Switching to a Nonscience major just to get into medical school

[HawaiiHereICome]

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Anyone here consider switching to a non-science major just to get into medical school?

I'm seriously considering switching to Either philosophy or music.

 

[degoo_]

If you enjoy it, do it. But be warned, philosophies/englishes etc might sound easier, but it may be more difficult to get an A with such a subjective marking scheme.

 

[sprinkibrio]

Concerning grades, learn to work the liberal arts system... meaning go to office hours! A lot! Find out what they want you to write. It sounds like I'm telling you to be a suck up, but you actually learn how to write better papers that way. And participate in class. I think it's a totally good idea to be a liberal arts major, but definately get in to med school. You have fewer options if you don't.

 

[ryandote]

Anyone here consider switching to a non-science major just to get into medical school?

I'm seriously considering switching to Either philosophy or music.

Sorry. I completely fail to see how switching to a non-science major will get you into medical school. Could you elaborate?

 

[armybound]

maybe they assume a non-science major will boost your GPA or make you more "interesting" to the school.

I would probably do pretty poorly in a non-science major.. ESPECIALLY art. I have 0 creativity.

 

[DoctorB]

If you can't do well in an undergaduate science course how do you expect to do well in a medical school science course? Not trying to be rude but I think being a non-science major just for an "easier" road will screw you over once you get into medical school when you take biochemistry and the like.

 

[HawaiiHereICome]

make you more "interesting" to the school.

thats what i'm assuming. Lol, honestly, i think liberal arts would be more work for me.

 

[Tired Pigeon]

Pick your major based on what you like & what you're good at. Whatever you choose, the advice about going to office hours is good ... getting to know your professors will help when you need to ask for LORs.

 

[twohearted]

Music or art is a terrible choice if you want to do something easy. You have to spend so much time outside of class practicing. I did music a long time ago. Despite being passionate about music performance, the degree requires much more work than the molecular biology degree that I am doing now. I'm not saying that it requires more intellegence, but music degrees require an insane amount of out of class work in practice. My sister does a fine arts program at U of M and it requires a ridiculous ammount of out of class work as well. Don't choose one of those just because you think they will be easy. A better choice would be communications or sociology.

 

[sprinkibrio]

Sorry. I completely fail to see how switching to a non-science major will get you into medical school. Could you elaborate?

I tried to ignore that part about helping it get him in, lol! But being different is really good if your passionate about whatever you're doing.

 

[Disinence2]

I truely think your major doesn't matter at all to them. I met somone who was a "hotel and restaurant management" major in med school. (not a top 60 school, but oh well)

Do what you want to do! Your GPA, MCAT, and EC's are whats important. Your major alone isn't going to make much of a difference.

 

[The Buff]

If you enjoy it, do it. But be warned, philosophies/englishes etc might sound easier, but it may be more difficult to get an A with such a subjective marking scheme.

I completely agree with this one. Lots of people think being a liberal arts major is easier than a science degree, but there is so much subjectivity going on in the grading systems that it can be hard to get an A in every class. I speak as a history major, and it could be hard sometimes to figure out what a certain TA/prof wanted or why I got a B on my last paper. Sometimes I would even long for the bio tests where you could get a good grade just through studying and knowing hard facts. Now if you wanted to do no work and were OK with getting a B in every class, liberal arts is the way to go.

In the end, just do what you like. There is no reason to waste your college years on something you don't enjoy just to "look better" to adcoms, or whatever.

 

[coffeebythelake]

Non-science courses tend to emphasize writing ability, so if you can do this better than memorization then its all aces. I did a double major in Biology and Environmental Management... I got a 78% in the science component and a 91% in the non-science component.

 

[gary5]

Anyone here consider switching to a non-science major just to get into medical school?

I'm seriously considering switching to Either philosophy or music.

I don't think that it'll pan out for you that way. Avoiding science will just make you weaker when you take the MCAT and if you take few science courses, med schools may question your ability to succeed. Med schools don't want people who take shortcuts. It's not that kind of profession.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Also major in something you will be able to find a steady job in so you have something to fall back upon in the event you don't get into medical school.

 

[HawaiiHereICome]

I don't think that it'll pan out for you that way. Avoiding science will just make you weaker when you take the MCAT and if you take few science courses, med schools may question your ability to succeed. Med schools don't want people who take shortcuts. It's not that kind of profession.

