Hey guys, I’ve been accepted to both Berkeley and UCLA for an economics major. I realize that it’s slightly uncommon to pursue both options, and I also understand that private schools are generally considered to be better for pre med, but unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, these are my options at the moment.
I’d have to say that the economics major is my first priority, and if I were to go to Berkeley, I would be applying to Haas. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions regarding the difficulty of pursuing a non-biology major+PreMed at either of the two schools, as well as general advice regarding one school over the other.
Thanks.
Generally speaking, lots of kids get into med school with non bio degrees. Being a bio major doesn’t confer any special advantage, it just kills 2 birds with one stone (ie satisfying major and most premed reqs at same time)
https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstablea17.pdf
No matter where you attend college, the hurdles you face are where do you fit in year long science sequences with labs among your Econ and GE reqs; where do you find time to participate in ECs which help demonstrate to adcoms you have the qualities they believe a MD should have (eg compassion, altruism, etc); where do you find the time to have a college life; where do you find time to prep for MCAT; and don’t forget the need to maintain high GPAs. So it’s doable. You may have to consider slowing down and applying at end of senior year as opposed to more “traditional” applicant who applies at end of junior year with intent to start med school upon graduating. Getting accepted into UCB or UCLA was because of what you did in hs. To med schools, your hs performance is old news, pretty meaningless. Getting into med school is more on you and your college performance than the name at the top of your diploma. Good luck.