Selecting a major

[Cmot]

I will be a freshman next year and I am not set on a major yet. Physcology has crossed my mind. I just dont know if that would be a good major if you plan on going to med school. Is anyone majoring in Pyshcology? How is it? Also if somebody could recommend some other majors that would be good for med school. Thanks alot.

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[Centrum]

Do what interests you the most. Anything will be fine, just make sure you work extra hard at the med school pre reqs. I love psychology and yes that would be an excellent major.

 

[FutureM.D.]

Hey, I'm a psy major and I think it's great for med schools. It gives you people skills in a way. I mean, it won't make you extroverted, but it gives you insight that i feel is crucial for being a dr. it also requires 1 semester of bio and a year of statistics which is good for med school. If you like psychology, go for it. I love psychology, couldn't imagine doing anything else....... Oh, I'm going for a B.S not a B.A. it's very science based- believe me.

 

[Centrum]

I thought you said you were 15?

 

[FutureM.D.]

yes? So...........

 

[Centrum]

So.. you are in college at the age of 15?

 

[FutureM.D.]

yes........starting this Fall...............

 

[Centrum]

Wow. Quite impressive. SKip high school?

 

[FutureM.D.]

actually I skipped 3rd grade and did 6&7 in one year and 8&9 in another, so that gets me 3 yrs ahead.

 

[Centrum]

Nice. Good luck.

 

[DarkChild]

[flame suit securely fastened]
three points:
1) do something you like - always your first priority
2) even if its not your first choice, do something that is respected and appreciated for being rigorous. psych... umm no.
I know - I sound like an a$$hole - but think about it from an AdComs point of view. What exactly does psych give you? And you can demonstrate people skills in other areas. I see psych and I think flaky - and say you end up changing your mind, what do you do with a degree in psych? give yourself an out.
3) do something you're good at - its all about the grades. but more than that it should be something that you can do better than average. it doesnt help if you've got a major GPA of 3.7 when the average GPA for that major is also a 3.7.
(this is related to point 2 - do something that is appreciated for being rigorous)
I chose biochemistry (i.e a combined biology and chemistry major) because I was OK interested in it, was pretty good at it, and it was a respectable major.
thats just my $0.02

 

[jot]

i had little respect for psych (at least the way it is taught as i've seen it) but i found out my mcat teacher was a psych major (42-44 on 'cats) and he was accepted at mayo,yale,pitt (went on full scholarship),chicago and a few others. but then again the 42 mcat might have made them overlook the major kidding.

 

[kaos]

I agree with Darkchild...Do what you like and what you're good at!

 

[Centrum]

I respect psychology. Boo yah.

 

[Angeliqua]

Hi Cmot,
I suggest you just start school, take a few classes in various disciplines and make an informed decision. You will find that courses in college are incredibly different than the ones you took in high school, you will actually start to develop a REAL interest in something. If it is psychology, so be it! Just don't limit yourself to only psych classes for the first year, take a few different subjects and choose your major from there! I started college as an International Affairs major, switched to Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences and finally settled on Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Biochemistry (double). Strange path...yes. However, I took this path because I exposed myself to various fields and finally found the one for me and was very happy with my education. Also, I can guarantee my GPA as a science major was MUCH better than it would have been as an International Affairs major...because I was genuinely into what I was learning. If you like what you do your GPA will reflect it. As for a specific "med-school" major, don't think that way! Just make sure you take the required courses, EC's blah, blah, blah. Good Luck
A

 

[FutureM.D.]

Originally posted by DarkChild
[flame suit securely fastened]
three points:
1) do something you like - always your first priority
2) even if its not your first choice, do something that is respected and appreciated for being rigorous. psych... umm no.
I know - I sound like an a$$hole - but think about it from an AdComs point of view. What exactly does psych give you? And you can demonstrate people skills in other areas. I see psych and I think flaky - and say you end up changing your mind, what do you do with a degree in psych? give yourself an out.
3) do something you're good at - its all about the grades. but more than that it should be something that you can do better than average. it doesnt help if you've got a major GPA of 3.7 when the average GPA for that major is also a 3.7.
(this is related to point 2 - do something that is appreciated for being rigorous)
I chose biochemistry (i.e a combined biology and chemistry major) because I was OK interested in it, was pretty good at it, and it was a respectable major.thats just my $0.02

If ADCOMs don't see psychology as rigorous then they should not be on an ADCOM comittee. A course is deemed as rigorous depending on the person. would I find engineering difficult? Yes. Is it because I'm stupid? No, it's because I have no interest. Listen, i have a friend who took psy and barely passed because she hated it. I found psy to be very easy because I had great interest in it. i find psy to be a very respectable major. many people are impressed by the fact that i am a psy major. they think I'm an intelligent, observant person, who is aware of people and their feelings. Psychology opens me up to other people and allows me to see things in a different perspective. I am sick and tired of drs that have no people skills(I've met a couple). They don't understand how and why people think the way they do. When people say they hear psy and think it's flakey, I find them unintellectual and immature(that's my .02 cents, put on the flame suit). I respect all people reguardless of what they find to be interesting. however,I have no respect for those who make posts about easy schools and majors, it's rude and offends others. Someone might read that post who goes to that school or is in that major. I do agree with you though that someone should do what they find interesting. Don't live your life for ADCOMs because you can go major in microbiology, but what will you do when you don't get into med school???? get stuck with a job you hate.

 

[Centrum]

Ohhhh. Dark Child got told........ Way to tell 'em my 15 year old friend.

