Spanish Major??Anyone??

[RadMD1day]

Just wondering....I am going to transfer orientation Tues. night and to declare my major. I have been going back and forth on Spanish ...or Biology....I don't know what to expect from the Spanish Major though, a little skeered , but I am interested in both.
Any advice anyone....who is a spanish major or biology major.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[teammonkeys123]

one of my majors was spanish, and i think it has definitely been the more useful major. I dont know FOR SURE if it has helped with admissions, but I think it has a little as a significant portion of our patients will only speak spanish...

BUT make sure you still take lots of science courses!

 

[RadMD1day]

one of my majors was spanish, and i think it has definitely been the more useful major. I dont know FOR SURE if it has helped with admissions, but I think it has a little as a significant portion of our patients will only speak spanish...

BUT make sure you still take lots of science courses!

I aced Spanish 1 and about to take Spanish 2 is the summer. I have a major interest in it since my grandfather was Latino, non spanish speaking????. He came here when he was 7 ....but anywho...my question is how would you rate the experience of taking the major. Is it typically writing papers in spanish and being graded on your grammar????
thanks

 

[CagedBird]

I almost did a double major with Spanish and Biology but I ended up just getting a minor in Spanish with a major in Bio. I only had to take three more classes for the major but I decided not to so that I could take more science classes and I felt that I had a good grasp of the language at that point. It definitely helps with the admissions process
My only drawback from completing the major was this linguistics class that majors have to take, native speakers discouraged me and throughout the years, I have learned that you can't rely so much on what others say...and I kind of wish I would have disregarded what they said and done the major...
If you are unsure about it, then just follow the requirements for the Span major as well as those for medical school (bio classes) and if you opt out of the spanish major, you should still be in good shape for a minor

 

[ItOnlyTakesOne]

my question is how would you rate the experience of taking the major. Is it typically writing papers in spanish and being graded on your grammar????
thanks

I was a physio major and a Spanish minor, and I'm so glad I did it that way. To get the major, I would have had to take a linguistics class like CagedBird said, and I heard it was horrible so I opted out. With my minor though, I did language and grammar stuff (the intro classes like Spanish 1-6 or however they do it at your school, and one upper division class on grammer) and tons of cultural and historical classes, which I loved. It was such a nice break to go from lecutres on muscle insertions to talking about El Camino de Santiago in Spain. Plus, my Spanish classes were a lot smaller than my physio classes so I got to know people pretty well and we had some good discussions (sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in English). And I went to Spain for a study abroad one summer. All in all, I wouldn't have changed a thing, and I'm glad now that I'm fluent in another language, especially one that has the potential to serve you so well as a physician.

Just my two cents.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I'd rather major in Spanish than biology. I think it would be more useful in the long run.

 

[baylormed]

I'd rather major in Spanish than biology. I think it would be more useful in the long run.

I thought about majoring in Spanish. I'm a native speaker who grew up in a Spanish-speaking country, so all the grammar, literature and paper-writing would be a piece of cake for me (the only real work would be reading).

I then took a Spanish class and was bored out of my mind, so I decided to major in something I didn't already know.

 

[Wanna_B_Scutty]

I'd rather major in Spanish than biology. I think it would be more useful in the long run.

Seconded.

The Spanish major is:
1) more useful
2) good for differentiating yourself from the 5 gazillion pre-med Bio majors
3) likely to give you opportunities for more meaningful abroad medical experiences in Spanish-speaking countries than the standard DAB trips people tend to take.