Weight of Major

[konst]

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Hello,

I'm currently a sophomore biology major. I'm planning on changing to a B.A in psychology and adding a minor in bioethics by the end of the Fall 2019 semester. This is partly because I don't want to negatively effect my GPA with unnecessary upper division coursework for the biology major (ie. marine/plant biology). I also do find psychology to be more interesting, and I thought it would be a good match with a minor in bioethics. I expressed this desire to my father, and his worry was that medical schools would value a psychology major less than a biology major, because they know it's generally an easier major. Is this safe to assume, or is my father wrong?

 

[ihoop24]

Wrong. Most schools don't care about major.

 

[star-lily]

Your major doesn't matter. Do whatever you can get the highest GPA in and talk enthusiastically about.

 

[TheDataKing]

Major in whatever makes you happy. Take the pre-reqs. You're good 🙂

edit: psych major here with 2 acceptances 😉

 

[Smolpuppo21]

You have to major in what you love, or college/classes will be boring and difficult. For me, I loved the field of biology, but I also found psych super interesting. So, I decided to become a Neuroscience major because it followed my interests, not what was best for medical school.

Source: Neuro major w/ 2 acceptances 🙂

 

[Goro]

Hello,

I'm currently a sophomore biology major. I'm planning on changing to a B.A in psychology and adding a minor in bioethics by the end of the Fall 2019 semester. This is partly because I don't want to negatively effect my GPA with unnecessary upper division coursework for the biology major (ie. marine/plant biology). I also do find psychology to be more interesting, and I thought it would be a good match with a minor in bioethics. I expressed this desire to my father, and his worry was that medical schools would value a psychology major less than a biology major, because they know it's generally an easier major. Is this safe to assume, or is my father wrong?

We don't care about your major, only that you do well.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

Your major should be something you enjoy, something you can do well in, and something that sets you up well for a plan B if you don’t get into med school.

In my class we had majors as diverse as hard sciences, music, and folklore

 

[deleted688779]

As others have said, schools don't care. I will say that I had an interviewer who REALLY loved engineering majors and believed they have skills other majors don't usually have.

 

[deleted770098]

I majored in history and was accepted.

 

[Goro]

One of the smartest clinicians I ever met went to HMS, after being a film studies major.

 

[getdown]

no one cares.

 

[Osminog]

I majored in a soft social science. I don’t think it hurt me at all. In fact, it led to some interesting conversations with interviewers.

 

[Frazier]

Major in what you are passionate about.
Adcoms don't care what you major in -- just nail the prereqs/MCAT

 

[Cornfed101]

It is a good choice to switch to something you like. Way too many premeds major in biology...

 

[pBar]

The only time major might come up is if you do something "out there". My major came up a lot in my interviews, but that was mostly because I graduate with a degree in classical music performance and I had a lot of extracurricular inherently tied to that. Generally though, I don't believe adcoms could give 2 cents in the difference between a degree in bio, chem, psych, etc.

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[LeaveNoTrace]

Nobody cares. If you’re a chemical engineering major at MIT, if you are lucky you may get a bit of a boost over the biology major from State. If you are lucky. 4.0 in Underwater Basketweaving at Podunk State > 3.4 in Rocket Science at Caltech.

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

Hello,

I'm currently a sophomore biology major. I'm planning on changing to a B.A in psychology and adding a minor in bioethics by the end of the Fall 2019 semester. This is partly because I don't want to negatively effect my GPA with unnecessary upper division coursework for the biology major (ie. marine/plant biology). I also do find psychology to be more interesting, and I thought it would be a good match with a minor in bioethics. I expressed this desire to my father, and his worry was that medical schools would value a psychology major less than a biology major, because they know it's generally an easier major. Is this safe to assume, or is my father wrong?

I was a business major, it really doesn't matter lol

 

[RNthenDoc]

Nursing major here, came up in 0/6 interviews beyond cursory “oh, you’ve got some experience. Neat.”

Nobody cares.
Sometimes that’s unfortunate, because a 3.0 Mechanical Engineering degree is probably harder than a 4.0 Fine arts degree, but c’est la vie

 

[Cornfed101]

Sometimes that’s unfortunate, because a 3.0 Mechanical Engineering degree is probably harder than a 4.0 Fine arts degree, but c’est la vie

Yes...

Nobody cares that my major was hard

 

[ChemEMeddie]

Yes...