I'm a Chemical Engineering Major with upperdivision status and a 3.869 BCPM GPA. I'm not avoiding science. lol

I Just thought, maybe if I major in Philosophy, or at the least get a double major, Adcoms will be more interested.

I am not the least bit interested in Philosophy, and I'd rather not major in music since I completely understand the hours of practice and rehearsals associated with playing in the junior phil, I can only imagine at the collegiate level.

 

[etf]

Also major in something you will be able to find a steady job in so you have something to fall back upon in the event you don't get into medical school.

very important, even if you plan on reapplying. i used to think that having a "marketable" degree was something "i" didn't need to think about, since i was going to med school right after college. too bad those adcoms didn't agree...

 

[alphaholic06]

I had a test in my international relations class this morning, and if I weren't already accepted and about to graduate I would change my major. That test was soooo easy!!!!

 

[foofish]

I completely agree with this one. Lots of people think being a liberal arts major is easier than a science degree, but there is so much subjectivity going on in the grading systems that it can be hard to get an A in every class. I speak as a history major, and it could be hard sometimes to figure out what a certain TA/prof wanted or why I got a B on my last paper. Sometimes I would even long for the bio tests where you could get a good grade just through studying and knowing hard facts. Now if you wanted to do no work and were OK with getting a B in every class, liberal arts is the way to go.

In the end, just do what you like. There is no reason to waste your college years on something you don't enjoy just to "look better" to adcoms, or whatever.

Exactly! I was a history major too, and I felt my history classes were much more difficult than any of my premed reqs....it's much easier to nail an A in a more objective science class based on multiple choice tests than one based on research and papers....and my profs encouraged me to get a PhD in history, so it wasn't just a case of me sucking at writing/doing history. 🙂 My college actually had to change the prof for one of the required intro classes because the class average (for a 200 person class) was a D, and it scared people away from majoring in History.

 

[hb2998]

Exactly! I was a history major too, and I felt my history classes were much more difficult than any of my premed reqs....it's much easier to nail an A in a more objective science class based on multiple choice tests than one based on research and papers....and my profs encouraged me to get a PhD in history, so it wasn't just a case of me sucking at writing/doing history. 🙂

I agree with what you're saying. I love how in the science courses there is a definite right/wrong answer (at least in the medschool prereq courses). it all depends on the professor and the school/department. I was an Anthro minor and my anthro classes were super easy (easy teachers and easy department), but my science classes were killer. I wish I had once a multiple choice question on a science test, or a question that didn't require me to design an experiment to prove a hypothesis based on detailed knowledge of the material. My anthro classes were always multiple choice.. the essays were easy because you could just impress the professor by writing a lot or spending some time to make a unique observation and provide proof (going to office hours helps as stated above). It really depends on the major and the required courses. I know history is easy at my school because if it wasn't I wouldn't have sooooo many of my premed friends doing it and pulling a 4.0 while killing their science gpa, or even graduating and then going to a community college for their science prereq because they did so poorly in science courses. One thing I loved about anthro courses was that many were on a straight scale grading system so there was no competition while in my science courses its always been a curve with the class avg being set at a C+/B-.

Advice for the original poster: Seriously do what you like to do. If you read the residency forums you'll notice that they do take into account your undergraduate work, especially Engineering for surgical residencies. So anybody who really took it easy in college and got into medschool, may have a hard time. I was shocked to find out that your undergraduate GPA still matters, and so does whether or not you do departmental honors (not as much as your board scores, but they still matter.) If you're in doubt, take on a minor. Take a quarter and just strictly do your philosophy courses for the minor, if you like them then switch your major.

 

[ilovehedgehogs]

I'm a Chemical Engineering Major with upperdivision status and a 3.869 BCPM GPA. I'm not avoiding science. lol

I Just thought, maybe if I major in Philosophy, or at the least get a double major, Adcoms will be more interested.

I am not the least bit interested in Philosophy, and I'd rather not major in music since I completely understand the hours of practice and rehearsals associated with playing in the junior phil, I can only imagine at the collegiate level.

if you are not even interested/passionate about philosophy/music then switching majors to that would just be silly. Chemical engineering is plenty interesting, and adcoms will be impressed that you are doing so well in it. Major really does not matter much, and if you are not even interested in the liberal arts, then even a minor in it is pointless and would probably be painful for you.

