What is/was your major?

[Nethuzala]

So, I'm a freshman in college, and I just met with my advisor today and we talked about majors/minors and all that good stuff.

But there is this one thing that has been bugging me for the longest time now..
I know that med schools wont consider someone with a bio major anymore than they would some other major, but alot of the older students-- premed and med students-- say that being a biology major really helped them on the MCAT, and you also have some background from undergrad to help out in classes in med school--kind of like going into undergrad and taking a bio class even tho you took bio AP in HS, pretty much a giganto review with some extra added stuff...
Now you see.. i LOVE my science, but it would also be really nice to study something that I'm a natural at, sit back, relax, do something fun without worrying about some test coming up in 2 weeks that covers 80 chapters of super detailed material, and have an awesome GPA
but..if it helps me out in the long run...

but psychology is so much fun
and philosphy is sooooooooo interesting
and i definately wanna do neuroscience minor
but.. sociology?? omg!
and bioethics is so cool sounding
and criminal justice is too much fun :{

...
SEE WHAT I MEAN?!?! SDHGIOWEKd!! i have a PROBLEM, and i need to get RID of it FAST so that I dont drive myself NUTS registering for 2nd semester!

and yes, i am a freshman thinking about all this, because i NEED to have SOMETHING planned out in my head, even if it's going to change later on...

maybe i'm worried too much about it, and i dont need to
or maybe i just need to talk it out with someone other than my advisor who just kept telling me i should do whatever i want..
.....maybe i just need a smoothie and a nice long 5 day nap 🙁(

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[Revenant]

When YOU post LIKE this IT makes YOUR post ANNOYING as HELL to READ.

My advice, avoid engineering like the plague. You put yourself through hell and increase the chances of tanking your GPA while taking boring/annoying/downright ****ty classes.

Psych/Philosopy/Polysci seem fun.

 

[Cataract]

Urgh, this is the millionth "what's your major" thread I've seen. Please do a search and you'll find your answer.

By the way, people have different views of engineering. I love it. I've had incredibly clinically related classes and it wasn't too difficult, especially biomedical engineering. If the curriculum suits your fancy, go for it.

 

[Sir Buckethead]

Geez. Just do the major you want. If you do philosophy or something in the humanities it wont take as many credits and you can take all the prereqs+some MCAT-helpful classes no problem.

 

[Revenant]

hay guise wut shood mai magor b?

 

[Nethuzala]

hay guise wut shood mai magor b?

No need to be a jerk about it, I was just asking for some advice about what others thought would be better or might help

And I realized there were threads asking about people's majors after I posted it, and I couldn't change the title- or don't know how to...

but thanks anyway

 

[doinmybest5840]

Hey man/woman, relax a bit. You just started. You have 4ish years to get everything done. Most people don't choose/declare a major until halfway through their sophomore year, and even then, many people end up changing it. I personally chose to major in psychology because I find it interesting, and while a biology major might have helped with my MCAT, I did fine. Do what is going to make you happy. If you like your classes, you'll be more willing and able to learn the material, and you'll end up with a better GPA in the long run. Take a bunch of different kinds of classes and see what piques your interest. Good luck.

 

[Revenant]

No need to be a jerk about it, I was just asking for some advice about what others thought would be better or might help

And I realized there were threads asking about people's majors after I posted it, and I couldn't change the title- or don't know how to...

but thanks anyway

im jking lawl

 

[easilydoctor]

Begin with the end in mind. Think about why you're in college and what you want to get out of this experience. Then choose your major and extracurriculars. Of course, you should try new things to broaden your choices but it sounds like you have enough already.
I'm talking about where you want to be 15, 30, 45 years from today. And build your life accordingly. You feel a sense of direction and purpose moreso than saying, "it's because I like it".

 

[mvenus929]

If you're a good enough student to do well in multiple science classes, and still be able to read and write well, you'll do fine on the MCAT no matter what major you are.

