What should I major and minor in as a pre-med student?

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VickyJ101

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Hello everyone, I will be a college freshman in the fall and I am having trouble deciding on what I should major as well as minor in. I have declared my majors as biopsychology and sociology and my minor as Spanish. But I am also interested in music. I'm not sure if I want to minor in music though because I can't play an instrument and I am not sure when I would ever use the minor. Anyway, should I stick with what I have? Will this make my application stand out since I didn't just focus on a science field or should I change my major to something else? I'm interested in so many different fields so it's hard to decide, I'm even considering English. Please help.

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Majors and minors do not stick out. Of all the things you will do as a premed, it is quite possibly the only thing med schools do NOT care about.

I would recommend starting with your school's prereqs. Definitely go in taking chemistry and lab, and maybe also biology. Schools do like to see upper-level bio work (but not necessarily a bio major) and you'll want room for organic chemistry.
The caveat is that if your school actually has a "premed major" when most don't, DO NOT TAKE IT. It's looks uncreative and they tend to do the worst on the MCAT. Major in what interests you. Fulfill the prereqs. It's all that matters.

Good luck in college and welcome to SDN!
 
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Medical schools are primarily interested in your GPA and MCAT score, so good grades are very important. The others are correct, they are not really interested in your majors or minors. They are kind of interested (not super interested) in whether or not you have appeared to challenge yourself.

So, I would say to pick a major that interests you that you can also do well in. If you are interested in music, but do not read music or play an instrument, I would recommend learning before you start taking graded college-level classes designed for music majors, as most music majors have played an instrument for years.

EDIT: Consider talking to music professors at the college you are interested in and asking them what you should do to prepare. If you do that, and then adequately prepare, then continue on to earn a music degree with those professors, it might make for an interesting and impressive letter of recommendation. Also, as a relevant aside, be aware that some medical schools are impressed by research experience and science majors have a much easier time getting science and biomedical research experience, as an fyi.
 
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I always like to tell people to major in something you would enjoy doing with your life if you didn't go to medical school
 
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No reason to minor in music if you can take classes that satisfy a gen ed requirement or you can fit in some electives. Nobody cares about the major, but they do look at grades.
 
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My only advice is don't major in biology unless it's a passion for you (you would love to be a biologist if for internal or external reasons medicine didn't pan out). Most of the battle in undergrad is being engaged. That's a heck of a lot easier doing something you are extremely passionate about. With excellent grades, any major can take you to a fine career inside or outside of medicine. A major of interest is more likely to translate into excellent grades. Choose something you find interesting; college goes fast and you only get to do it once.


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If you don't play an instrument as you noted, and with no mention of singing either, I'm going to assume you don't read music. It's great to want to learn, but something like music, you have to already know the basics before starting.
 
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Maybe pick your personal favorite major, and then let you electives guide your interests. If you end up picking a second great, but id bet that a class or two in language and music or whatever sill make you happy.
 
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Be very careful about the classic mistake of taking maximum credits per quarter or semester. Making up a C on your GPA is like trying to escape a black hole. Take Minimum credits allowed, pour yourself into those 3 or 4 classes/labs and ace them. It's a marathon. That is, if you are serious about medical school. Good luck, study hard. Give it all that you've got.
 
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If you don't play an instrument as you noted, and with no mention of singing either, I'm going to assume you don't read music. It's great to want to learn, but something like music, you have to already know the basics before starting.

Yes, you're right, I failed to mention but I do sing. I've been singing in my school's choir/chorale for four years now. I'm familiar with sheet music, but I'm not an expert at sight reading because my director never really taught or emphasized it. If I did go into music, it would be in the area of voice. I just don't see how this would really be beneficial though if my intention is to attend med school.
 
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There's really no correct major for the pre-med route. Major in whatever interests you, but make sure to do well in all your courses and ensure that you take all the pre-med required courses. I ended up choosing biology as my major as many of the courses that are required for my major aligns with the required courses for medical schools. Additionally, medical schools don't care what you minor in, so if you do end up choosing a science major, you can choose to do something fun with your minor. :) I personally chose Spanish, because I enjoy languages, and I feel that learning it may help me in my future career. Also, do keep in mind that you do not need to decide on a minor now. I added my minor just this past semester (my second year of college) because I am pretty much finished with all the required courses for my major and don't want to graduate early.
 
