Which major is harder & which will look better on an application to med school?

[unsavedhero]

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I am currently a senior in highschool planning to enter college this fall. Ik a lot of people major in psychology and biology when trying to get into medical school but I figured that must be a cliche. Im choosing between Biological Chemistry and Neuroscience. Which major do you guys think will appeal best to a medical school's admissions team? and if you have any other suggestions for majors feel free to tell me 🙂 Thank You!!

 

[rfvbnmju]

The consensus is any major is fine as long as you have all the pre-reqs met. Pick something that you enjoy studying.

 

[Medstart108]

Anything will do theres no added advantage between different majors. Choose the one you will get a better GPA in.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Both of the majors you listed are also pretty cliché. Major doesn't matter, but, for what it's worth, pharmacology is the best major of all time. ;-P

 

[unsavedhero]

The consensus is any major is fine as long as you have all the pre-reqs met. Pick something that you enjoy studying.

Yeah, but if I chose something "easy" wouldn't they look down on it and think I slacked off? I mean wouldn't a 3.4 gpa in neuroscience look better than a 3.6 in something like accounting? lol

 

[Doctor Strange]

Yeah, but if I chose something "easy" wouldn't they look down on it and think I slacked off? I mean wouldn't a 3.4 gpa in neuroscience look better than a 3.6 in something like accounting? lol

No.

 

[leon sandcastle]

major doesnt matter

 

[chillaxbro]

Biochemistry and neuroscience isn't really breaking the mold...

 

[unsavedhero]

wow wtf -_- all this time I wanted to take a "sciency" major to make my application look better.... So if I major in like economics they won't give a **** as long as my premed classes look good? sorry, if my questions seem redundant but you see the rest of my life is at stake and I'm growing quite anxious 🙁 lol

 

[Doctor Strange]

wow wtf -_- all this time I wanted to take a "sciency" major to make my application look better.... So if I major in like economics they won't give a **** as long as my premed classes look good? sorry, if my questions seem redundant but you see the rest of my life is at stake and I'm growing quite anxious 🙁 lol

Major. Does. Not. Matter.

 

[leon sandcastle]

wow wtf -_- all this time I wanted to take a "sciency" major to make my application look better.... So if I major in like economics they won't give a **** as long as my premed classes look good? sorry, if my questions seem redundant but you see the rest of my life is at stake and I'm growing quite anxious 🙁 lol

we're all gonna make it brah

 

[scottydsntkno]

wow wtf -_- all this time I wanted to take a "sciency" major to make my application look better.... So if I major in like economics they won't give a **** as long as my premed classes look good? sorry, if my questions seem redundant but you see the rest of my life is at stake and I'm growing quite anxious 🙁 lol

Dear god...

But really, go in open minded and plan on getting your Pre-Med requirements along with Gen-Eds out of the way first. Most college students change major 2-4 times before finally settling on something that they enjoy and do well on.

 

[unsavedhero]

Major. Does. Not. Matter.

Okay! I think I realize that now.. still kinda paranoid though cause legit every person ik that wants to get into med school is majoring in biology & or biological chemistry, and I just didn't wanna seem like the bad grape out of the bunch lol

 

[unsavedhero]

Dear god...

But really, go in open minded and plan on getting your Pre-Med requirements along with Gen-Eds out of the way first. Most college students change major 2-4 times before finally settling on something that they enjoy and do well on.

hmm thanks Imma do that :3. how important do you think is taking calculus? is it imperative to my acceptance into a medical school?

 

[iforget2]

hmm thanks Imma do that :3. how important do you think is taking calculus? is it imperative to my acceptance into a medical school?

I'm not sure about your school, but at mine calc 1 and 2 are classes that pre-meds are required to take. It might be a pre-req for many med schools as well.

 

[leon sandcastle]

take calc and/or stats

 

[Tappinfool66]

Everyone's already said it - major doesn't appear to matter.

Since you asked for suggestions, though, I'd recommend majoring in a language. I studied Spanish (just graduated - woo hoo!) and I thought it was a great decision because college is the time to really learn another language to a very high degree and I didn't see myself being able to do that during or after medical school. I was also able to maintain a 3.93 cumulative GPA (and a 3.93 science GPA) because I really enjoyed what I was studying. However, you may not enjoy languages so, bottom line, study what you enjoy.