Nobody cares that my major was hard

I have come to this conclusion as well reading through all the forums multiple, multiple times, but it just feels so wrong and approaching not holistic. The way I've come to rationalize it is that schools want their rankings to go up and the only way to do that is with ever-increasing GPA admission requirements so as a business model they are forced to preferentially treat 4.0 fine arts than even 3.5 engineering, so sad 🙁 I would be interested in an adcom's opinion on this.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

French major here! Absolutely loved it. It came up a lot in interviews because a lot of my career goals in medicine center around it.

 

[Goro]

I have come to this conclusion as well reading through all the forums multiple, multiple times, but it just feels so wrong and approaching not holistic. The way I've come to rationalize it is that schools want their rankings to go up and the only way to do that is with ever-increasing GPA admission requirements so as a business model they are forced to preferentially treat 4.0 fine arts than even 3.5 engineering, so sad 🙁 I would be interested in an adcom's opinion on this.

We Adcoms have no way of knowing that you with a 3.5 in engineering will also be a 3.5 in Art or Biology, or a 4.0.

You made your choice, now you live with it.

The business model is not always to have a class full of 4.0 automatons.

And if you think Art is an easy major, you try writing an essay every two weeks on "Influence of the Hudson River School on 20th Century Art", "The Birth of Impressionism", Picasso's Blue Period, or Retrospective on the Winslow Homer display at the Met.

 

[Cornfed101]

And if you think Art is an easy major, you try writing an essay every two weeks on "Influence of the Hudson River School on 20th Century Art", "The Birth of Impressionism", Picasso's Blue Period, or Retrospective on the Winslow Homer display at the Met.

Ugh... good point.

edit: I got a C in 7th-grade art.

 

[ChemEMeddie]

We Adcoms have no way of knowing that you with a 3.5 in engineering will also be a 3.5 in Art or Biology, or a 4.0.

You made your choice, now you live with it.

The business model is not always to have a class full of 4.0 automatons.

And if you think Art is an easy major, you try writing an essay every two weeks on "Influence of the Hudson River School on 20th Century Art", "The Birth of Impressionism", Picasso's Blue Period, or Retrospective on the Winslow Homer display at the Met.

Very fair point, you are correct that I made my choice and thankfully I don't regret it! 🙂 It can get very grindy at times, but I enjoy what I'm learning and the chemistry and physics behind all the theory. I know that I would be a disaster in art 😳 so that is a very good point. All the more reason to keep excelling and continuing the strong upward trend! Thank you for the humbling, I need to step back and ask myself your question from time to time and re-evaluate.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

And if you think Art is an easy major, you try writing an essay every two weeks on "Influence of the Hudson River School on 20th Century Art", "The Birth of Impressionism", Picasso's Blue Period, or Retrospective on the Winslow Homer display at the Met.

I had to to a lot of that sorta thing for my French degree, except the reading and writing was all in French - more lit than art though. I loved it so that made it a lot easier than my bio degree.

 

[pBar]

I had to to a lot of that sorta thing for my French degree, except the reading and writing was all in French - more lit than art though. I loved it so that made it a lot easier than my bio degree.

And like with many degrees in the fine arts, you are often at the whim of subjective grading from professors. My GPA took more dings from my music degree than my biochem degree, and it often fell onto the shoulders of a misinterpreted harmony or an unfavorable interpretation of a baroque composition from 300+ years ago...

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[Detective SnowBucket]

And like with many degrees in the fine arts, you are often at the whim of subjective grading from professors. My GPA took more dings from my music degree than my biochem degree, and it often fell onto the shoulders of a misinterpreted harmony or an unfavorable interpretation of a baroque composition from 300+ years ago...

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

Very true. That's one thing I always thought was BS about liberal studies in general, the subjectivity. Fortunately a French degree is almost only comprised of grammar (which is not subjective, almost scientific) and literature, where you have 8-15 pages to support your conclusion so it's all on how well you can argue and reasonably less subjective.

 

[Sephirakra]

I had to to a lot of that sorta thing for my French degree, except the reading and writing was all in French - more lit than art though. I loved it so that made it a lot easier than my bio degree.

Change "French" to "Japanese" and "bio" to "chem," and my experience was the same. At least we aren't scared of putting pen to paper, when the need arises!

 

[Morc]

I majored in biomedical engineering because I enjoyed the material, and wanted a back-up plan in case all else failed.

People change, especially since we're so young. Maybe you'll find another passion other than medicine. Maybe you'll end up loving another subject more. In my opinion, there's a lot of value in majoring in something that could provide a plan B.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

I majored in biomedical engineering because I enjoyed the material, and wanted a back-up plan in case all else failed.