If you love music and would like to continue to perform, see if your school has a chorale or other vocal group that you could participate in for credit (hello, easy A) or as an extracurricular (shows that you have interests outside of medicine). The benefit of doing something with music if your intention is medical school is that music gives you a creative outlet in medical school and beyond. Some medical schools have acapella groups and I even know a professor of medicine who continues to sing in his church's choir ~40 years after having been in a choral group in college.
 
Yes, you're right, I failed to mention but I do sing. I've been singing in my school's choir/chorale for four years now. I'm familiar with sheet music, but I'm not an expert at sight reading because my director never really taught or emphasized it. If I did go into music, it would be in the area of voice. I just don't see how this would really be beneficial though if my intention is to attend med school.

In that case, keep in mind, most minors are between 4 and 10 additional classes. If it's something you enjoy and you have a foundation, why not? Beneficial compared to what? What matters for med school is your grades and MCAT. Do well in everything regardless of what it is. If you enjoy music, it just make its even easier for you because you enjoy it, and its something different, which is something med schools like within reason.
 
I am of the opinion that your major should supplement your "Plan B". That is, if you do not get in to medical school, or it takes you a longer while to get there, choose a major that can support you and your lifestyle in the event that medicine doesn't work out.
 
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I minored in architecture, which was one of the most time consuming subjects ever (9 hours of official class time in studio each week with an additional 30 hours of work on top of the official class time). I've heard majoring/minoring in music is very similar in terms of time commitment. If you like it, definitely pursue it. But keep in mind that you will be really, really busy. On the other hand, if you really enjoy music but don't necessarily want to major or minor in it, do it on the side as a hobby (and take a few classes). Then you won't risk burnout.

You probably won't need to declare your major for at least one year (unless you want to go into engineering- often you have to declare earlier), so take as many new classes as you can that will fulfill your requirements and see what you like. There is a lot of great advice above that should guide you to thinking it through.
 
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Major and minor in whatever. For the love of God, please don't walk around telling people you are "pre-med" when they ask you what your major is. GL op.
 
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Ace the prereqs and major in something you enjoy. Adcoms don't care what you major in as long as you do well. Don't double major or minor for admissions sake- they really don't care.
 
@VickyJ101

Everyone here posting about majoring and minoring in whatever you want as long as your GPA is stellar is completely right. I'm just going to tailor advice to the music minor since that's something I did in undergrad. Also realize you are a freshman so you will most likely change your mind as you go through school. Whatever you choose make sure you meet with good advisors who can help you plan your schedule along with your pre-reqs. This will usually be a combination of advisors within your majors/minors.

(skip the rest if you're not interested but here's the more music-related stuff)

If your interest is just in performing, then there shouldn't be any reason you can't join a choral group without doing the minor, unless for some reason you can only be in the group if you are a music major or minor (depends on school but I wouldn't know otherwise).

That said, some pros and cons of a music minor from my experience:

Pros
-Arts in general are looked upon well by medical schools, so if anything music would be a bonus to show your enjoyment in these things
-You get several gen ed's out of the way, especially related to the humanities and global studies
-You can forever say, "Hey, I completed a minor! Awesome!"

Cons
-Performing with classes is time-consuming; it's do-able but it's something you have to plan ahead because you can easily overload yourself with pre-reqs plus performing
-It can be a lot of credits depending on the school
-Music theory: very rewarding to learn, but it can be very time-consuming. Some minors are shifting away from the theory though and focusing more on the cultural awareness aspects; check with your school's program to see if that applies

Tl;dr...time-consuming, but rewarding when you finish it. I would do it over again with some schedule re-adjustments to not overload myself.

Hope that helps; best of luck to you!
 
All premeds should major in GPA and minor in MCAT. What academic concentration you used to get there is almost entirely irrelevant

Love it.
 
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