click to expand...

Bingo,

I went to med school between 1985-1989. I had music background (classical guitar) and Physiology. Music brings the best out of you:
- Artistic
- Passionate
- Shear discipline
- Joy even during difficult time
- Seeing life from a "different angle" than 1 + 1 = 2. Medicine is not a straight line like science.
 
Radonc90 said:
Bingo,

I went to med school between 1985-1989. I had music background (classical guitar) and Physiology. Music brings the best out of you:
- Artistic
- Passionate
- Shear discipline
- Joy even during difficult time
- Seeing life from a "different angle" than 1 + 1 = 2. Medicine is not a straight line like science.
Click to expand...


This is getting lame--I call complete BS. Studying music theory doesn't make you a better med school applicant. Until someone shows me statistics of other non-life science major applicant success rates, selection bias is the cause of the discrepancy.

"Derr you couldn't get into medical school? Go listen to music, dude, yeah!!! then reapply!"
 
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