Two College Related Questions

[Badger MD]

hSDN -

I am very interested in starting a new language during college (German). However, I have heard that college language courses are much harder than they need to be and as a result GPAs suffer. Is there any truth to this?

My second question is about majors. I am aware that you can major in anything you wish and still be accepted to medical school. My question is whether "vocational" majors are a turn off to admission committees? I am interested in Actuarial Science and had planned to major in that, however, I am not willing to do that at the expense of being accepted to medical school. Would this possibly lead the admissions staff to believe I have alternative career goals? Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for any help!

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[Geneticist]

I am very interested in starting a new language during college (German). However, I have heard that college language courses are much harder than they need to be and as a result GPAs suffer. Is there any truth to this?

It depends who you have as a prof; difficulty of college language classes vary significantly from professor to professor. Choose an easier instructor if you can and you'll be set. German is a great language, btw. Good choice.

My second question is about majors. I am aware that you can major in anything you wish and still be accepted to medical school. My question is whether "vocational" majors are a turn off to admission committees? I am interested in Actuarial Science and had planned to major in that, however, I am not willing to do that at the expense of being accepted to medical school. Would this possibly lead the admissions staff to believe I have alternative career goals?

Nope. In fact, it may actually help your app look unique and stand out amongst a pool of seemingly identical applicants. My guess is that it probably won't affect your chances (positively or negatively) either way.

Good luck next year!

 

[avatarftw]

In general, language majors are pretty easy compared to the hard sciences and math majors. Also, I would highly recommend something more useful like Spanish or if you are willing to stomach a lot of hard work, Chinese.

Arabic would be another solid choice.

hSDN -

I am very interested in starting a new language during college (German). However, I have heard that college language courses are much harder than they need to be and as a result GPAs suffer. Is there any truth to this?

My second question is about majors. I am aware that you can major in anything you wish and still be accepted to medical school. My question is whether "vocational" majors are a turn off to admission committees? I am interested in Actuarial Science and had planned to major in that, however, I am not willing to do that at the expense of being accepted to medical school. Would this possibly lead the admissions staff to believe I have alternative career goals? Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for any help!

 

[Badger MD]

In general, language majors are pretty easy compared to the hard sciences and math majors. Also, I would highly recommend something more useful like Spanish or if you are willing to stomach a lot of hard work, Chinese.

Arabic would be another solid choice.

I'm already considered "fluent" in Spanish so thats why I didn't plan on taking more of it

 

[xeno655]

College language courses are just more intensive than high school lang courses. In college, we covered three years of high school spanish in just one year. It's more accelerated, but you learn more that way. If you put in the time and work, then you'll be fine. And like other posters said, it depends on your professor as well.

Your choice of major does not matter in medical school admissions. In my opinion, it probably helps you stand out just a little bit if you major in something other than Biology or Chemistry (which most applicants choose to major in).

Good luck!

 

[CJay]

Just like the posts above most classes depend on the professor but they do cover more information in a shorter amount of time. You'll be fine just do your homework!