Why are you guys majoring in biology?

[alamo4]

Please keep in mind that the career prospects with undergrad in biology are pretty poor compared to all the other science and tech degrees. If you decide med school is not for you, or it doesn't work out, that may be an issue. Lots of people with engineering backgrounds in medicine, but I also know people who majored in music, film, Latin American studies, religion and psychology who are all Stanford with me in med school. As long as you have the prerequisites, maybe a different major is a good way to differentiate yourself. I majored in physics, but would do bioE, stats or EE if I had to do it over.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I majored in neuroscience actually, with a heavy focus on biopsychology (my original intent was to apply to a behavioral neuroscience PhD program but my plans changed). Had I been intent on med school at any point in college I probably would have majored in biology instead.

This was pretty much my intention from the moment I realized I want to study behavior and psychopathology.

 

[410322]

Cause I like biology? And I figured I could do a biochem PhD after if not successful with med school and go work for big pharma and make some bucka bucks lol

You'll be in for a shock if you try the latter. Pharma is cutting like crazy. Exporting and just plain-ol' downsizing to maximize profits. Unless you're stellar it will be hard for you.

 

[unnamedlord]

You'll be in for a shock if you try the latter. Pharma is cutting like crazy. Exporting and just plain-ol' downsizing to maximize profits. Unless you're stellar it will be hard for you.

That's absolutely true!!! Plus I would not want to work in industry simply because they beat the stars out of your eyes. Grad students are finding it tough to get jobs and you can pretty much do any sort of research as a MD. Honestly, if you have a good astrophysics background and want to do research in that as MD, I wouldn't be surprised if you could. All you have to do is prove to the funding agencies that you can do it. Moreover, you're not constrained by money as you can look at patients on the side so you're not doing science for money as most people do now. Rather you're getting money for science. I have had several prof try to convince me to go to grad schl but now considering the funding and money situations that a lot of people are going through, they're like u're making the right choices.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

The Bio major is kinda convenient since you're going to need to take the majority of the lower level electives ( Which also are the hardest ones). In terms of bio majors and their preparedness for the mcat, it's variable and will depends more on the person and their ability to tie things in together/ think critically.

I personally majored in psychology and minored in neuroscience though.

I have a love for both bio and psych. I would have majored in neuroscience, but my school doesn't have it.

 

[passerine]

Also, it is common knowledge that chem and phy majors tend to do better on the MCAT than bio majors so if the intention was better MCAT prep than that argument is false.

I think it's kind of silly to pick a major based on the MCAT. I'm a humanities major and taught myself Orgo II and Physics II before taking the MCAT and still did really well with only 6 weeks of prep. It's all about your ability to assess what you're given and reason through a problem systematically. I'm really glad I majored in what I loved, and it's given me a nice balance of disciplines each semester so that I don't get too bogged down in one type of learning.

As for future job prospects... I'm pretty much just in denial.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I have a love for both bio and psych. I would have majored in neuroscience, but my school doesn't have it.

My school has a Neurobiology and Physiology major, which really is an insult as they only take a basic intro to neurophysiology course. I ironically as a psych major had more access to neuroscience courses than the bio majors. But yah, I wish I had gone to a school with a neuroscience major.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I don't give a damn about plants and animals. Pharmacology and Toxicology major here. Drugs, ftw.

I advise so many incoming pre-med freshmen, and they all seem to be under the impression that you have to major in bio to be pre-med. I think a lot of people do it because they don't know any better.

 

[Yonko Shanks]

Biomedical Sciences major with a minor in Medical Sociology. I love the Sciences and I love me a good dose of Sociology.

 

[45408]

Serious question, why?

What else?

I wasn't really interested in anything other than medicine, but there wasn't an undergrad major for that.

I just got accepted into a bio program, but I'm wondering why other people are. Is it because that is your main interest?

Nope.

Is it so you're better prepared for the MCAT?

The required courses for biology correlate well with MCAT topics and med school prereqs.

Is it so you're better prepared for med school since they'll have similar material (I Think)?

Not really.

Why not major in something else that is also a good back up degree in-case the med field doesn't work out?

Thinking that you're going to fail is for failures.

Is it because it's easy?

It wasn't. Easier than chemistry or biochemistry though.