 

[kyidmnmaiv]

I'm a music major. Do NOT switch to music unless you have a very strong background in music--performance, theory, ear-training, etc. The average incoming music major is severly ill-equipped for theory and ear-training. Most freshmen/sophomore music majors fail these courses, and then have to switch majors. My ears are terrible, and as a result, I've been grappling with ear-training for the past 3 years. I'm finally at the point where I'm doing well, but looking back, I'm not sure it was necessarily worth the work and stress.

If you're passionate enough about music or philosophy (another rough major) to not be concerned about a serious dip in your GPA, go for it. But I think switching majors just to get in is a really bad idea.

 

[lord_jeebus]

if you are not even interested/passionate about philosophy/music then switching majors to that would just be silly. Chemical engineering is plenty interesting, and adcoms will be impressed that you are doing so well in it. Major really does not matter much, and if you are not even interested in the liberal arts, then even a minor in it is pointless and would probably be painful for you.

Second this opinion

 

[gary5]

I'm a Chemical Engineering Major with upperdivision status and a 3.869 BCPM GPA. I'm not avoiding science. lol

I Just thought, maybe if I major in Philosophy, or at the least get a double major, Adcoms will be more interested.

I am not the least bit interested in Philosophy, and I'd rather not major in music since I completely understand the hours of practice and rehearsals associated with playing in the junior phil, I can only imagine at the collegiate level.

You should have said this in your original post! If you want to impress adcoms, do things that are more medical. They like clinical research and community health-related volunteering. Medicine is a science, and so they really do want science people. They take a few liberal arts majors, but not that many. I'd only add a liberal arts major or minor if it was something that you're really passionate about.

 

[ssquared]

Exactly! I was a history major too, and I felt my history classes were much more difficult than any of my premed reqs....it's much easier to nail an A in a more objective science class based on multiple choice tests than one based on research and papers....and my profs encouraged me to get a PhD in history, so it wasn't just a case of me sucking at writing/doing history. 🙂 My college actually had to change the prof for one of the required intro classes because the class average (for a 200 person class) was a D, and it scared people away from majoring in History.

That's so funny, because it's the total opposite at my school. Every non-science class I've taken has been significantly easier than my science classes. I've taken upper-division philsophy, literature, writing, sociology, american studies, anthropology, etc and I've done very well in all of them. But sadly bio is my true love, and it's sidekick chemistry was my downfall...🙁

 

[PCATtaker]

Pick a major where you are going to enjoy the classes and type of workload. For example if you just go into history. Make sure you enjoy writing papers and listening to lectures on old dudes who aren't around anymore. 😛

 

[45408]

Also major in something you will be able to find a steady job in so you have something to fall back upon in the event you don't get into medical school.

Screw it. Go double or nothing and major in something completely worthless in the real world so that you have much more pressure to get into medical school. If you major in nursing, you could easily be lulled away by starting wages of $25/hr.

 

[NonTradMed]

When picking a major, pick something that is:
1. Marketable
2. Enjoyable.

You're paying money to go to school, don't waste it unless you think you may use it or get something out of it.

I knew people who majored in something that they thought could help them get into med school. When they realized they couldn't get in, they had to get a masters degree in something else b/c their undergrad degree was unmarketable. Also, college is the only time you can pick out classes you like, take advantage of that time to learn something you always wanted to learn.

I was a computer science major (practical) and a chinese lit major (fun). I ended up working for a few years and then did med school but had majored in something like bio, I think it would have been hard to find a well paying with it and I dislike research, which is a common job for bio majors right from undergrad. Don't take something b/c it's easy, b/c your future plans may change.

 

[brianmartin]

Anyone here consider switching to a non-science major just to get into medical school?

Medicine is a science, and so they really do want science people. They take a few liberal arts majors, but not that many.

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2006/mcatgpabymaj1.htm

For 2006, 67% of applicants were biological or physical science majors. Only 14.7% were Humanities and Social Science majors.

-BUT-

43% of bio majors matriculated.
50% of physical science majors matriculated.
47% of humanities and social sciences majors matriculated.

Clearly, medical schools accept roughly equal proportions of applicants from nearly all majors. Therefore, switching majors will not (by itself) increase your chances of matriculating to med school. However, if you do switch majors because, perhaps you've had enough science and want to try something else, that could be seen by admissions as a sign that you are well-rounded and interested in learning about the world around you, which I'm sure they will appreciate.

But there is no inherent "advantage" to being a non-science major, beyond what you make of it. Is there something I am missing here?