People change, especially since we're so young. Maybe you'll find another passion other than medicine. Maybe you'll end up loving another subject more. In my opinion, there's a lot of value in majoring in something that could provide a plan B.

That’s why I switched from biology to math: I liked the alternatives math presented me better than those that biology presented me if I didn’t get into medical school. Plan B was a Master’s degree in engineering, which would have been easier with a BA in math.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

I majored in biomedical engineering because I enjoyed the material, and wanted a back-up plan in case all else failed.

People change, especially since we're so young. Maybe you'll find another passion other than medicine. Maybe you'll end up loving another subject more. In my opinion, there's a lot of value in majoring in something that could provide a plan B.

That’s why I switched from biology to math: I liked the alternatives math presented me better than those that biology presented me if I didn’t get into medical school. Plan B was a Master’s degree in engineering, which would have been easier with a BA in math.

That's why I'd advise people going into college now who want to go to med school to look into something like the biomath major my school offered

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

One thing to consider if you are dead-set on becoming a physician, and why I think most pre-meds choose Biology:

In a Biology program, you can take courses that give you a advantage in medical school learning. As a Biology major, you can take Genetics, Immunology, Histology, Anatomy/Physiology, etc. which is basically a preview of what you'll see in med school.

Given the horror-stories I've heard from med students about being crunched for study time, any learning I can do now that will better prepare me for M1/M2 seems like pure gold.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

Hello,

I'm currently a sophomore biology major. I'm planning on changing to a B.A in psychology and adding a minor in bioethics by the end of the Fall 2019 semester. This is partly because I don't want to negatively effect my GPA with unnecessary upper division coursework for the biology major (ie. marine/plant biology). I also do find psychology to be more interesting, and I thought it would be a good match with a minor in bioethics. I expressed this desire to my father, and his worry was that medical schools would value a psychology major less than a biology major, because they know it's generally an easier major. Is this safe to assume, or is my father wrong?

Most schools do indeed do not care about major, but be aware that some majors get more 'rope' than others when it comes to GPA. A 4.0 is a 4.0 is a 4.0 and it does not matter if you have it in underwater basket weaving, but higher GPAs 'pop' with more intense majors and these majors get more slack. You see a magna or summa cum laude in physics or engineering and that just leaps off the screen. I was a chemist with a 3.27 when I applied and I was told by multiple people at multiple schools things to this effect.

Long story short, do what you love, but not all majors are 100% pure and identical in every which way.

Hope this helps,

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

That is a very hit-or-miss thing and not worth a heck of a lot. I'd say 0.1 points, 0.2 if you are very lucky. If anything at all. Many adcoms here will tell even the triple major in mechanical engineering, astrophysics, and pure mathematics at MIT not to count on his 3.4 GPA being treated very favorably.

 

[Shadowkeep]

It's important to point out also that GPA is viewed often in context of the MCAT. A 3.4/524 triple major at MIT is viewed very differently than a 3.4/511 with the same academic background. Conversely, a 4.0/520+ art major is a different beast than a similar 4.0/511 applicant. My humble advice is to crush the MCAT to show that you're academically exceptional and give some wiggle room for the GPA. But all things equal, I wouldn't recommend an engineering/physics/other super hard major unless that is your passion and you're confident in your abilities compared to your peers.

 

[BorderlineQueen]

One thing to consider if you are dead-set on becoming a physician, and why I think most pre-meds choose Biology:

In a Biology program, you can take courses that give you a advantage in medical school learning. As a Biology major, you can take Genetics, Immunology, Histology, Anatomy/Physiology, etc. which is basically a preview of what you'll see in med school.

Given the horror-stories I've heard from med students about being crunched for study time, any learning I can do now that will better prepare me for M1/M2 seems like pure gold.

That’s all good and true but only works if you get accepted to med school. Biology majors have a lower acceptance rate than other majors. Acceptance rate for Humanity majors was 46.16% for physical science it was 44.17% for math and statistics 42.04% for social science majors it was 41.11% for biological sciences it was 38.88%. Best Major for Med School Might Not Be Biology - Zippia

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

That’s all good and true but only works if you get accepted to med school. Biology majors have a lower acceptance rate than other majors. Acceptance rate for Humanity majors was 46.16% for physical science it was 44.17% for math and statistics 42.04% for social science majors it was 41.11% for biological sciences it was 38.88%. Best Major for Med School Might Not Be Biology - Zippia

Yes, that's where the "dead set" clause comes in. If you are MD-or-bust, then Biology is a good choice. If you want to hedge your bets and not fully commit, then other majors make sense.