 

[Ost3oclast]

Okay! I think I realize that now.. still kinda paranoid though cause legit every person ik that wants to get into med school is majoring in biology & or biological chemistry, and I just didn't wanna seem like the bad grape out of the bunch lol

Lol dude chill.....every applicant you know is majoring in bio and I guarantee not every one of them will get into med school and i guarantee its not because they majored in bio or anything else Shoot I was a kines major, which is a pretty laid back degree, It never once came up, and I'm matriculating MD in the fall. Its all good.

 

[DokterMom]

I am currently a senior in highschool planning to enter college this fall. Ik a lot of people major in psychology and biology when trying to get into medical school but I figured that must be a cliche. Im choosing between Biological Chemistry and Neuroscience. Which major do you guys think will appeal best to a medical school's admissions team? and if you have any other suggestions for majors feel free to tell me 🙂 Thank You!!

At this point, your odds of getting into medical school are about 10% (long story) -- so don't plan your life with ONLY medical school in mind.

ANY major can work for medical school so long as you get a great GPA and take the necessary prerequisites, so major in something you love that will enable you to get a job you like if medical school doesn't become a reality for you.

 

[chemsmith]

If you can make it without tearing your hair out, major in gender and women's studies or something kooky like that, it will def make you app stand out

 

[Aerus]

I am currently a senior in highschool planning to enter college this fall. Ik a lot of people major in psychology and biology when trying to get into medical school but I figured that must be a cliche. Im choosing between Biological Chemistry and Neuroscience. Which major do you guys think will appeal best to a medical school's admissions team? and if you have any other suggestions for majors feel free to tell me 🙂 Thank You!!

Neuroscience is just another way of saying biology major. Biological Chemistry is a chemistry major. Biology and Chemistry majors, as you've already said, are common.

Med schools reason it like this: you SHOULD major in something you love. If you love it, you should get a decent GPA in it.

I know engineer majors who would fail at being philosophy or English major. Thus, they would choose the engineer over something that's seen as traditionally less rigorous.

 

[Donald Juan]

One of the reasons biological sciences are so popular for premeds is that they basically cover any math/science requirements for med school in their curriculum. Remember that if you take an "easier" major, you will most likely only be required to take 2 hard sciences in the curriculum, which will leave you 6 more 4 hours classes to fulfill the basic prereqs. That's an extra 24 science credits on top of the 120 hours of stuff required by your major. That doesn't even count if you want to do any of the "recommended" courses like biochem or genetics.

Just something to think about, but like others said, do what you enjoy and no, it doesn't make a difference.

 

[SteinmetzMD]

One of the reasons biological sciences are so popular for premeds is that they basically cover any math/science requirements for med school in their curriculum. Remember that if you take an "easier" major, you will most likely only be required to take 2 hard sciences in the curriculum, which will leave you 6 more 4 hours classes to fulfill the basic prereqs. That's an extra 24 science credits on top of the 120 hours of stuff required by your major. That doesn't even count if you want to do any of the "recommended" courses like biochem or genetics.

Just something to think about, but like others said, do what you enjoy and no, it doesn't make a difference.

Exactly, there IS an argument for majoring in Biology 👍

 

[487806]

I am currently a senior in highschool planning to enter college this fall. Ik a lot of people major in psychology and biology when trying to get into medical school but I figured that must be a cliche. Im choosing between Biological Chemistry and Neuroscience. Which major do you guys think will appeal best to a medical school's admissions team? and if you have any other suggestions for majors feel free to tell me 🙂 Thank You!!

Neither. Adcoms don't care. If anything, your choices are pretty much the norm.

wow wtf -_- all this time I wanted to take a "sciency" major to make my application look better.... So if I major in like economics they won't give a **** as long as my premed classes look good? sorry, if my questions seem redundant but you see the rest of my life is at stake and I'm growing quite anxious 🙁 lol

Wrong. Even a pottery major is good enough as long as you fulfilled your prereqs. And economics has a lot of math (especially calculus - the deadliest premed course) involved.

 

[rfvbnmju]

wow wtf -_- all this time I wanted to take a "sciency" major to make my application look better.... So if I major in like economics they won't give a **** as long as my premed classes look good? sorry, if my questions seem redundant but you see the rest of my life is at stake and I'm growing quite anxious 🙁 lol

If you really want to make your app look unique, tack on a humanities minor or something. Just do well in your sciences also.

Sent from my SPH-M930 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Urnathok]

I'm not sure who gave you the idea that accounting is a gimme major, but in any case...