I'm a bio major with a history minor, because that's what interests me. I think Pysch would've been a close second, and I fully plan on taking another psych class next semester. Do what you like and be done with it. You can change your major if you get sick of it (just try to have it figured out by the end of your sophomore year, otherwise it's more difficult to graduate on time).

 

[sawood]

The practical part of me says pick a major that will have many job opportunities both for internships and when you graduate (i.e. not philosophy or sociolgy).

As a freshman, you may know you want to do medicine, but that also may change or evolve. And even if you stick with medicine, science and engineering seems to have a lot more research and internship opportunities.

Sorry if I offended any philosophy / sociology majors - I've just never heard of many internships or jobs associated with that.

If you like math, engineering is good times. If you hate math, engineering can be your own private hell.

 

[BlitzSleep]

I'm a Sophmore and majoring in Biochemistry, and so far it is not that boring. I mean the more advanced classes are much more interesting than the general courses of course, but nonetheless a choice i'm glad I made.

 

[Arjunsi]

I majored in English and Philosophy for the first year and a half of my college career and then decided to go premed. This means I will be in undergrad five years total before I graduate, but I think it was well worth it. You benefit from the communications and reasoning skills you learn in a humanities field in all aspects of life, including medical schools applications (personal statement, verbal reasoning scores, interviews, etc).

If I were you I would major in philosophy or english and start my pre-med classes right away. Unfornuately, I do not have the time to do this now.

Good luck!

 

[Igor4sugry]

I did mechanical engineering and I'm very glad I did. First of all, you will be able to pay for your living expenses by working at engineering companies during the summer terms, and second of all the major is very unique for pre-meds and admissions people see this. Also, it is awesome if you're into surgery, orthopeadic in particular.

 

[MelnaisLacis]

I did Political Science and was looking at law school, decided at the end of my sophomore year to do medicine.

 

[SB100]

I double major in Biology and "Health: Science, Society & Policy." Basically the latter should be called Health Policy but my school is too lazy to come up with new courses to fulfill it. That major is just a mish mash of biology, psychology, social policy, sociology, and legal studies courses.

 

[apricotattack]

I have a great major: Global Health. While it's not exactly hot for the job market, if you're planning to go into medicine, it doesn't really matter what your undergrad major is (assuming you keep your GPA high and do okay on the MCAT). If you could just work in a couple classes like biochem, anatomy, and cell biology before the MCAT you'll be in just as good of shape as the bio majors, but probably have a higher GPA and a greater breadth of knowledge.

 

[nepatslvr]

I don't know exactly how your school works, but if it's anything like mine (a UC) a lot of times you can use your GE's to pursue interesting classes that you might not get to otherwise. Since it seems like you have some pretty broad interests in a lot of fields (and really you can only do so many majors/minors) you might be better off trying to fulfill some of your gen ed requirements with intro classes in those fields. It should give you a better idea as to whether you have an actual interest in those fields, or whether you've just romanticized some of them (I know I started college as a freshman dead certain that I wanted a sociology minor. I took my first soc class and found out that actually I couldn't stand the subject, lol!). So basically I'd suggest that you start taking all your pre med requirement classes (depends on the school but usually gen chem and bio as a freshman), take some GE's in the fields you're interested in, and then figure out what you love. Be it bio, be it poli sci, or be it whatever, four years from now you'll be glad you got the opportunity to study something you enjoy rather than something that may give you a marginal at best advantage for the mcat. Browse some old mdapps and you'll see that there are plenty of non-science majors scoring well on the mcat and getting accepted to plenty of top med school.

 

[F12]

but psychology is so much fun
and philosphy is sooooooooo interesting
and i definately wanna do neuroscience minor
but.. sociology?? omg!
and bioethics is so cool sounding
and criminal justice is too much fun :{
(

Don't do sociology or criminal justice. Those are really EASY majors. Everything else is ok.

 

[foreverLaur]

you have plenty of time to major in whatever you want + take "extra" science classes like genetics and biochem to "help" with the MCAT.