Some good nontypical premed majors?

[YankeesfanZF5]

So I am a sophmore finishing up orgo 2, physics 2 and calc. Only prereqs I think I have left are biochem. I am right now a typical, boring, cookie-cutter biology major with two minors (psych & chem). It feels so boring and useless but I know I need to take some more bio courses to increase my science gpa (3.5) (got Bs in gen bio and physics). I really enjoy humanitites courses and a wide variety of education. I really am only really interested in taking about half my bio major classes like vert zoo, anatomy, and physiology but cell and molecular and micro sound awful. It is just soo nice that it pretty much fulfills the classes needed for almost every graduate level health care job! I came into school with a year of college done so I have time to kind of branch out and I would not mind going to college 5 years because it is affordable. Any classes suggestions that you guys liked to break the monotony? Any good majors you guys suggest?

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[WedgeDawg]

I will preface this with the "adcoms don't care what your major is" disclaimer.

That being said, some of the non-science classes I enjoyed have been

• Anthropology of health and disease
• A class about how sound/music relates to the environment of the culture it was created in
• A foreign language (spanish is the most useful, but take whatever you're interested in)
• Bioethics classes (and ethics classes in general, really)
• Political philosophy (this one was probably my least favorite of my list here)
• Classes about religion and theology

 

[YankeesfanZF5]

I will preface this with the "adcoms don't care what your major is" disclaimer.

That being said, some of the non-science classes I enjoyed have been

• Anthropology of health and disease
• A class about how sound/music relates to the environment of the culture it was created in
• A foreign language (spanish is the most useful, but take whatever you're interested in)
• Bioethics classes (and ethics classes in general, really)
• Political philosophy (this one was probably my least favorite of my list here)
• Classes about religion and theology

Thanks man and yeah I know they do not care what your major is but bio seems boring. I do want to take some religion and history courses, maybe some greek or latin.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Thanks man and yeah I know they do not care what your major is but bio seems boring. I do want to take some religion and history courses, maybe some greek or latin.

For what it's worth, I was a "boring" bio major, but I spiced up my exposure to different things by trying to take interesting bio-related classes (like classes about neuroendocrinology and diseases of the eye).

 

[YankeesfanZF5]

For what it's worth, I was a "boring" bio major, but I spiced up my exposure to different things by trying to take interesting bio-related classes (like classes about neuroendocrinology and diseases of the eye).

I don't know if my school has anything awesome like that (small state liberal arts college) and its good to hear from another bio major. I probably will drop my psych minor and take some fun classes instead to broaden my education and have some more fun in college and maybe boost that gpa. By the way your avatar is awesome.

 

[flyingeagle]

I found Astronomy so amazing too! If you think about it, it's like the opposite of biology because the objects are so massive you cannot really conceptualize them, whereas in Biology they are too small to imagine. There also are a lot of ties to biology, physics, and chemistry, so learning astronomy wouldn't be as bad for someone like you. Granted, the upper level stuff gets extremely hard haha. My professor is the leader for one of the Mars Rover projects and he would show us the most recent pictures and findings of Mars each day. Imagine being able to be an undergrad RA for a project like that??

 

[eteshoe]

Take some advanced math courses (depending on how brave you are) or something like Japanese culture & media (pretty interesting courses)

 

[Tenk]

Anything with finances. This is more important than anything else you could possibly take and is something that is severely lacking in medical education but is 100% necessary for the future well being of you and your family.

 

[Mwooster]

Like @WedgeDawg said, Adcoms care very little about your major.

I majored in Basket Weaving with a concentration in Wicker Baskets at my alma mater's School of Arts and Crafts and took all the necessary pre-med courses. It's worked out for me so far both in life and in med school application.

 

[Turkishking]

Thanks man and yeah I know they do not care what your major is but bio seems boring. I do want to take some religion and history courses, maybe some greek or latin.