Remember though, those people who got in didn't get in because they were a math/stats major - they got in because they excelled in that program (or for a third, unknown reason). In my opinion, it is best to take something you are interested in. I think for most pre-med students the interest is medicine and Biology is at the core of that, hence the large number of Biology degree applicants.

 

[Cornfed101]

I think for most pre-med students the interest is medicine and Biology is at the core of that, hence the large number of Biology degree applicants.

I’ll disagree with you here. I think most premeds just pick biology as a default because it’s the norm. Animal and plant biology aren’t terribly useful in med school. Also, who really remembers stuff from more than a semester or two previously? Everyone is going to be on a pretty level playing field when school starts.

Maybe you had a few glasses of water beforehand, but you’re still drinking from a firehouse like everyone else.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

I’ll disagree with you here. I think most premeds just pick biology as a default because it’s the norm.

That doesn't make any sense though. Someone who is interested in medicine, is also likely to be interested in Biology (and Chemistry). If you like a Zack Snyder movie, you're more likely to enjoy other Zack Snyder movies. If you like Michael Bay movies, then Zack Snyder movies are less likely to appeal to you.

Animal and plant biology aren’t terribly useful in med school. Also, who really remembers stuff from more than a semester or two previously? Everyone is going to be on a pretty level playing field when school starts.

For plant biology, I would agree. For animal biology, if I can take Genetics, Immunology, Histology, Anatomy/Physiology, etc. before getting to medical school I'm in better shape when I get there as it isn't my first exposure to the material. I actually do remember material for long time - not all of it, but enough for it to be useful.

Speaking to med school students, they have highly recommended A&P and Biochemistry 1 & 2 exposure as helpful in med school.

If your forgetting material statement were true, then someone with no biology/chemistry/physics classes at all (even pre-reqs) would be on near-equal footing with someone who had those pre-reqs. Are you going to remember every O-chem reaction? Of course not. Will it help you understand nucleophilic reactions in enzymes - probably. Every class helps a little.

 

[Antynamikal]

That doesn't make any sense though. Someone who is interested in medicine, is also likely to be interested in Biology (and Chemistry). If you like a Zack Snyder movie, you're more likely to enjoy other Zack Snyder movies. If you like Michael Bay movies, then Zack Snyder movies are less likely to appeal to you.



For plant biology, I would agree. For animal biology, if I can take Genetics, Immunology, Histology, Anatomy/Physiology, etc. before getting to medical school I'm in better shape when I get there as it isn't my first exposure to the material. I actually do remember material for long time - not all of it, but enough for it to be useful.

Speaking to med school students, they have highly recommended A&P and Biochemistry 1 & 2 exposure as helpful in med school.

If your forgetting material statement were true, then someone with no biology/chemistry/physics classes at all (even pre-reqs) would be on near-equal footing with someone who had those pre-reqs. Are you going to remember every O-chem reaction? Of course not. Will it help you understand nucleophilic reactions in enzymes - probably. Every class helps a little.

I agree with this. Biochemistry, General Physiology, and Embryology/Anatomy will likely help most ppl in med school.

But I would recommend a double major Biomechanical Engineering & Computer Science as a savvy Pre-Med. Those are the sharpest science backup careers which also transition well into medicine imo

 

[KnightDoc]

I agree with this. Biochemistry, General Physiology, and Embryology/Anatomy will likely help most ppl in med school.

But I would recommend a double major Biomechanical Engineering & Computer Science as a savvy Pre-Med. Those are the sharpest science backup careers which also transition well into medicine imo

It's actually very difficult to imagine two more difficult majors with respect to achieving the type of GPA necessary to be a successful med school applicant. So, while "savvy" is certainly a relative term, and while those majors could very well lead to great backup careers, the risk is that your strategy would wind up becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy regarding actually needing a backup plan, which would end up making this the exact opposite of "savvy" for someone who actually wants to become a doctor!

Why not just focus on majoring in something you enjoy and will likely do well in without worrying about having a backup plan if you are serious about going to medical school? Plenty of time to worry about backup plans when and if medical school doesn't work out!

 

[Antynamikal]

It's actually very difficult to imagine two more difficult majors with respect to achieving the type of GPA necessary to be a successful med school applicant. So, while "savvy" is certainly a relative term, and while those majors could very well lead to great backup careers, the risk is that your strategy would wind up becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy regarding actually needing a backup plan, which would end up making this the exact opposite of "savvy" for someone who actually wants to become a doctor!

