What's your guys opinion on the philosophy major?

[BambiJD]

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I personally love engineering and business. Right now I'm on the engineering track, but I'm switching over to a business major (finance or MIS) I think I'm not gifted enough to get high GPA in engineering, so yeah......

But anyways I took 2 "what should I major in?" quizzes and I keep getting philosophy. I heard before a philosophy major is a good degree for future doctors, it even says it on the university's website. I honestly think it is a bad idea because, what would you do if you don't get in?

 

[prado]

I personally love engineering and business. Right now I'm on the engineering track, but I'm switching over to a business major (finance or MIS) I think I'm not gifted enough to get high GPA in engineering, so yeah......

But anyways I took 2 "what should I major in?" quizzes and I keep getting philosophy. I heard before a philosophy major is a good degree for future doctors, it even says it on the university's website. I honestly think it is a bad idea because, what would you do if you don't get in?

-Major in whatever you want that will get you the highest GPA
-Having a philosophy major won't make you any better of a doctor than someone with a biology major
-If you know this far in advance that you want to go to medical school, then you shouldn't have a problem getting in.

 

[sinombre]

I majored in philosophy. It was extra motivation to get in

 

[BambiJD]

-Major in whatever you want that will get you the highest GPA
-Having a philosophy major won't make you any better of a doctor than someone with a biology major
-If you know this far in advance that you want to go to medical school, then you shouldn't have a problem getting in.

Yeah, I know this medical student from Baylor told me the same thing. GPA and MCAT all it matters.

Does it help too (to get in)if I know an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard medical School? I don't mean to sound cocky, but he told me if I ever make it this far give him a call.

 

[prado]

Yeah, I know this medical student from Baylor told me the same thing. GPA and MCAT all it matters.

Does it help too (to get in)if I know an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard medical School? I don't mean to sound cocky, but he told me if I ever make it this far give him a call.

Well I didn't say that gpa and mcat were all that matters, but they are very important. The time you free up from a less intensive course load can be used to participate in more extracurricular endeavors. And I don't think knowing an instructor is going to do you any favors unless he's your dad and/or donated a lot of $$$

 

[Tommyguns89]

I majored in philosophy and I am now doing a post bacc to get the pre-reqs. I dont regret the major at all. I regret not double majoring in a science related subject because I was worried about my GPA as the plan was law school at that time.

But depending on where you go it might not be the easy major that people think it is. I went to a University that really focused on theology/philosophy and I found some of the classes to be more challenging than some of the science classes I have taken. But I think that had more to do with the professors than anything(one outright said that anybody who gets a C in his class should be proud). Just something to look out for since GPA matters for Med school.

 

[MaenadsDance]

Philosophy ought not be an easy major; it can in fact be hard as heck, much harder than biology. Upper-level philosophy classes would involve reading hundreds of pages a week and writing lengthy essays on a regular basis. If you are not a gifted writer and clear, logical thinker a philosophy major is not a good choice.

...also, frankly, philosophy is something you should really only study if you love it, truly love it. Take an intro or survey course, get your feet wet, but don't commit unless you love it. A philosophy degree will get you nowhere if MD school doesn't pan out; a mediocre GPA in engineering will get you a job.

 

[BambiJD]

Philosophy ought not be an easy major; it can in fact be hard as heck, much harder than biology. Upper-level philosophy classes would involve reading hundreds of pages a week and writing lengthy essays on a regular basis. If you are not a gifted writer and clear, logical thinker a philosophy major is not a good choice.

...also, frankly, philosophy is something you should really only study if you love it, truly love it. Take an intro or survey course, get your feet wet, but don't commit unless you love it. A philosophy degree will get you nowhere if MD school doesn't pan out; a mediocre GPA in engineering will get you a job.

Yeah, you are right about the writing papers and literature classes. I look into the philosophy curriculum at my school and I would hate it. LOL

 

[Aerus]

Philosophy ought not be an easy major; it can in fact be hard as heck, much harder than biology. Upper-level philosophy classes would involve reading hundreds of pages a week and writing lengthy essays on a regular basis. If you are not a gifted writer and clear, logical thinker a philosophy major is not a good choice.

...also, frankly, philosophy is something you should really only study if you love it, truly love it. Take an intro or survey course, get your feet wet, but don't commit unless you love it. A philosophy degree will get you nowhere if MD school doesn't pan out; a mediocre GPA in engineering will get you a job.

It really depends who you are. If you're the type of person who loves philosophy, it isn't as challenging. My friend dropped out of being a biology major after saying he can't handle all the memorization. His strong point definitely lies in reading and writing about abstract topics. So far, he's doing excellent as a philosophy major (he's a 4th year) and finds it much easier to do well in.