If you find that Bio is boring, you're going to have a rough time going through being a "pre-Med"

 

[md-2020]

If you find that Bio is boring, you're going to have a rough time going through being a "pre-Med"

False

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

If you find that Bio is boring, you're going to have a rough time going through being a "pre-Med"

This is monumentally incorrect. While bio is necessary for premed/med it really only covers a fraction of what is required. Pre-meds also need chem/orgo/biochem, physics, calculus/stats, and social sciences. At the schools I'm familiar with bio was basically just a clusterf**k of random crap related to basic science research (like gene transmission via plasmids in bacteria) which is not terribly relevant to the practice of medicine.

So I am a sophmore finishing up orgo 2, physics 2 and calc. Only prereqs I think I have left are biochem. I am right now a typical, boring, cookie-cutter biology major with two minors (psych & chem). It feels so boring and useless but I know I need to take some more bio courses to increase my science gpa (3.5) (got Bs in gen bio and physics). I really enjoy humanitites courses and a wide variety of education. I really am only really interested in taking about half my bio major classes like vert zoo, anatomy, and physiology but cell and molecular and micro sound awful. It is just soo nice that it pretty much fulfills the classes needed for almost every graduate level health care job! I came into school with a year of college done so I have time to kind of branch out and I would not mind going to college 5 years because it is affordable. Any classes suggestions that you guys liked to break the monotony? Any good majors you guys suggest?

History is a great track that I recall reading actually serves premeds very well. You learn strong writing, communication, and critical thinking skills that are invaluable in the application process and beyond.

I did my school offered "neuroscience and behavioral biology" (my major), a combined major of Neuro, psych, and anthro. Not every school offers it, but if yours does I'd highly recommend it as an escape from the pre-med rat race that is general biology.

 

[JustAPhD]

This is monumentally incorrect. While bio is necessary for premed/med it really only covers a fraction of what is required. Pre-meds also need chem/orgo/biochem, physics, calculus/stats, and social sciences. At the schools I'm familiar with bio was basically just a clusterf**k of random crap related to basic science research (like gene transmission via plasmids in bacteria) which is not terribly relevant to the practice of medicine.

History is a great track that I recall reading actually serves premeds very well. You learn strong writing, communication, and critical thinking skills that are invaluable in the application process and beyond.

I did my school offered "neuroscience and behavioral biology" (my major), a combined major of Neuro, psych, and anthro. Not every school offers it, but if yours does I'd highly recommend it as an escape from the pre-med rat race that is general biology.

It is when those genes confer antibiotic resistance (but I know what you mean).

In terms of studying something that will actually be relevant to your life, I second @Tenk with the finance suggestion.

 

[raiderette]

My minor (would be double major if I didn't slack the semester that I studied for the MCAT) was in philosophy. In particular I love the logic and ethics courses, and believe they served me well for MCAT and interview prep. If I could do it all again, I would have done a math or computer science minor as well, but their just wasn't time.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I would highly recommend majoring in some sort of business major or economics. It works well as a fallback option if you can't get into medical school. The luckiest "failed" pre-meds are the ones who get out so early (after a couple semesters or quarters) that they can change everything around, and it would be as if nothing ever happened. The ones that keep going till the end and have a soft science major like biology can often end up underemployed. It's a crappy way to go given the high expectations you initially set for yourself.

 

[barack_yomama]

...

 

[Toutie]

Anthropology is a great major. It combines the study of just about every part of human existence...cultural, social, biological, archaeological.

Some schools (like UCLA) offer not only a BA, but also a BS in Anthro. Which is essentially an Anthro major that includes all the typical pre-med requirements. I think the only pre-req it does not include is Biochem.

 

[Dandine]

Some other suggestions for classes:

-Have you taken either intro to psychology or intro to sociology yet? Those should be helpful at least for the MCAT. Or at least a higher level psych or soc if you are done with those

- @WedgeDawg suggested a music and culture class; I took a world music/ethnomusicology class that was really interesting and thought it was a rather sneaky way of teaching sociology. So if you're interested in sociology with an artsy perspective that might appeal to you. Art history/world art would apply here as well. For these you could get fine arts credit out of the way too!

