Seriously dumb question, but here goes:

[Polynikes]

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Okay, I have done loads of research on acceptance to med school. Here is my story real quick, so tell me what you think. The dumb question is at the end:

I am a junior, I'm 26 years old next month, and I was in special operations in the US military and earned two combat action ribbons and some other stuff too. my pre-med gpa is a 3.92, and my overall is a 3.89...

Here's my dumb question: does the fact that I'm a health science major and not a biology major make me look less prepared for med school than a biology major? I know that MCATs/ECs/LORs/GPAs are the big factors for acceptance, but I just can't get over this stigma of "Pre-med = biology."

I mean, why do colleges that have pre-med programs usually have them through the biology department? Do all of your schools have pre-med curriculum through another department? I tell people in some of my health science classes that I'm a pre-med major, and they're like "dude, why aren't you in biology?"

It just gets old sometimes you know?

As long as I get a competitive MCAT and all the other checks in the boxes, I will be judged equally as someone with a biology degree right?

Thanks for any advice....

 

[njbmd]

Hey Dude,
Your major does not matter as long as you have the pre-med courses. It looks like you have done well so chill out. Any major can be a pre-med major and biology seems to be the most common.

If I had it to do over again and I knew that I would going to end up a surgeon, I would major in American Studies with a Spanish minor; take my pre-med coursework and never look back. Yes, I loved my Biology/Chemistry double major but in terms of usefulness, American Studies would have been more useful and far more interesting.

Rock on the MCAT and make sure your extracurriculars, LOR etc. are all good.

njbmd 🙂

 

[robh]

Okay, I have done loads of research on acceptance to med school. Here is my story real quick, so tell me what you think. The dumb question is at the end:

I am a junior, I'm 26 years old next month, and I was in special operations in the US military and earned two combat action ribbons and some other stuff too. my pre-med gpa is a 3.92, and my overall is a 3.89...

Here's my dumb question: does the fact that I'm a health science major and not a biology major make me look less prepared for med school than a biology major? I know that MCATs/ECs/LORs/GPAs are the big factors for acceptance, but I just can't get over this stigma of "Pre-med = biology."

I mean, why do colleges that have pre-med programs usually have them through the biology department? Do all of your schools have pre-med curriculum through another department? I tell people in some of my health science classes that I'm a pre-med major, and they're like "dude, why aren't you in biology?"

It just gets old sometimes you know?

As long as I get a competitive MCAT and all the other checks in the boxes, I will be judged equally as someone with a biology degree right?

Thanks for any advice....

Pre-med might be a MINOR ding in some people's minds. The criticism will be; you are not well rounded enough. The fact that you are a veteran and older than average mutes that criticism. If everything else is solid, it won't matter.

I agree with njbmd. Rock the MCAT, get some good LOR's from your former commanders and current professors, get some clinical experience. With that, your life experience and your great grades, you are 24K golden. 👍

 

[QofQuimica]

Pre-med might be a MINOR ding in some people's minds. The criticism will be; you are not well rounded enough. The fact that you are a veteran and older than average mutes that criticism. If everything else is solid, it won't matter.

I agree with njbmd. Rock the MCAT, get some good LOR's from your former commanders and current professors, get some clinical experience. With that, your life experience and your great grades, you are 24K golden. 👍

I agree. Every admissions person I've ever spoken to has said that major does not matter. Pick something you like and earn good grades in the most challenging courses available to you. You've already done that, so now you just need to show the schools that you're interested in medicine through volunteering and shadowing, and do well on the MCAT.

 

[blee]

Man, if I had your credentials, I'd be planning my acceptance announcements already. 🙂 (not to say that anything's guaranteed, but you know what I mean)

I think everyone else has said all that needs to be said. You are in great shape, and your best bet is simply to major in something that interests you. Even if I could rewind the clock and do over my undergrad years, I would not be a bio major.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

As long as I get a competitive MCAT and all the other checks in the boxes, I will be judged equally as someone with a biology degree right?

Thanks for any advice....

My advice: Don't spend another second worrying about it. Spend that time studying for the MCAT or something else that really matters as far as your admission goes.

If it will make you feel better, there are documents (maybe it's even in the MSAR, the the US News and world report book) that breaks down the entering class by undergraduate major, and the percentage of matriculants that were Bio. majors is only something like 40-50%. While that's probably still more than any other SINGLE major, it's not the majority or only a slim majority when compared to all other majors.

Bottom Line: It's not an issue. You have more important things to worry about.

Good Luck,

Jota

 

[Polynikes]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I know that this isn't really a problem, but I just wanted to hear it from someone else. It's just that my cousin just got accepted into med school and she was a bio major. Add that to the fact that my school's pre-med curriculum is through the biology department, and I just started getting worried that I was going to have to change my major and waste all of the time I've invested in health science...

 

[USArmyDoc]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I know that this isn't really a problem, but I just wanted to hear it from someone else. It's just that my cousin just got accepted into med school and she was a bio major. Add that to the fact that my school's pre-med curriculum is through the biology department, and I just started getting worried that I was going to have to change my major and waste all of the time I've invested in health science...

Thank you for your service! 😉

 

[Law2Doc]

It's just that my cousin just got accepted into med school and she was a bio major. ...

Well, a substantial percentage of those who do not get into med school are bio majors, so I wouldn't put too much weight on your cousin's anecdotal evidence. It does not help- The days of med schools looking exclusively toward a major or two are over. A larger and larger percentage of med school classes each year were not science majors at all. If you had to change majors, you would probably get more benefit from adcoms changing it to something like english rather than bio, because it might be regarded as adding diversity and well roundedness to the class. Thus, if you do well in the prereqs and MCAT, and do not neglect all the other components of an application (none of which are just formalities) it absolutely matters not what you majored in.

 

[Law2Doc]

It's just that my cousin just got accepted into med school and she was a bio major. ...

Well, a substantial percentage of those who do not get into med school are bio majors, so I wouldn't put too much weight on your cousin's anecdotal evidence. It does not help- The days of med schools looking exclusively toward a major or two are over. A larger and larger percentage of med school classes each year were not science majors at all. If you had to change majors, you would probably get more benefit from adcoms changing it to something like english rather than bio, because it might be regarded as adding diversity and well roundedness to the class. Thus, if you do well in the prereqs and MCAT, and do not neglect all the other components of an application (none of which are just formalities) it absolutely matters not what you majored in.