@OP: If philosophy is something you enjoy and you don't mind all the reading and writing, go ahead. It's extra practice for verbal on the MCAT LOL.

 

[mullet]

The healthcare world (and subsequently, the world) would undoubtedly be a better place if md's had thorough backgrounds in philosophy. Thus, my noble lie to the pre-med mind (which may not entirely be a lie): take as many philosophy courses as possible because it will give you higher mcat scores and give you a better chance a med school admission.

 

[CrimsonKing]

Do it if you want.

Just know that Philosophy majors tend to be the most pretentious and obnoxious people you'll meet.

 

[NickNaylor]

A good friend and classmate majored in philosophy. He ended up at a top med school with a huge scholarship. As everyone as said everywhere, your major is irrelevant. I find philosophy, theology, etc. to be very personal subjects in that you can apply much of what you're learning to your own life. For that reason plus your interest I would go for it, but ultimately you should do what you think will prepare you to do well after college (be that med school or another path).

 

[dweji16]

I also agree with the sentiment that you should only do a philosophy major of you really enjoy the subject. It is hard, tedious, challenging and will test your sanity many times. My school was known to have one of the hardest philosophy departments in the country so it did not help me get a good GPA... But I don't regret it as I feel it made me a better thinker and writer. Just know what your are getting into before you start. Start with one or two intro classes and see what you make of it.

 

[Espadaleader]

I was a philosophy major and I loved it! I received A's in all of my major courses. I transferred to a more competitive college after my junior year and switched majors to biological sciences and just minored in philosophy because I couldn't see myself not taking Calc I & II, Genetics, Molecular etc. Be careful. If you major in philosophy you will have to ace your pre reqs because you probably won't be able to take many science classes beyond them.

 

[Lollygag]

Agree with what everyone said above! I can honestly say that my upper level philosophy courses are way harder to get As in than any upper level bio or chem classes I've taken. There are certain works where you could read one passage over and over again and still not get it and I've never had that issue in Bio and Chem. And my personal statement will largely speak about how philosophy has shaped how I view medicine. I have no regrets! I think their was also a study years ago that showed philosophy majors, and I think literature was second and biochemistry/physics third, scored the highest on the MCAT verbal. Ill post it later when I get a chance

 

[kickster]

Do it if you want.

Just know that Philosophy majors tend to be the most pretentious and obnoxious people you'll meet.

A bit of a sweeping generalization...

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Do philosophy if you love it; it's infinitely easier to get a good GPA in a subject you find inherently interesting than in a subject where you're constantly forcing yourself to go through the motions.

That said, speaking as a graduate, I would highly recommend majoring in something practical so you have a backup career. You said you're thinking about finance...that's a very nice degree, and you say you love business. I would do that. Another option would be computer science/software engineering, although depending on why you're having trouble with engineering that may not be the wisest pick. Then again, if you love engineering and you love logical thinking (as I would imagine someone who keeps getting told by tests to major in philosophy would), computer science would probably be a great fit.

 

[Lollygag]

a bit of a sweeping generalization...

+1

 

[sinombre]

A bit of a sweeping generalization...

Says the obvious philosophy major.

 

[MrChance2]

I'd talk to people that have philosophy majors. I took a few philosophy courses in college and really loved them as I was taking them but don't think I ever used what I learned other than maybe some improved logic skills I'm unaware of.

Most philosophy majors at my school did pretty well after graduation, generally after getting non-philosophy advanced degrees, but I don't think it was because of what they learned in undergrad I think they were just smart and driven to begin with.

FWIW I got into medical school with a music degree but I didn't get the "Oh, cool you have a music degree how unique and awesome" vibe on interview day and basically everyone else in the room was a biology or science major.

 

[sinombre]

From someone who majored in philosophy and applied/was accepted to medical school:

The pros of majoring in philosophy:

-You get to explore a non-scientific facet of academia--something you likely will never get another chance to do if you end up going to medical school
-You get to spend your time exploring a subject that you find interesting
-It will probably help you achieve a higher score on VR (this was my highest subjection)
-You won't be constantly surrounded by pre-meds/type A gunners

The cons of majoring in philosophy:

-You'll have to take more classes than science majors because the medical school pre-reqs don't fulfill many (or any) major requirements.
-You'll have to read hundreds and hundreds of pages of philosophy every week. This tends to take longer than reading a novel or science text book, because the reading tends to be ambiguous and convoluted (which is extremely ironic).
-You'll eventually realize that upwards of 95% of philosophy is rooted in semantical ambiguities (which neither side ever seems to realize).

