Switching majors?

[SaintSteezy]

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My friend wants to switch majors (chemistry to biology) because she is taking the MCAT and applying next summer and feels she will complete a biology degree more expeditiously. Is my friend making a sound decision? How will adcoms view this choice (considering that chemistry is considered more difficult)?

In addition, my friend often worries and feels guilty that she doesn't devote more time to EC's but I try to reassure her that adcoms don't view EC's too extensively (i.e. you do them and there is some room for embellishment in terms of duties and hours). How do I convince my friend that she will be fine?

 

[mcloaf]

My friend wants to switch majors (chemistry to biology) because she is taking the MCAT and applying next summer and feels she will complete a biology degree more expeditiously. Is my friend making a sound decision? How will adcoms view this choice (considering that chemistry is considered more difficult)?

In addition, my friend often worries and feels guilty that she doesn't devote more time to EC's but I try to reassure her that adcoms don't view EC's too extensively (i.e. you do them and there is some room for embellishment in terms of duties and hours). How do I convince my friend that she will be fine?

Assuming her GPA is fine nobody will care that she switched majors, though she may want to have a reason in her back pocket better than "it was easier/faster" in case it comes up in interviews.

Not sure why you're giving her advice that adcoms don't care about ECs, since that's not true.

 

[Burla]

Yea....telling her ECs don't matter and to lie about what you did?
I hope a lot of people aren't doing the latter...

 

[Burla]

infamous SDN double post

 

[SaintSteezy]

Assuming her GPA is fine nobody will care that she switched majors, though she may want to have a reason in her back pocket better than "it was easier/faster" in case it comes up in interviews.

Not sure why you're giving her advice that adcoms don't care about ECs, since that's not true.

I didn't mean EC's don't count, what I was implying is that once you've done a substantial amount of EC's, there is no need to keep meticulous records of every hour you were active. For example, I worked as a tutor for 2 years (this is what I intend to say despite only having worked 10.5 months).

 

[youmed]

I didn't mean EC's don't count, what I was implying is that once you've done a substantial amount of EC's, there is no need to keep meticulous records of every hour you were active. For example, I worked as a tutor for 2 years (this is what I intend to say despite only having worked 10.5 months).

Wut... that's being dishonest. You should write down the number of hours you spent as a tutor (estimate if you didn't keep track) AND the month and year of when you started ~ the month and year of when you ended.

 

[deleted407021]

To keep a good record of your tutoring hours you should look into whether or not your school has a department which can allow you to start recording them electronically. I wouldn't call keeping hour by hour records meticulous, it's just the thing to do. I keep mine recorded on a white board and then put them in the system about every 30 hours or so. Don't embellish anything, either. Definitely don't embellish your EC duties.

 

[Dral]

I can see the ad com meeting room now..."chemistry to biology?...how lazy...rejection!"

 

[Pacna]

Lol @ this EC discussion. "I'll just lie about it. It's whatevs" is a terrible idea.

1. Unethical (if you don't care about that, you SHOULD)
2. Risky. I've never heard of an ADCOM actually calling anyone in your EC list, but I'm sure it's happened.
3. You're supposed to be doing ECs that you like/interest you. You're supposed to be a person who is doctorly, not just act like it so you can get into medical school.

 

[Pasmal]

You're not her parent. Let your friend do what she wants.

That said, at my college bio was for chumps (25% of the class was bio). The chem/biochem majors made fun of them all the time because they'd complain about things like how hard photosynthesis is while we were trying to figure out how to get above 40% (the class average) on our next physical chemistry exam. One of my profs said if he was on an adcom he'd take a 3.6 biochem major over a 4.0 biology major any day.

I think she's making a dumb choice but like I said, it's her call not yours.

 

[kyamh]

From the University of Michigan twitter account:

UMich Med Admissions ‏@UMichMedAdmiss22 Aug
Busy day with some interview offers, med student groups and some time to verify some experiences/activities for applicants.#dontmakeitup

 

[Omppu27]

From the University of Michigan twitter account:

UMich Med Admissions ‏@UMichMedAdmiss22 Aug
Busy day with some interview offers, med student groups and some time to verify some experiences/activities for applicants.#dontmakeitup

I love Michigan's transparency in their app process. And that's coming from a Buckeye...

 

[Aerus]

One of my profs said if he was on an adcom he'd take a 3.6 biochem major over a 4.0 biology major any day.

I think she's making a dumb choice but like I said, it's her call not yours.

That's the exception, not the norm. The vast majority of admission officers I've spoke to prefer the 4.0, assuming everything else is kept constant.

 

[Pasmal]

That's the exception, not the norm. The vast majority of admission officers I've spoke to prefer the 4.0, assuming everything else is kept constant.

Hahaha I appreciate the insight, however I think his statement was of the symbolic "biochemistry is harder so those majors deserve credit for that" context as opposed to a literal one, especially given that he wasn't actually ever on an adcom 😉

 

[Aerus]

Hahaha I appreciate the insight, however I think his statement was of the symbolic "biochemistry is harder so those majors deserve credit for that" context as opposed to a literal one, especially given that he wasn't actually ever on an adcom 😉

Ah, I misread your post as "My professor was on an adcom."