Senior Year Options ~ Please help!

[JESSFALLING]

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I will soon be complete with my B.A. in Comparative Religions plus the basic prereqs and Genetics/Biochemistry. (I also have a minor in Ethics.)

I am planning to stay enrolled for one more academic year to improve my academic record though (I had a rough start and I need to improve my GPA a tiny bit more in order to be competitive at the schools that I plan to apply to).

Below are my final year options. I can choose two of them. I would like to focus my remaining time on maximizing the likelihood of admissions.

Please let me know which of the two options you guys think will help my application the most.

Thanks so much, I really appreciate the advice!

1. Obtain a second major in Natural Science (B.A.). This would require taking Environmental Science, Earth Science, Scientific Writing, and completing an internship in science teaching.

2. Minor in Biochemistry. This requires Adv. Biochemistry, Quantitative Analysis, and a 2-unit Laboratory course.

3. Minor in Psychology. Course options include Health Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Abnormal Psychology, Biological Psychology, and Neuropsychology/Neuroscience.

4. Take advanced Biology electives. Options here include Immunology, Virology, Histology, Hematology, and Neurophysiology.

5. Obtain Honors in the Major. This requires completing a senior thesis, which could be tailored to something medically-related (e.g. religion and ethics, etc.)

6. Study abroad/Travel. Coursework would likely be in humanities and political science.

Okay, so those are my options. Please let me know which two you guys recommend for improving my application. Thanks again!

 

[JESSFALLING]

🙂 friendly bump, anyone?

 

[thegypsyqueen]

Do you have a lot of research? If not, a thesis would look really good. Otherwise I think they are all comparable sans study abroad.

 

[Frazier]

None of those options will make your more competitive for med school really. (Assuming your sGPA is solid, if not then maybe those advanced bio classes would help a bit.)

Do what you like. Sounds trite. Doesn't matter. Do what you like.

If you don't like any of those options (or you like them all equally), do whichever one is easiest and/or will grant you the time to do research on the side. Avoid basic research, look for clinical or public health opportunities that interest you with a PI that is very active.

With a year to go, there is no reason you couldn't have at least a poster and publication (read: middle authorship) by your app season...the premise being that you chose the correct mentoring PI.

That will make you a bit more competitive at all schools.

 

[stevvo111]

I will soon be complete with my B.A. in Comparative Religions plus the basic prereqs and Genetics/Biochemistry. (I also have a minor in Ethics.)

I am planning to stay enrolled for one more academic year to improve my academic record though (I had a rough start and I need to improve my GPA a tiny bit more in order to be competitive at the schools that I plan to apply to).

Below are my final year options. I can choose two of them. I would like to focus my remaining time on maximizing the likelihood of admissions.

Please let me know which of the two options you guys think will help my application the most.

Thanks so much, I really appreciate the advice!

1. Obtain a second major in Natural Science (B.A.). This would require taking Environmental Science, Earth Science, Scientific Writing, and completing an internship in science teaching.

2. Minor in Biochemistry. This requires Adv. Biochemistry, Quantitative Analysis, and a 2-unit Laboratory course.

3. Minor in Psychology. Course options include Health Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Abnormal Psychology, Biological Psychology, and Neuropsychology/Neuroscience.

4. Take advanced Biology electives. Options here include Immunology, Virology, Histology, Hematology, and Neurophysiology.

5. Obtain Honors in the Major. This requires completing a senior thesis, which could be tailored to something medically-related (e.g. religion and ethics, etc.)

6. Study abroad/Travel. Coursework would likely be in humanities and political science.

Okay, so those are my options. Please let me know which two you guys recommend for improving my application. Thanks again!

Honors in the major is your best bet, while taking a few advanced bio electives and doing research on the side (assuming you have yet to do any sort of science research...).

but as others have said, do what you like, it'll make your life easier