<p>I am not sure if I am capable, but I would like to major in both chem and bio. I am working at a lab, and I feel that I will be a better researcher there if I have a lot of knowledge in chem and bio. Since I am a pre-med, getting good grades is imperative. That's why I wonder if majoring in both chem and bio is a good idea. It will be hell lotta work for sure and even stressful. However, I like both subjects, and I wanna be a highly qualified candidate. Does anyone here major in both? Or is it like nearly impossible? If I do major in both, I will end up taking only 2 or 3 non bio or chem courses.</p>
<p>That's not a good idea. Most med schools want to see that you have broad coursework (humanities, social sciences). Double majoring will not make you a more attractive candidate for med schools. I'm not even sure if it'll make you a better researcher.</p>
<p>biology and chemistry. Theres a major for that. Its called Biochemistry. Im majoring in that right now but I can't say much since i just finished my freshman year horribly with a 3.29 GPA (will med schools accept the excuse: i just transfered into the UMD, they accepted me in the last minute, my orientation was at the last day, I waitlisted every class, I didn't get housing, I have to drive 2 hours a day, wasting 10 hours a week, I'm stuck at school waiting hours in between classes bc I couldn't get a good schedule, etc). I know its not good to make excuses, but seriously, this has been a crappy semester.</p>
<p>i am not gonna major in biochem. I wanna get a degree in bio and another degree in chem.</p>
<p>"On whether it's too hard"</p>
<p>what's the point of that double major? it doesn't really make sense...go with biochem.</p>
<p>You should be definitely take a wide spectrum of courses throughout college. But more importantly, take what you want. I realized freshman year after taking a god awful boring comparitive politics course that there's just no reason to take a diverse set of courses if you're not interested in them. I love science, so I love taking primarily science courses. Medical schools won't look at that as a negative. As long you understand there are other aspects to medicine. However, you can pursue those aspects in areas outside a lecture hall. That's what the interview is for.</p>
<p>Chem and Bio aren't too hard to double major in. There's a lot of crossover so I'm sure you can get courses to count towards both. I'm doing that and while it has made most of the last two years of my academic career almost exclusively science oriented, I actually have rather enjoyed it. Even with that, within my first two years of college I had the opportunity to take classes on philosophy, politics, religion, psychology, medical ethics, and even primate behavior. While most of the last two years was spent learning about polymer scaffolds, protein structures, and physical chem (oh my, so difficult)...I enjoyed those classes so much that my grades really reflected it. So do what you want assuming you can handle the workload. It'll get to you at times, but I managed to fit in six months studying in Europe regardless. Just make sure you enjoy what your doing. That'll impress any med school admissions team.</p>
<p>just major in one or the other.</p>
<p>as a bio major, you will be studying ALL of biology (plants, evolution, ecology included). Those won't be too helpful towards the kind of research i think your aiming for.
as a chem major, you will be doing quantum stuff, physical chem, and theoretical chemistry that you will probably never use as a medical researcher.</p>
<p>So...majoring in both is not only really hard, but it is unnecessary. If you are really THAT interested in both, then minor in one of them. There is some controversy over this, but i think that it doesn't matter how many majors or minors you have. grades trump over many of the other ACADEMIC variables.</p>
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I will end up taking only 2 or 3 non bio or chem courses.
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<p>This is a very bad idea. Medical schools will not like the narrow course selection, and they will not be impressed by the extra science courses. Since many explicitly require literature courses, you may have the bare minimum of non science courses. This will not help your gpa or your non science mcat scores. </p>
<p>Medical schools will be far more impressed by good research and a well rounded education. Harold Varmus was an English major.</p>
<p>Take courses that interest you, but do not think that doing nothing but bio and chem will help your application. </p>
<p>Hard to imagine an area of medical research where this double major would be an advantage over a conventional biochem major.</p>
<p>double major is extremely tough. if you think you can handle all the stress, go ahead. if not, you can always say, major in bio then minor in chemistry.</p>
<p>Biochemistry is not the same thing as a B.S. in both Bio and Chem. Each of these majors deals with a different discipline. Of course as an undergraduate, there is a significant amount of overlap between all three because everyone is required to take the same basic science courses. For what it's worth, I think that there is an advantage to having a Chemistry degree over a Biochemistry or Biology degree. How true this is depends on what you want to do though.</p>
<p>Really, if you are capable enough to do well in school while pursuing a B.S. in Chemistry and you <em>like</em> Biology, then double majoring should not be a problem. But, I don't think that it's worth it. If you're intention is to attend medical school, you're probably best off just aiming for a B.S./B.A. in Biology unless you detest Biology or really like Chemistry. There's a reason why so many pre-med are Biology Majors...</p>
<p>As most have already said, take a bunch of courses; figure out if Medicine is really the profession for you. Things only go uphill from here; enjoy your time as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>Where did all the Classics Major pre-meds go?!</p>
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Where did all the Classics Major pre-meds go?!
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<p>Economics, here! There are two medical students on this board. We majored in Economics and Sociology, respectively.</p>