If you want some statistics to help you settle into a major you like and will help you out later, mathematics and humanities majors tend to have the highest acceptance rates. Ironically, they're also the stereotypically "useless degree" majors in a society that sharply favors a specific set of skills right out of undergrad, which you can get from STEM. Math and humanities teach you how to think better in one way or the other rather than teaching you a particular job. That said, I'm extremely biased given my major, but the fact of the matter is that thinking like a mathematician is invaluable anywhere, and things like English/History/Philosophy teach you how to break down ideas and tremendous amounts of information very well. Thus, their MCATs tend to be higher. I'm also personally really happy with the small class sizes that tend to come with my upper level lit classes, as an aside, which lets you get to know your professors very well.

But whatever the case, doing what you enjoy will get you the highest GPA. I know an upperclassman pre-med chemistry major who's in love with the subject, and another who's doing so well that he's on the fence between med school and going into work with polymer chemistry.

And that, in itself, is another upside to going with a subject you prefer rather than one you think will just get you to med school -- you may realize something you'd rather do than med school.

 

[deleted407021]

hmm thanks Imma do that :3. how important do you think is taking calculus? is it imperative to my acceptance into a medical school?

Calculus is required by several schools and Harvard is the only one I can think of that wants students to take calc II. If you are no good at math, take calc I only and try your hardest and then take algebra/trig based physics.

Any major is fine. Find out what you are best at doing and stick to that. This is the answer you will receive from everyone. Good luck and enjoy your freshman year!

 

[mcloaf]

Calculus is required by several schools and Harvard is the only one I can think of that wants students to take calc II.

This is no longer the case at HMS.

http://hms.harvard.edu/departments/admissions/applying/requirements-admission#New Required Courses

"5. Computational Skills/Mathematics
Computational skills are required for contemporary scientific literacy. Although the calculus of derivatives and integration represents important concepts for the precise, quantifiable understanding of dynamic physiological processes and systems, a full year of calculus focusing on the derivation of biologically low-relevance theorems is less important than mastery of more relevant algebraic and trigonometric quantitative skills. Still, to prepare adequately for the quantitative reasoning demands of the contemporary medical curriculum and certain medical specialties, to provide analytic perspective and to appreciate the uncertainties in evaluation of biological systems, students are required to have familiarity with calculus. A broader and more flexible range of requirements is encouraged, however, and, given the importance of statistics for understanding the literature of science and medicine, adequate grounding in statistics is required. Rather than increasing the one year devoted to mathematics preparation, the one-year effort should be more relevant to biology and medicine than the formerly required, traditional, one-year calculus course. Flexibility will be welcome in meeting these requirements (e.g., a semester course in calculus that covers derivatives and integration and a semester course in statistics; a calculus-based physics course and another science course that includes a firm grounding in biostatistics; or, preferably, a unified two-semester course that covers important, biologically relevant concepts in calculus and statistics).

Although a formal year-long course that covers these concepts will meet the mathematics requirement, other innovative approaches (including interdisciplinary courses taught together with biology and biologically relevant physical sciences) that allow students to master these “competencies” are encouraged and will be considered.

Advanced placement calculus credits may satisfy the calculus component of this requirement (Calculus AB and/or Calculus BC). A course in statistics does not satisfy the calculus component of this requirement."

 

[deleted407021]

This is no longer the case at HMS.

http://hms.harvard.edu/departments/admissions/applying/requirements-admission#New Required Courses

"5. Computational Skills/Mathematics
Computational skills are required for contemporary scientific literacy. Although the calculus of derivatives and integration represents important concepts for the precise, quantifiable understanding of dynamic physiological processes and systems, a full year of calculus focusing on the derivation of biologically low-relevance theorems is less important than mastery of more relevant algebraic and trigonometric quantitative skills. Still, to prepare adequately for the quantitative reasoning demands of the contemporary medical curriculum and certain medical specialties, to provide analytic perspective and to appreciate the uncertainties in evaluation of biological systems, students are required to have familiarity with calculus. A broader and more flexible range of requirements is encouraged, however, and, given the importance of statistics for understanding the literature of science and medicine, adequate grounding in statistics is required. Rather than increasing the one year devoted to mathematics preparation, the one-year effort should be more relevant to biology and medicine than the formerly required, traditional, one-year calculus course. Flexibility will be welcome in meeting these requirements (e.g., a semester course in calculus that covers derivatives and integration and a semester course in statistics; a calculus-based physics course and another science course that includes a firm grounding in biostatistics; or, preferably, a unified two-semester course that covers important, biologically relevant concepts in calculus and statistics).