Why not just focus on majoring in something you enjoy and will likely do well in without worrying about having a backup plan if you are serious about going to medical school? Plenty of time to worry about backup plans when and if medical school doesn't work out!

Yep. The takeaway is that a Pre Med should major in whatever he or she enjoys which will translate into the best grades and acceptances. However, I mentioned the earlier fields as the best science majors from my perspective that can progress your career once in medicine AND be useful alternatives to med school.

 

[KnightDoc]

Yep. The takeaway is that a Pre Med should major in whatever he or she enjoys which will translate into the best grades and acceptances. However, I mentioned the earlier fields as the best science majors from my perspective that can progress your career once in medicine AND be useful alternatives to med school.

You are absolutely correct, but are ignoring the fact that engineering majors are notorious for having lower GPAs, since engineering grad programs and employers just don't focus on grades like med schools do while the programs are inherently difficult.

As just n=1, at my school several premeds, including me, were discouraged from taking a CS minor for this very reason. So, what I'm trying to say, while agreeing with your general statement about the usefulness of the engineering degrees, is that the Catch-22 of following this path is that it becomes more likely that you will need the backup if you do it!

 

[JSD2]

As everyone has already said, major doesn't matter, just your performance in classes and your premed coursework matters. The only reason my major even came up during the app cycle is because my two interviewers didn't know what my major actually studied.

 

[jhmmd]

Hello,

I'm currently a sophomore biology major. I'm planning on changing to a B.A in psychology and adding a minor in bioethics by the end of the Fall 2019 semester. This is partly because I don't want to negatively effect my GPA with unnecessary upper division coursework for the biology major (ie. marine/plant biology). I also do find psychology to be more interesting, and I thought it would be a good match with a minor in bioethics. I expressed this desire to my father, and his worry was that medical schools would value a psychology major less than a biology major, because they know it's generally an easier major. Is this safe to assume, or is my father wrong?

Haven't read through the whole thread but maybe you could combine your interest in both subjects with something like biopsychology or neurobiology? UC Davis has a Neurology/Physiology & Behavior major, for example (everyone calls it NPB). Hope this helps! 😀

 

[KeViN2502]

Wrong. Most schools don't care about major.

"Most don't care about the major", can you point out which school cares?

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Take:
1) A major that you will do well in
2) A major that will give you a good Plan B if you don't get into medical school

4.0 in Underwater Basketweaving with a decent sGPA >> 3.0 in Astrophysics at Caltech

 

[gyngyn]

"Most don't care about the major", can you point out which school cares?

Maybe Carle.

 

[KeViN2502]

no school really cares about "the major" as in they dont look for people from certain majors. The purpose of the UG for medical schools is essentially to show do you have the skillset to be a successful medical student. Even the core prereqs (BCPM) are really just classified that way as have at least a very rough "standard" across applicants for comparison. Schools care about what you did with the major, how successful you were at it, did you apply or integrate across other activities.

I would like to emphasis two things

1) "nothing succeeds like success.": They will not care that you attempted a hard major, they will be impressed if you are successful at it. However the "bonus" points you may get for it are slight. At all medical schools, simply because of the numbers of applicants and the length of applications, all candidates get classified/scored in some fashion. A hypothetical academic metric could be say 100 points that takes into account GPA, course load, MCAT scores, challenging courses, and context of what else you were doing while achieving this. In that I may get to assign 1-5 "bonus points." So if you get someone who completed a double major in Biochem and Engineering with a high GPA at a selective school, I may assign a few points for that. This score becomes for review and interview priority essentially with higher scores being considered first

2) Risk: Negative factors will hurt you much more than positive factors will help you. In many ways, medical school admissions is a negative process. With the number of applications a school receives, they must reject/hold/not take action on at least 80% pre-II. Therefore they look for reasons to reject. Following the previous example, I have no way of knowing if you took a hard major and didnt do well, if it was the level of the class or that you simply arent a great student. I must assume the latter.

Thank you, this is the best response regarding this problem I have heard so far

 

[choti]

As someone who finished a double major in biochemistry and engineering... don't do a challenging combo if you don't love it. It's a LOT of work. My engineering degree required at least 50-60 hours of work out of me per week, and I had to finish my biochemistry work after that. I ended up taking 5 years and graduated with a 3.5ish GPA - which is good for that combo, but Adcoms evidently don't care much so it's unfortunate. That being said - it gave me invaluable skills that I'm deeply grateful for.