Physics Major

[Chunkle]

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I'm only currently a freshman undergraduate, but I was wondering if it is a bad idea to pursue a Physics major with the intention of applying to medical school. I'll probably be pursuing a B.A. as the required courses are less, but even then, the amount of required Physics/Math classes I have to take still seem extremely strenuous if I have to take the year of Ochem, Bio with labs.

Basically, I'm asking if any medical students here have pursued/had the experience of doing a Physics major with pre-med classes. If it is too much work, I'll probably switch to a more straightforward major. I chose Physics as it is my favorite science.

 

[afugazzi]

Yes, I did it. It can't hurt to try. You have to take intro physics as a premed anyway, so start out with that and then you'll have a better sense of how hard it will be for you. If you decide you it is too tough after that, you will not have wasted anything.

 

[Physicsisphun]

If you're extremely passionate about physics, then it's something to consider. Physics and math can wreck havoc on your GPA however. The lower division classes (Calculus I and II especially) can be misleadingly easy because you have people who are bad at math taking those classes as pre-reqs for various things. Those people will usually ensure a comfortable grading curve for the physics and math people. However... upper division classes are a different story. The competition and curves can be fierce, and the material is extremely difficult conceptually.

 

[Physicsisphun]

Also, it is worth pointing out that grading depends very much on your particular university and department. Sometimes there is a lot of grade inflation in the upper division classes, whereas at other schools/departments the upper division professors will only hand out one A per class.

 

[Gloves]

it's so upsetting how grading can be such a crapshoot.

If you want to go for a generic stats-based premed I'm pretty sure a humanities major works better. But I *think* ad-coms might realize that someone who studies physics and does well in it is probably pretty damn smart which should give you a unique spin on your application. At least I'd hope so. Also your should be able to destroy PS on the MCAT

 

[ronaldo23]

I'm only currently a freshman undergraduate, but I was wondering if it is a bad idea to pursue a Physics major with the intention of applying to medical school. I'll probably be pursuing a B.A. as the required courses are less, but even then, the amount of required Physics/Math classes I have to take still seem extremely strenuous if I have to take the year of Ochem, Bio with labs.

Basically, I'm asking if any medical students here have pursued/had the experience of doing a Physics major with pre-med classes. If it is too much work, I'll probably switch to a more straightforward major. I chose Physics as it is my favorite science.

Physics is very interesting and if you like it, go for it. Only consideration is that it can be a killer major. At my school it was known to be the hardest major, and most of the people who majored in it aspired to go to grad school or be an engineer.

 

[loveboatdoc]

I did a BS in Physics, plus pre-med. I was the only female physics major, and they treated us like faculty. We got faculty mailboxes and got to attend the faculty parties. I think only 8 people graduated from my group (at Tulane), so they could afford to devote extra time to us.

Once I signed up for an advanced mechanics course, and nobody else did, so a professor taught me one-on-one. That never would have happened in the huge Biology dept.

I tried Bio-Med engineering for a while, but they did not allow enough time for the pre-med classes.

Physics teaches you to problem-solve, not just memorize a ton of facts you will soon forget. Calculus III was the best (had more trouble with Calc I and II).

Downside to a BS in Physics is you really need an advanced degree to do much more than maybe teach high school.

 

[IvyHopeful20]

My major was definitely a topic of the one interview I did so far, as many other pre-meds have a fear of math and quantitative subjects. I think if you're good at it, you'll learn some really really interesting things and you'll avoid the annoying pre-med majors. I wouldn't trade my major for anything. I had fun, learned some awesome stuff, and came out a much better student on the other side.

 

[surftheiop]

My major was definitely a topic of the one interview I did so far, as many other pre-meds have a fear of math and quantitative subjects. I think if you're good at it, you'll learn some really really interesting things and you'll avoid the annoying pre-med majors. I wouldn't trade my major for anything. I had fun, learned some awesome stuff, and came out a much better student on the other side.

Weren't you a math major though?

Despite the fact that physics is extremely computational, I don't think general lay people look at it with the same sort of awe/mystery as they do a math major.

 

[IvyHopeful20]

True, but I was pretty much a physics major too (6 more credits to be a major). Most of the discussion we had was actually on the P!=NP proof that was in the news. I spent most of the interview on a board going over why the proof turned out to be incorrect. It was epically awesome, especially as I had to spend a good 15 minutes explaining the problem...and that thread I started on that very subject on SDN where I explained it helped like crazy. SDN might have gotten me into a MD/PhD program! 🙂

 

[Fort]

I did it and would not recommend it unless your backup plan for med school is physics grad school. To actually get a job in that field, you would ideally need a PhD. And even then, competition is fierce for grants and professorships.

Also, kiss most of your partying goodbye as the upper level classes like mechanics and electricity and magnetism will be very time consuming; they are GPA killers. Pray that you don't use Jackson's as your EM text.

I don't want to deter you from majoring in Physics, it is indeed interesting, but you will be working very hard to stay on top....if you can reach the top.