Although a formal year-long course that covers these concepts will meet the mathematics requirement, other innovative approaches (including interdisciplinary courses taught together with biology and biologically relevant physical sciences) that allow students to master these “competencies” are encouraged and will be considered.

Advanced placement calculus credits may satisfy the calculus component of this requirement (Calculus AB and/or Calculus BC). A course in statistics does not satisfy the calculus component of this requirement."

I stand corrected. Wow! Lots of flexibility there. Still require calc-based physics I see.

 

[Radon XP]

I used I.B. credit to get Calc 1 & 2, although I hope med schools don't mind (I am not using high school credit for any of the other pre-reqs). I also took Statistics.

Anyway, I'm a Poli Sci major and I heard that your major isn't super important. Many people will major in sciences, and biology in particular, because it is convenient schedule-wise.

I think some of the more reading-and-critical-thinking intensive Humanities majors might be just as good, such as Political Science, History, Philosophy, or English Literature.

With Poli Sci, you can usually choose a category to specialize in, such as policy and administration, international relations, law, or classical political science (i.e. Ancient Greeks/Romans). I'm planning on doing policy and administration, which I imagine would be helpful skills to a physician and might look good on the application.

 

[piggle]

Well, once upon a time, I was sold a story that schools take into account how hard your major is...but that's sadly not the case. Nonetheless, biomedical engineering is the way to go! Haha, I know, a shameless plug for my own major.

I think what's most important is that you major in something that you're interested in and that can serve as a potential backup if you find that medicine isn't for you

 

[Aerus]

Well, once upon a time, I was sold a story that schools take into account how hard your major is...but that's sadly not the case. Nonetheless, biomedical engineering is the way to go! Haha, I know, a shameless plug for my own major.

I think what's most important is that you major in something that you're interested in and that can serve as a potential backup if you find that medicine isn't for you

BME isn't really a good back up plan in terms of job prospects though. If you wanted to get a job, EE or ME is much better.

 

[Josh7]

Yeah, but if I chose something "easy" wouldn't they look down on it and think I slacked off? I mean wouldn't a 3.4 gpa in neuroscience look better than a 3.6 in something like accounting? lol

Is neuroscience harder than accounting..? 😕

 

[mcloaf]

BME isn't really a good back up plan in terms of job prospects though. If you wanted to get a job, EE or ME is much better.

If I'd wanted a good post-undergrad job I would've majored in Comp Sci. 😉

 

[Josh7]

If I'd wanted a good post-undergrad job I would've majored in Comp Sci. 😉

No doubt.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

I am currently a senior in highschool planning to enter college this fall. Ik a lot of people major in psychology and biology when trying to get into medical school but I figured that must be a cliche. Im choosing between Biological Chemistry and Neuroscience. Which major do you guys think will appeal best to a medical school's admissions team? and if you have any other suggestions for majors feel free to tell me 🙂 Thank You!!

This question has been asked on SDN over 9000 times. It does not matter what you major is so long as you pick something you enjoy. Don't live for others.


You could have done a simple google search like "best major advice" followed by the words "student doctor network" to probably find many threads like this. However, it's good you're asking things like this early because you're learning.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1005563

 

[Frazier]

This question has been asked on SDN over 9000 times. It does not matter what you major is so long as you pick something you enjoy. Don't live for others.


You could have done a simple google search like "best major advice" followed by the words "student doctor network" to probably find many threads like this.

+X

OP, no one really gives a damn about your major.

Demonstrate your academic prowess both in the pre-reqs and on the MCAT and you will be treated accordingly.

 

[pandahunter]

I get that the actual learning of calculus is necessary and America is behind the rest of the first world countries in scientific/mathematic knowledge in general. I also get that calculus is a necessary prereq for upperdivision classes in most science majors. What I don't get is why calculus is required by medical schools. I have not seen a differential or integral in 8 years and haven't needed to use any math skill beyond that required for basic statistics.