 

[lola]

no flaming please, but i do think there are people who look down on psych. lots of my friends majored in psych, and i don't know why, but i always considered it kind of wishy washy -- not a hard science and not one of the humanities. maybe i feel this way because a lot of people who do badly in their pre-med courses choose to major in psych. i'm not saying there aren't intelligent/amazing people who major in psych, but many people who aren't too good at science major in psych (at least that's been my experience).

 

[Centrum]

Fair enough Lola. But they still have to be good enough to get into med school. There are people that suck in every major. Psychology is an amazing and very interesting field and deserves just as much respect. A high percentage of psych majors get into med school.

 

[lola]

i agree that it's a very interesting major and is very relevant to the study of medicine. if you have the grades in your science classes, then that's great. i just happen to know many many psych majors who didn't have the grades in their premed classes to get into medical school. at my school there were far more unsuccessful premeds who were psych majors than probably any other major. also, have you ever noticed how many sorority girl types major in psych? it's unbelievable!

 

[moo]

Many people do think psych is flaky. I've encountered my share in the past. My best friend hates psych, but took 12 credits of psych to fulfill the humanities requirement... he got C's in them but still contended that it was flaky and useless. I've never taken a psych class because I never found it interesting, but I'd probably suck at it. Anyway the point I'm trying to make is that one might find psych really easy (and that's the majority of the population we're considering) while at the same time find something like math really difficult. For me, it's the other way around. I like math and am really good at it, but I am no good at psych for whatever reason. This goes against what MOST people are like, I know but I don't think it makes me or they any more intelligent than one another. That's why I'm so against IQ tests (ironic, since I believe psychologists were the ones who came up with the idea of quantifying intelligence).

 

[Street Philosopher]

psychology is really a history course about how a lot of different people made up a lot of stuff about the mind, then converted a lot of common sense words into jargon in order to seem like they did any real work.

i suppose you can say the same about philosophy as well. but philosophy is more about the process of doing the above for yourself rather than just studying the history of it. so it's, in my opinion, one step higher

 

[FutureM.D.]

Originally posted by Street Philosopher
psychology is really a history course about how a lot of different people made up a lot of stuff about the mind, then converted a lot of common sense words into jargon in order to seem like they did any real work.

i suppose you can say the same about philosophy as well. but philosophy is more about the process of doing the above for yourself rather than just studying the history of it. so it's, in my opinion, one step higher

Your knowledge of psychology seems very limited. I use to think that too though(when i took HS psy), but when I decided to major in it I looked through the course list and realized there is a lot of science behind it. I'm working on a B.S which is a lot of science, in fact it is reguarded as a science in my university(you can't get a B.A). I think if you don't take a lot of science and decide to get a B.A instead, then there is a lot of history, philosophy, thought, and application. it depends. It's a flexible major and because it is such a large field you can take enough classes to sort of specialize in a category. For example, if you find development interesting you can focus on development courses. I'm getting a little bit of everything but mostly physiological psy, neurobiological science, psychobiology, behavioral analysis, things like that. And lots of labs. I like both sides of psy very much, but I am very attracted to the science involved. oh, and I don't mind that there are people here who don't like psy, everyone's different. But it's still rude to put down someone's major.

 

[FutureM.D.]

Originally posted by Centrum
Ohhhh. Dark Child got told........ Way to tell 'em my 15 year old friend.

Centrum......your making me blush.

 

[Centrum]

Originally posted by Street Philosopher
psychology is really a history course about how a lot of different people made up a lot of stuff about the mind, then converted a lot of common sense words into jargon in order to seem like they did any real work.

i suppose you can say the same about philosophy as well. but philosophy is more about the process of doing the above for yourself rather than just studying the history of it. so it's, in my opinion, one step higher

I love history, philosophy and psychology. All wonderful subjects and imperative to a good rounded education. I will agree with you to a point that a good portion of psychology is jargon, but once you get past the exterior building blocks, psychology can get very complicated. I think it is an important subject and not just "made up" by a lot of different people with common sense. Especially in the areas of abnormal, clinical and counseling as well as behavioral analysis and learning psychology.

 

[Hallm_7]

Originally posted by FutureM.D.
actually I skipped 3rd grade and did 6&7 in one year and 8&9 in another, so that gets me 3 yrs ahead.

Wow. You're going to be in your mid 20s when you finish residency. That is assuming you go to med school right after you graduate college.

 

[FutureM.D.]

I'm planning to finish my bachelor's in 4 yrs and then go straight to med school(if I make it). If I don't make it then I'll start on a PH.D in psychology. Probably counseling psychology, not sure yet....

 

[Centrum]

Brother Jot is shooting for MD/Phd and he is only like 19. Very, very intelligent guy! One of the nicest people on here too.

 

[kito]

booo

 

[Centrum]

Impressive.

 

[Street Philosopher]

hey fellas

yeah sorry about the thing about psych, i'm half joking as usual. i'm minoring in neurosci so i've taken quite a bit of psych courses. so i know psych is more than someone like freud; it can get scientific. i'm just so of frustrated at courses that are straight up psych instead of psychobio or neurosci because a lot of it is really uninteresting to me, especially the social psych stuff. for example i just took a class on stress and half of the class was about "what makes life stressful". I mean, come on... the other part was cool... it dealt with physiological stuff.

i mean "what makes life stressful" can be interesting, but i don't think it belongs in science

 

[tonem]

test

 

[Centrum]

Fair enough Street. Most of Psych tends to focus around the social sciences and that stuff does get repetitive and old quickly.