 

[moose stuff]

Do what you like

 

[MonkeyDRuffy]

I am doing Biology because that is what I am interested in. I don't necessarily think that being a Biology Major will substantially make it easier for you to get into Medical school. You should pursue a major that interests you, that way when you apply for Medical school, at least you will have great experiences outside of medicine to talk about and to show that you have an interesting personality.

 

[xainabaz]

I chose journalism, and I love it.

 

[scene]

I actually find biology and its related fields to be interesting. I sort of have to be self motivated since the lectures at my college are too boring to sit through, though. It explores the world and it's inner workings and that information may or may not be useful in the future.

 

[eeyoreish]

Also, it is common knowledge that chem and phy majors tend to do better on the MCAT than bio majors so if the intention was better MCAT prep than that argument is false. The only 2 reasons why people major in Bio is because it's easier and/or if they have a huge interest in that field of science over all the others.

Correlation is not causation... sigh.

 

[unnamedlord]

Correlation is not causation... sigh.

Lol absolutely true but if you read 2 posts down you would have realized I included just some of the factors that could explain the data.

That data though debunks the idea that majoring in Bio prepares you better for the MCAT.

Also, physics, engineering fields and chemistry are more problem-solving based than biology so I would not be surprised if people in those fields tend to do better on the MCAT.

 

[Cinclus]

I did it because I love biology. I didn't even decide to do med school until I was in the middle of a molecular bio graduate degree. I initially had a focus in ecology.

 

[eeyoreish]

Lol absolutely true but if you read 2 posts down you would have realized I included just some of the factors that could explain the data.

That data though debunks the idea that majoring in Bio prepares you better for the MCAT.

Also, physics, engineering fields and chemistry are more problem-solving based than biology so I would not be surprised if people in those fields tend to do better on the MCAT.

No... it doesn't debunk it... because correlation is not causation.

It is HIGHLY likely that more intelligent and hard working students self-select for more challenging majors.

Biology is easier, so yeah, of course they do worse than than physics or engineering. That doesn't mean the courses in physics are somehow more relevant to the MCAT or any better preparation for it.

 

[NightGod]

Doing a Business degree. Have some interesting classes and solid career prospects if med school doesn't pan out. Best case I become a doctor and open a private practice and can understand the business side enough to make sure things are being handled correctly.

 

[FattySlug]

Cuz I was young and naive.

 

[STAT EKG]

I was originally engineering, then CS, then switched to bio. I have like 3/4ths of an engineering and CS degree. I have entirely too many credits (and from several places).

I hate writing papers. Someone who I was working with earlier tonight was telling me about how they had written some 70-page paper/oral presentation for a humanities class. No thank you.

 

[AM90]

I'm on my phone atm so I can't cite, but yes, Chem/Phys majors tend to rock the MCAT, but have lower GPAs

That's interesting. I did well on the PS section, but my BS score was higher.

I'm a chemistry major.

 

[PreMedOrDead]

That's interesting. I did well on the PS section, but my BS score was higher.

I'm a chemistry major.

I'm a phys sci major and scored higher on phys sci section. But my practice bios were higher.

N=1

 

[chrismenz4]

I like Biology, that's why I'm majoring in it.

Major in your interest, not what everyone else is doing.

 

[justdoit31]

I majored in Biology because no one really explained that I could go to med school with a history degree. Biology had all the pre-reqs and seemed logical (and was what my undergrad recommended)... it wasn't until my Junior year when I realized I could have done history (a subject I am more passionate about than ecology, evolution, plant morphology, etc which I had to take) at that point it was too late- I was applying to med school and I only had taken a handful of history courses and didn't want to add a year of undergrad. I decided to go for the minor in history then when I got accepted early in my senior year I decided to just take 12 hours and blow off my last semester of college (still had strong grades but didn't stress) and travel on weekends instead.

 

[Aby Woods]

I'm an incoming freshman and I'm starting out as a Human Biology major at UCSC because if I want to change from Arts to Sciences I'm in a bad place, but if I'm near to finished with my pre-reqs and really feel that majoring in language, psychology or english is a brilliant idea I can switch from sciences to Arts without needing to add on extra years to complete my major. Sciences have a lot of lower degree reqs at UC's though and most humanities tend to have more upper division ones... I'll see how it goes really. Human biology includes Spanish and a Hospital Internship at my school too.... the internship is a huge reason...