-If you have time consider a PE/dance class...never took one of those but I knew pre-med classmates who enjoyed them...something to think about

-That above, also consider what your fellow classmates have taken. A couple of the electives I took were recommended by friends, and I don't regret taking those classes at all! Consider this with a grain of salt, of course, but your school will likely have courses that are unique to it, so see what's out there!

 

[Nietzschelover]

@efle @Lucca

 

[aalamruad]

Major in Spanish

 

[Snoopy2006]

The "fun" stuff is the creative (English) or conceptual (philosophy, theology, etc). But the most useful (if you find a passion for it) would be an econ/finance major.

Never took any finance classes as an undergrad, and I regret it now. You're able to learn a lot of the basics on your own, but I still wish I had a slightly more formal background now that I actually have money decisions to make.

 

[Lucca]

Philosophy is fun, challenging and you will meet characters whose eccentricity is only rivaled by Math students.

I'm a big believer in having both breadth and depth. Whatever you choose to major in, I recommend exploring other fields as well, scientific or not. The less it directly has to do with medicine, the better.

 

[Lawpy]

So I am a sophmore finishing up orgo 2, physics 2 and calc. Only prereqs I think I have left are biochem. I am right now a typical, boring, cookie-cutter biology major with two minors (psych & chem). It feels so boring and useless but I know I need to take some more bio courses to increase my science gpa (3.5) (got Bs in gen bio and physics). I really enjoy humanitites courses and a wide variety of education. I really am only really interested in taking about half my bio major classes like vert zoo, anatomy, and physiology but cell and molecular and micro sound awful. It is just soo nice that it pretty much fulfills the classes needed for almost every graduate level health care job! I came into school with a year of college done so I have time to kind of branch out and I would not mind going to college 5 years because it is affordable. Any classes suggestions that you guys liked to break the monotony? Any good majors you guys suggest?

How about majoring in electrical/computer engineering with a physics minor?

 

[zedsdead]

Math! Higher mathematics is fascinating. (Plus, if you take a gap year or are forced to reapply, you can leverage your major into a programming job!)

Agreed. Physics too! And when people say "adcoms don't care," this is true in the sense that the major by itself means nothing, but some of my best interviews have come from talking about a non-bio background.

 

[eteshoe]

How about majoring in electrical/computer engineering with a physics minor?

lol

 

[efle]

Brain stuff is cool at all levels! I went for a blend of hard science, soft science, and humanities but all surrounding the brain - a mix of neuroscience, cognitive psych and philosophy of mind. If you dislike bio, try some neuro, for some reason it struck me as much more interesting. I second Lucca's advice too, everyone should try a few phil or other humanities classes, the reading and writing there challenges you in a very different way than the sciences.

 

[Tvicl]

Dance? That would surely get the attention of med schools

 

[~bleepbloop~]

I used to be a Geology major. I think that would certainly make you raise some eyebrows, haha

 

[Doxorubicin]

If you have no doubt you'll one day go to medical school, I absolutely cannot recommend majoring in a foreign language and doing a study abroad trip to a country where that language is spoken enough. Philosophy is another fascinating option.

If you have serious doubts about your ability to get in, I'd probably recommend something more employable than bio/French/philosophy.

 

[jqueb29]

Economics

 

[bararaboi]

This is monumentally incorrect. While bio is necessary for premed/med it really only covers a fraction of what is required. Pre-meds also need chem/orgo/biochem, physics, calculus/stats, and social sciences. At the schools I'm familiar with bio was basically just a clusterf**k of random crap related to basic science research (like gene transmission via plasmids in bacteria) which is not terribly relevant to the practice of medicine.




History is a great track that I recall reading actually serves premeds very well. You learn strong writing, communication, and critical thinking skills that are invaluable in the application process and beyond.

I did my school offered "neuroscience and behavioral biology" (my major), a combined major of Neuro, psych, and anthro. Not every school offers it, but if yours does I'd highly recommend it as an escape from the pre-med rat race that is general biology.

I did a history major and second this suggestion. If you're looking for a single class, try taking a history of medicine class.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

If you're looking for something totally out of left field, I met a guy on the interview trail to had Majored in "Non-Profit Art Curation"

He was an absolute oddball, but I bet his app get some peoples attention...