I'll edit this and add more if I think of anything else. Basically, it was worth it for me because the pros outweighed the cons. But there are definitely cons that science majors don't have to deal with, and they shouldn't be ignored.

 

[goofball]

Don't do it because it's easy. Honestly, Philosophy classes will probably more time-consuming than your science ones. Hundreds of pages of reading every week, and page after page of your own writing. It's not a joke, and don't expect it to be.

But if you want to do it, then do it. And don't worry about "backup careers" or whatever. If you want to go to medical school, and are willing to do the work for it, you will go to medical school. And if things don't work out too well in college, well, that's what Postbacs are for!


But remember: you only go to college once. Don't waste that chance putting yourself through a science/engineering major you hate.





I majored in History (related to Philosophy at my school), and it was without a doubt the best decision I had made in many years.

 

[1stmeds]

advice so far is good. but for a different perspective:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4XXHaaiBA0[/YOUTUBE]

 

[CrimsonKing]

Says the obvious philosophy major.

👍

 

[Lys Ile Glu Leu]

I switched out. Loved philo, but it wasn't allowing me enough time to focus on bcpm. Plus, I got a crap ton of B's in philo, so it was actually lowering my cGPA. 😀

 

[BambiJD]

Do philosophy if you love it; it's infinitely easier to get a good GPA in a subject you find inherently interesting than in a subject where you're constantly forcing yourself to go through the motions.

That said, speaking as a graduate, I would highly recommend majoring in something practical so you have a backup career. You said you're thinking about finance...that's a very nice degree, and you say you love business. I would do that. Another option would be computer science/software engineering, although depending on why you're having trouble with engineering that may not be the wisest pick. Then again, if you love engineering and you love logical thinking (as I would imagine someone who keeps getting told by tests to major in philosophy would), computer science would probably be a great fit.

Yes, in the quizzes it kept telling me I'm a thinker. It said either major in philosophy or mathematics. I am a thinker I'm always researching things I have a question about and I find the answer.

 

[sinombre]

Yes, in the quizzes it kept telling me I'm a thinker. It said either major in philosophy or mathematics. I am a thinker I'm always researching things I have a question about and I find the answer.

Honestly, take whatever the quiz says with a giant pile of salt. Just major in something you're interested in.

 

[semicharmed]

I pursued a double degree program in Biology (BS) and philosophy(BA) and loved it! When I went on my interviews, my research mentors always told me "they're going to want to talk about your research, papers, etc so know your research" but, in fact, all of my interviewers just talked incessantly about philosophy. I was amazed by how well versed so many of them were and how excited they are to talk about something "out of the ordinary." I think for me it made me a different type of candidate so I would certainly encourage you to follow your passion. Good luck

 

[plumhill]

Philosophy is significantly more challenging than many other subjects in the humanities, and you have to put up with tons of BS from pretentious ****s, but the topics you get to study are incredible, and I don't regret this major choice for a minute. I'm double-majoring in another science so I'm not totally screwed if I don't get in during my first application cycle, but this is definitely a good choice if you really want to learn how to think. But if your heart isn't in it, you're going to get very bored very quickly and you'll probably struggle in your courses, since philosophy professors can easily detect BS or faulty logic/argumentation.

 

[Lys Ile Glu Leu]

Philosophy is significantly more challenging than many other subjects in the humanities, and you have to put up with tons of BS from pretentious ****s, but the topics you get to study are incredible, and I don't regret this major choice for a minute. I'm double-majoring in another science so I'm not totally screwed if I don't get in during my first application cycle, but this is definitely a good choice if you really want to learn how to think. But if your heart isn't in it, you're going to get very bored very quickly and you'll probably struggle in your courses, since philosophy professors can easily detect BS or faulty logic/argumentation.

👍

It kills me when people think philo is a gimme major and that BSing papers works.

 

[kickster]

Says the obvious philosophy major.

😱 you caught me!

 

[MaenadsDance]

I pursued a double degree program in Biology (BS) and philosophy(BA) and loved it! When I went on my interviews, my research mentors always told me "they're going to want to talk about your research, papers, etc so know your research" but, in fact, all of my interviewers just talked incessantly about philosophy. I was amazed by how well versed so many of them were and how excited they are to talk about something "out of the ordinary." I think for me it made me a different type of candidate so I would certainly encourage you to follow your passion. Good luck

Ha! I shadowed a physician over Christmas break - I'm still knee-deep in pre-medness - and we spent a couple of hours interspersed over the four days I shadowed talking about philosophy and the great books (particularly the differences between deductive, inductive, and abductive logic and the roles they play in differential diagnoses).