 

[TheFamilyDoc]

Sociology major here! I received a provisional acceptance to an extremely selective medical school during my sophomore year. The director of the program was an English major before she went to med school 🙂. My major didn't come up in any of my 3 interviews (Dean & Director of Admissions, and two other Physician-Professors). If you choose non-science, simply do well in the prereqs because you won't have but 4-6 +/- science course to solidify a high sGPA. For example, I did well and received an amazing job tutoring Biology majors, so go figure 🙄 I receive plenty of rude remarks from some Biology majors (because of my Sociology route) at my school (small private liberal arts where everyone knows each other). However, those people almost always have below 3.5 and 3.0 GPAs and are insecure about their future. In terms of the MCAT, one of the AAMC tables (not sure which one, look it up) suggests that non-science majors tend to score higher on the MCAT (aggregate) +/- and retain higher acceptance rates +/-. Hope this helps.

 

[sworzeh]

Sociology major here! I received a provisional acceptance to an extremely selective medical school during my sophomore year. The director of the program was an English major before she went to med school 🙂. My major didn't come up in any of my 3 interviews (Dean & Director of Admissions, and two other Physician-Professors). If you choose non-science, simply do well in the prereqs because you won't have but 4-6 +/- science course to solidify a high sGPA. For example, I did well and received an amazing job tutoring Biology majors, so go figure 🙄 I receive plenty of rude remarks from some Biology majors (because of my Sociology route) at my school (small private liberal arts where everyone knows each other). However, those people almost always have below 3.5 and 3.0 GPAs and are insecure about their future. In terms of the MCAT, one of the AAMC tables (not sure which one, look it up) suggests that non-science majors tend to score higher on the MCAT (aggregate) +/- and retain higher acceptance rates +/-. Hope this helps.

I count 8 required science courses and usually a math class too, but I'm not certain because I'm not a math major

 

[Belle Melodie]

Okay! I think I realize that now.. still kinda paranoid though cause legit every person ik that wants to get into med school is majoring in biology & or biological chemistry, and I just didn't wanna seem like the bad grape out of the bunch lol

TBH, im a biology major as well but.. adcoms want to see diversity... Just imagine if everyone in their school was a biology major.... No intellectual diversity at all..


JUST. RE-LAX!

Major in ANYTHING you want. Make sure to take and do well in the pre-reqs and you will be fine.

 

[TheFamilyDoc]

I count 8 required science courses and usually a math class too, but I'm not certain because I'm not a math major

Biology= 1 General Chem=2 Ochem=3 Physics=4 Calc=5 I'm no mathematician either 😀
No math for me so that=4 required prereqs and of course denoted +/- because everyone's path is different.

 

[487806]

Is neuroscience harder than accounting..? 😕

According to the OP, yes. Because this model is definitely a piece of cake.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

Biology= 1 General Chem=2 Ochem=3 Physics=4 Calc=5 I'm no mathematician either 😀
No math for me so that=4 required prereqs and of course denoted +/- because everyone's path is different.

...that's not 4 since each bio, gchem, OChem, and physics courses are a year long so that's 2 semesters of physics, etc. and then the calculus.

So that's 9 courses (10 if you need statistics)


Or am I simply not a mathematician?

 

[TheFamilyDoc]

...that's not 4 since each bio, gchem, OChem, and physics courses are a year long so that's 2 semesters of physics, etc. and then the calculus.

So that's 9 courses (10 if you need statistics)


Or am I simply not a mathematician?

I would hope that it's pretty obvious that I'm not counting the courses semester wise. It is implied common knowledge that you would need to take a year of the science courses.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

I would hope that it's pretty obvious that I'm not counting the courses semester wise. It is implied common knowledge that you would need to take a year of the science courses.

Exactly so then you guys were both talking about the same thing. One said courses, you said prereqs

Sorry not trying to be meticulously rude I just didn't get it

 

[TriagePreMed]

Both majors will look like nothing more than a biology major. The only times a major can make you out there is if it's something like dance performance and have extra curricular activities about it. Trust me, before you even think about faking it, the slight advantage of appearing diverse is not worth it. Major in something you like and move on. Thousand get in every year with bio majors.

On a side note, as a psychology graduate, I think neuroscience is far more interesting. Would consider psychology again but just as a minor.

 

[sworzeh]

Exactly so then you guys were both talking about the same thing. One said courses, you said prereqs

Sorry not trying to be meticulously rude I just didn't get it

It seems counter-intuitive to count by years instead of classes, but I get it now.

 

[TheFamilyDoc]

Exactly so then you guys were both talking about the same thing. One said courses, you said prereqs

Sorry not trying to be meticulously rude I just didn't get it

You're fine, that's how the 'mathematician' joke came up People like to get extremely technical on here (out of boredom I guess) while I'm more of a laid back type of guy. That's why I rarely bother to post/reply.