Philosophy Minor

[Thomas Hearns]

Hello. I am a Psychology major interested in going to medical school. I just recently decided to do this... now I'm taking all the prerequisites... fun stuff =) I have 2 more classes to go to complete my Philosophy minor... but will this really help me that much in trying to get into medical school? I really do enjoy the philosophy, and was planning on getting a minor in it before I decided to go to medical school. But it is extra work, and if it wont help me out I'd rather focus my time on chemistry, biology, and my psychology classes instead. Try to get better grades in the classes that will count! 🙂 Thanks in advance guys

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[MollyMalone]

It would be nice, but definitely not a big factor -- if you think your grades would suffer because of it then I would definitely not do it.

 

[BellyDancingDoc]

Personally, I think the Philosophy minor will help big time when you're asked the dreaded "XYZ Medical school is committed to diversity. What diversity will you bring to our campus?" question. After all, everyone has done the pre-med requirements, and Psychology majors are a dime a dozen, even at medical schools. Philosopher physicians are more rare. Also, if you do an independent project on bioethics, you'll be golden in terms of stuff to talk about for your interviews.

Just my 2 cents, but I think you should do the minor if you possibly can.

Frogs

 

[TPROrgoTutor]

Wont help a tremendous amount. Do it if you want to take the classes, dont if you dont. Structure your undergrad around you, not around admissions. But it could differentiate you from the hordes of others.

 

[Thomas Hearns]

I guess a secondary question to this would be... how much do minors really matter to admission commissions? I don't know too much about the whole process... maybe this will help me gauge if I should do it or not

 

[TPROrgoTutor]

I guess a secondary question to this would be... how much do minors really matter to admission commissions? I don't know too much about the whole process... maybe this will help me gauge if I should do it or not

When I talked to one of the adcom people at a particular school she told me that they dont take it greatly into account. Its why I dropped my math major to a math minor then dropped my math minor to nonexistent even tho I just need one more class cuz frankly the classes were not interesting me.

 

[dr.z]

I guess a secondary question to this would be... how much do minors really matter to admission commissions? I don't know too much about the whole process... maybe this will help me gauge if I should do it or not

I don't think it will make that big of a difference.

 

[GoalieGirl]

...will this really help me that much in trying to get into medical school? I really do enjoy the philosophy, and was planning on getting a minor in it before I decided to go to medical school. But it is extra work, and if it wont help me out I'd rather focus my time on chemistry, biology, and my psychology classes instead. Try to get better grades in the classes that will count! 🙂 Thanks in advance guys

I'd say, go for it! I'm a double major in philosophy (with bio) and while it was extra work, philosophy provides an excellent contrast to the science classes. The point of studying philosophy (at least in my opinion) is to learn how to think- you learn to read critically, consider every point of view, problem solve, etc. This will be SO helpful once you get to med school and become a doctor (and the ethics courses don't hurt, either). If you think your grades in your other classes will suffer, I don't think the minor is essential. But I thank goodness every day that I stuck with the major, it's really rounded out my college career.

 

[Law2Doc]

I don't think it will make that big of a difference.

Agree. Minors will very rarely, if ever, make the difference between acceptance and rejection. Higher grades in the prereq sciences certainly might. If those oare the two choices, the answer is pretty obvious.

 

[Thomas Hearns]

Agree. Minors will very rarely, if ever, make the difference between acceptance and rejection. Higher grades in the prereq sciences certainly might. If those oare the two choices, the answer is pretty obvious.

This was pretty much what I was thinking... thanks to you all tho! I appreciate people taking the time to respond. I wish I had more time in college, I would definitely do the minor... however my indecisiveness is taking a toll 😉