Non-science majors

[lsumedgirl]

Hi all! Just wondering who else out there is a non-science major. I've got a BA in history, myself. I've always been a science-geek, and always known that I wanted to go to medical school. I just enjoyed history and wanted to major in it. And yes, I've got more than enough science pre-reqs... and a 3.8 science GPA.

Actually, my history degree has seemed to be an asset to my application. (Made it to the waitlist last year, but Katrina messed a lot of that up this year, so I'm in the process of re-applying.) The dean of admissions, always wants to talk history every time he sees me, and he remembers exactly who I am. So, I think it's kind of made me stand out a bit. Through my work, I've met a lot of MDs that have BAs or BSs in things other than biol, chem, or biochem.

I was wanting to know about other people's experiences. And if you get the question, "Um, how are you going to med school without a science degree?" I just tell them, "I'm going to go, and be very successful."

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[thes_hunter]

Hi all! Just wondering who else out there is a non-science major. I've got a BA in history, myself. I've always been a science-geek, and always known that I wanted to go to medical school. I just enjoyed history and wanted to major in it. And yes, I've got more than enough science pre-reqs... and a 3.8 science GPA.

Actually, my history degree has seemed to be an asset to my application. (Made it to the waitlist last year, but Katrina messed a lot of that up this year, so I'm in the process of re-applying.) The dean of admissions, always wants to talk history every time he sees me, and he remembers exactly who I am. So, I think it's kind of made me stand out a bit. Through my work, I've met a lot of MDs that have BAs or BSs in things other than biol, chem, or biochem.

I was wanting to know about other people's experiences. And if you get the question, "Um, how are you going to med school without a science degree?" I just tell them, "I'm going to go, and be very successful."

They will not ask that question, because it is obvious you took your pre-reqs and did very well in them.

People really should take whatever major they find the most interesting and enjoyable.

Actually I am a bit of a weirdo. I took a degree in art instead of science because it was expected of me. By Highschool I had already proven myself to be an accomplished artist getting 2nd place in a national competition. Also I my math phobia scared me away from pursuing the bio degree I had comtemplated going for in Highschool.

My BFA seems to have had no ill effects for me, though I have never had questions about art specifically in my interviews.

 

[lsumedgirl]

I wasn't talking about anyone from the school asking about going to med school w/o a science degree. I just meant other people in general, like relatives, co-workers, etc... Actually, when I interviewed, all of the people from ad comm thought the fact that I have a history degree is "really neat." And yes, the word "neat" was used.

I've just had co-workers ask how on Earth I'll ever survive in med school w/o a biology degree. Giving the whole story is getting a little old! But, it's a small price to pay... plus, I like having my history degree and being a science person, too. I'm just an all-around dork!

Btw, I think the art degree is really cool. I studied that a lot in high school fine arts classes... but my only experiences beyond that are visiting the Louvre and the Uffizi. You'd kick my a** on a test about art any day, it sounds like!

 

[coriannegirl]

I majored in music, political science, and psychology, but only graduated with a minor in the latter two subject areas. I'm just beginning the application process and I've gotten a lot of "witty" comments about how I can sing to my diagnosis to my patients who are political radicals while operating on them.

 

[2Sexy4MedSchool]

Hello. BA (1990) in Linguistics -- Go Blue! The only science classes I took were 10 credits of astronomy to get my degree. JD (1993), then nine years of trial work as a sole practioner. In 2002 I went back to school for all the B/C/P/M classes, and this fall I'll be starting as an MS1.

I got lots of questions about the career change, e.g. "What's the !*@#$ is wrong with you?!" but no one ever mentioned my BA at all. Friends and family all said, "Oh, organic is supposed to be REALLY HARD," but that was the extent of it.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

[lsumedgirl]

I majored in music, political science, and psychology, but only graduated with a minor in the latter two subject areas. I'm just beginning the application process and I've gotten a lot of "witty" comments about how I can sing to my diagnosis to my patients who are political radicals while operating on them.

Love it! So will it be in the style of opera, or show tunes?

I always say that when I'm suturing someone, or during rectal exams, I can try and take his mind off of it while telling him about the Battle of Verdun, or some anecdotes from Louisiana history. (If med school doesn't work out, I think I'm qualified to manage a Barnes & Noble, or a Starbucks... so wish me luck!!!)

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I majored in Accounting, undergraduate and graduate school. Arts & Sciences majors typically do extremely well in medical school - I guess they taught you how to think critically while you were learning history - they were just teaching us accounting regulations. Medical schools say that any major is acceptable but I think sometimes they look at us business majors with a slightly jaundiced eye - the fact that I'd worked in healthcare for 20 years probably saved me a lot of hard questions.

