U of M Undergraduate Students Who Took Linguistics

[jpdaman11]

Hello SDN members/UM users,

I'm a freshman who will be attending in the fall. I plan on taking my MCAT at the end of sophomore summer. I'm already on some sort of a fast track, considering I'll be skipping Gen Chem and taking OChem. Anyways, I was wondering if taking Linguistics helped at all with the CARS/Verbal portion of the MCAT? I would like to take a Humanities class that would help me on the MCAT, but Anthro and English 125 have been taken.

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[Strudel19]

MI resident checking in - Go Blue. Doing research there! Look into the UROP program or other research opportunities at the hospital early on. Such an amazing place. Assuming you tested out with AP credit, I wouldn't skip gen chem. Get the 4 point and avoid the situation where a school will give you trouble for the AP credit - but to each their own. Being a lit minor helped me on the MCAT, so I would say linguistics and any other humanities class would help you. I have a buddy currently taking that class and he thinks it's a pain, but again, to each their own.

Good luck!

 

[Doudline]

Stop being so neurotic. Are you going to pick each of your college course based on its potential to improve your MCAT score?

Any rigorous class that fosters critical thinking will help on the MCAT and in your future endeavors. Linguistics can fit or fail that criterion as much as any class. Choose based on what turns you on, not based on petty consideration like this one.

 

[jpdaman11]

If being neurotic can help me secure a spot in a medical school, then so be it. I may only be an entering "freshie", but I've done enough research to know how difficult the path is to get in. But anyways, I haven't had a chance to explore yet since the classes I wanted were taken. I figured I could take a good humanities class that could maybe give me some assistance on the MCAT two years from now. That's why I was asking SDN UM users. Would you waste a semester on a class that you didn't need?

 

[cantankerous]

I can't imagine what you're going to be like once you reach your junior year, yikes.

 

[altblue]

Yeah no, chill out.

 

[Temporary Superman]

Hey buddy, U of M senior here. First off, these are the sort of questions you should be asking pre-health advisers once you actually get to the school. Second, you need 120 credits to graduate, so until then, all the classes you take are necessary, even if they're interpretive dance classes. Third, I don't think getting into medical school is as hard as you think it is. Sure if you want to get into WashU, Harvard, Yale, etc. and won't accept anything else, then yeah, you're in for a rough couple of years. But how about we cool it with all of the U of M specific threads, and enjoy the rest of our summer. Sound good?

 

[NotYou20]

If being neurotic can help me secure a spot in a medical school, then so be it.

It might get you into med school, but it will take a toll on your happiness. Which is more important?

 

[Affiche]

Kid, stop posting a new thread for literally every question that pops into your head. You haven't even stepped foot onto campus yet. Probably the majority of kids in your hall this year will say they're pre-med, and only about 10% of them will actually apply to medical school. Stop planning every second of college based on the possibility of going to medical school. Enjoy the years you have doing things you want to do. You should be planning your electives and ECs as if medical school doesn't exist.

 

[jpdaman11]

It's just difficult because I've wanted to become a doctor ever since I was in 2nd grade, and I've seen people like me not make it. I do want to make it to a top 10 school if possible. I've been told that it'll come if I be the best me, so I'm just trying to make sure I follow the right path into becoming the best I can be. I don't want to mess up.

 

[jpdaman11]

If I can dodge messing up a lifelong ambition with simple questions, then why not ask them?

 

[Temporary Superman]

It's just difficult because I've wanted to become a doctor ever since I was in 2nd grade, and I've seen people like me not make it. I do want to make it to a top 10 school if possible. I've been told that it'll come if I be the best me, so I'm just trying to make sure I follow the right path into becoming the best I can be. I don't want to mess up. If I can dodge messing up a lifelong ambition with simple questions, then why not ask them?

Best case scenario you end up like me, forgetting about this website until it's actually relevant, and the account that you had since junior year of HS with thousands of posts as well as your one track mindset will be a thing of the past. I was was sure I was gonna be a doctor too, but in college I seriously considered business, Engineering, programming, teaching, etc. until I realized medicine is what I actually want to spend the next 50 years of my life doing. You may dodge messing up a "lifelong" ambition by asking these questions, but you might mess up the rest of your life by being so focused on one path, that you miss one that suits you better. Just my 2 cents after going through everything you're about to go through.

 

[jpdaman11]

Best case scenario you end up like me, forgetting about this website until it's actually relevant, and the account that you had since junior year of HS with thousands of posts as well as your one track mindset will be a thing of the past. I was was sure I was gonna be a doctor too, but in college I seriously considered business, Engineering, programming, teaching, etc. until I realized medicine is what I actually want to spend the next 50 years of my life doing. You may dodge messing up a "lifelong" ambition by asking these questions, but you might mess up the rest of your life by being so focused on one path, that you miss one that suits you better. Just my 2 cents after going through everything you're about to go through.

Thank you, I'll definitely take it into consideration. I figured I could do some exploration after my MCAT that is during the summer before junior year, just so I could know that I still have my plan set straight. I know college is a time of finding yourself; I just want to make sure that I don't find out too late.

 

[Strudel19]

There isn't a reason to flame this guy. Neurotic, maybe - but he's a rising freshman and he should be a little uncomfortable. He's being proactive instead of reactive, and I'd rather see a post like this than a junior with a 2.4 asking how to turn things around. Going to Michigan is an excellent opportunity and privilege. If you do well at Michigan you'll stand a really good shot at top 10 schools.

 

[Affiche]

There isn't a reason to flame this guy. Neurotic, maybe - but he's a rising freshman and he should be a little uncomfortable. He's being proactive instead of reactive, and I'd rather see a post like this than a junior with a 2.4 asking how to turn things around. Going to Michigan is an excellent opportunity and privilege. If you do well at Michigan you'll stand a really good shot at top 10 schools.

There are multiple people who attend(ed) Michigan on this thread that are trying to advise him. Admission to medical school is not guaranteed, much less a top 10. No one is "flaming" him, just advising him that planning every second of college based on attending medical school is not the healthiest (or smartest) approach.

Slow down, take an easy first semester and get involved in things that interest you outside of medicine. And based on his response to advice on other threads (taking o-chem first semester), he'll do the exact opposite anyway.

 

[LizzyM]

Do NOT take O-Chem as a freshman. I have never seen anything good come of that and I've seen thousands of applications over the years. Take Chemistry. Find something fun outside of school. Don't step on the M in front of the library before your first exam.

 

[Temporary Superman]

Don't step on the M in front of the library before your first exam.

^This is why I had to apply to so many schools.

 

[Affiche]

Don't step on the M in front of the library before your first exam.

I love that you know about this!

 

[altblue]

Enjoy your first semester. Take anthropology.