What cracked me up was when my Astronomy class from the Fall term of 1979 figured into my BCPM calculation - it's a good thing I didn't blow that class off and got an "A", because at the time it certainly never occured to me that my grade might show up on a medical school application 26 years later...

 

[thes_hunter]

I wasn't talking about anyone from the school asking about going to med school w/o a science degree. I just meant other people in general, like relatives, co-workers, etc... Actually, when I interviewed, all of the people from ad comm thought the fact that I have a history degree is "really neat." And yes, the word "neat" was used.

I've just had co-workers ask how on Earth I'll ever survive in med school w/o a biology degree. Giving the whole story is getting a little old! But, it's a small price to pay... plus, I like having my history degree and being a science person, too. I'm just an all-around dork!

Btw, I think the art degree is really cool. I studied that a lot in high school fine arts classes... but my only experiences beyond that are visiting the Louvre and the Uffizi. You'd kick my a** on a test about art any day, it sounds like!

Nah, I never really paid attention to my art history classes, but I could draw ya a picture if you wanted.

 

[rianah]

I am glad that non-science majors are doing just fine in MCAT and med school. Good for you! You have to understand that you guys are the exceptions though, in general, people that are interested in sciences go into sciences. I have an engineering background and I know how much my classmates loved their science projects etc. I also know how much my biology classmates hated calculus

so, don't worry about what people say, they don't understand smart people like you that can be smart in more than one area.

 

[thes_hunter]

I am glad that non-science majors are doing just fine in MCAT and med school. Good for you! You have to understand that you guys are the exceptions though, in general, people that are interested in sciences go into sciences. I have an engineering background and I know how much my classmates loved their science projects etc. I also know how much my biology classmates hated calculus

so, don't worry about what people say, they don't understand smart people like you that can be smart in more than one area.

How about my friends who got M.S.'s in engineering and now pursuing careers in music?

 

[rianah]

How about my friends who got M.S.'s in engineering and now pursuing careers in music?

Well again, how many engineers do you know that are pursuing careers in music? Not alll of them but just one or two, right?

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I am glad that non-science majors are doing just fine in MCAT and med school. Good for you! You have to understand that you guys are the exceptions though, in general, people that are interested in sciences go into sciences.

Not necessarily, when you're an impressionable 17-year-old. I loved science when I hit college - but, Ronald Reagan was elected to his first term in my Freshman year. We were all going to go run General Motors and the business college was "the" place to be. So, I went into the social sciences and became a CPA. 22 years later, I'm fixing it!

 

[DocHop]

They will not ask that question, because it is obvious you took your pre-reqs and did very well in them.

People really should take whatever major they find the most interesting and enjoyable.

Actually I am a bit of a weirdo. I took a degree in art instead of science because it was expected of me. By Highschool I had already proven myself to be an accomplished artist getting 2nd place in a national competition. Also I my math phobia scared me away from pursuing the bio degree I had comtemplated going for in Highschool.

My BFA seems to have had no ill effects for me, though I have never had questions about art specifically in my interviews.

I got a BA in French and I think it will make my application stand out from the crowd. I think it will actually strengthen the app because my interest is in international health so it works

Keep the stories coming about all the non-science majors who are making it happen!!

 

[MiesVanDerMom]

I have a BA in History and applying this year. My research was on development issues in rural appalachia and now i want to do rural medicine there. so, there's some logic. i was never quite fulfilled doing just science or just humanities. so, medicine is about the only thing that fits me intellectually. i hope i don't get asked in interviews to talk about the history of medicine, though, because i wrote some really brutal papers condemning the advent of modern western medicine. not thinking the adcoms wanna hear Francis Bacon was a rape-advocating mysoginist responsible for all the Modern Era's problems...

 

[lsumedgirl]

I have a BA in History and applying this year. My research was on development issues in rural appalachia and now i want to do rural medicine there. so, there's some logic. i was never quite fulfilled doing just science or just humanities. so, medicine is about the only thing that fits me intellectually. i hope i don't get asked in interviews to talk about the history of medicine, though, because i wrote some really brutal papers condemning the advent of modern western medicine. not thinking the adcoms wanna hear Francis Bacon was a rape-advocating mysoginist responsible for all the Modern Era's problems...

Cool, another history major! But I think you're right... you may want to leave the whole Francis Bacon issue out of your PS or interview. I did an upper level research paper on the history of Roman medicine. It was pretty cool. Some of the things they were able to do back then were amazing. I was able to incorporate that into my interview a little when I was asked about some of my history research.