Best Major Choice for Medical School???

Parents Forum
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<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>If you have seen my previous posts, you would probably know by now that I am 100% sure I want to attend medical school after I graduate. That said, I would be an upcoming freshman this fall of 2010, and I am having a hard time choosing a major. I looked at a sample of the MCAT test, including physical sciences, biological sciences, and the verbal reasoning, and thought the verbal reasoning was nothing out of this world, however the biological sciences, especially the physical sciences scared the "expletive" out of me. I want to know which science major would prepare me the best for this two parts of the test(biological, physical sciences), but without hurting my GPA. I heard majors like biomedical enginneering, and in physical sciences are really tough, and might end up lowering your GPA. </p>

<p>What I had in mind was to major in Biomedical Sciences, and do a minor in physcology to improve my writing, commmunication, and critical thinking skills.</p>

<p>Suggestions on any majors???....minors???</p>

<p>Any suggestions about how to prepare, or what path to take to achieve my goal???</p>

<p>Thank you so much in advance for all your responses.</p>

<p>BTW: If I do make it yo med-school, I want to become a Pediatrician:)</p>

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<p>Your undergrad major doesn’t matter as long as somehow you take the prerequisite science and math courses that med schools require. You could even do this as your minor. Do WELL in these courses and overall GPA AND get a great score on the MCATS. From what I understand, that is more important than your major.</p>

<p>Some will say that it’s nice to have some undergrad research opportunities too. YMMV.</p>

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<p>But by just taking the prerequisite courses would completely prepare me for the MCAT???..doesn’t it make sense to major in the science-field, when you want to get the most possible volunteer, and research opportunities in that field???</p>

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<p>Do you want to go to medical school because you want to become a medical researcher, or do you want to become a practicing physician?</p>

<p>If your career interest is in research, you may indeed want to major in a science and seek research opportunities in science as an undergraduate.</p>

<p>If your career interest is in the practice of medicine, maybe not. You can major in anything and still go to medical school. And although medical schools want to see that you’ve had some work or volunteer experience in a medical environment, research experience is not necessarily essential.</p>

<p>You can major in what you like, what you’re good at, or in a field that would help to prepare you for an alternate career if medicine doesn’t work out for you. It’s up to you.</p>

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<p>^^^I really want to become a practicing physician, and I basically like everything that has to do with medicine, and science; and I think I’m pretty good at it, always got A’s</p>

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<p>Since you want to be a pediatrician, why not something like Psychology? Developmental Psych. especially?</p>

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<p>We know a fabulous pediatrician who majored in music as an undergrad. We know another who was an art major. Really you just have to do well…and take the courses that will prepare you to do well on the MCATS.</p>

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<p>^^^thumper1…I understand that, but when you talk about the courses, do you know which major has most of these courses included???..or what courses you recommend me to take in college other than the prerequisites?</p>

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<p>This site lists what most medical schools require you take during undergrad.</p>

<p>[St</a>. Lawrence University: Medical Programs](<a href=“http://www.stlawu.edu/programs/medical_programs.html]St”>http://www.stlawu.edu/programs/medical_programs.html)</p>

<p>Your particular college may have different names/numbers for the classes but this should give you an idea. You can major in anything and likely take these courses to meet the prereq’s of your major or count them as electives.</p>

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<p>My husband was a double literature/biology major at UCSB. Just make sure that you take all of the pre-med classes that you will need. My nephew is finishing his first year of med school and he was a biology major.</p>

<p>The main thing is to get get the best grades that you can and do well on the MCAT and essay. My nephew had 1 “B+” in 4 years at Auburn and he had a tough time getting into med school.</p>

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<p>If you truly love science and intend on a science major, you might want to take a look and see if any of the major planning guides describe tracks that fit in the med school prerequisites. Your college career services office may also have a pre-med advisor that can help you with planning as well.</p>

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<p>Well, if you like science it would make a lot of sense to major in it. Just because you can major in music and still go to med school does not mean that taking such a circuitous route is advantageous. Many premeds major in biology or biochemistry.</p>

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<p>In general, the pre-med requirements track very closely with the biology major. Chemistry majors need to take a few extra courses to prepare for medical school, but this is not difficult to schedule because the chemistry major does not require students to take a huge number of courses in their major simultaneously. Students in humanities and social sciences would have to take their pre-med courses as electives, but this does not matter much because they have plenty of electives. In fact, they’re likely to find that courses that meet the pre-med requirements will also fulfill general education requirements (in science and math). My daughter is an economics major. She has no interest in medical school, but if she did, she would have had no difficulty planning a program that would have met all the pre-med requirements on top of the requirements of her major. The same is true of other social science and humanities majors.</p>

<p>I think the only time you would run into real difficulty is if you major in something that is highly structured but utterly unrelated to medicine, such as mechanical engineering or computer science. Planning a curriculum that meets both sets of requirements would require careful planning (but it has been done).</p>

<p>At most universities, there is a premedical planning office that can help you to work out a program that will get you through the pre-med requirements while also fulfilling the requirements of your major. You can contact them as soon as you accept the college’s offer of admission and make use of their advice when planning the schedule for your very first semester.</p>

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<p>Just take all the prereq courses, kick butt on the MCAT, and go to the cheapest school you get into. There’s such a huge doctor shortage these days, the government’s willing to import them from Canada.</p>

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<p>Major in what you love. Someone I know who works for one of the major test prep companies told me that English majors do very well on the MCAT because the way questions are structured, etc. and the kind of thinking you need to be able to do on that test are skills acquired in that major.</p>

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<p>Physician here. Good advice above from many. Premed is an intention, not a major. Schools will have premed info and courses needed available to you- see websites, check when on your campus. Use your undergrad education to major in something you really like, not something convenient for medical school. Plan to use this time for courses you can’t get later. This means instead of loading up on all sorts of medically related subjects take that music or art history course for an elective- there will be plenty of time to take courses in medical school. I was a chemistry major who then decided on premed and took an honors biology sequence junior/senior year. I do not regret my major. Medical schools will teach you what you need, you are not expected to have already taken more than the required courses for admission. Live in the present- do not just think of college as a stepping stone to a future. Get the most out your time now- as a medical student, resident and practicing physician you won’t have time to do much unrelated to your career. There is a reason US medical schools follow the bachelor’s degree instead of being a straight out of HS track as is the case in many other countries. Become educated for the sake of learning, not just to get into medical school.</p>

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<p>I don’t know how much of what circulates in my social circle is urban legend, but I do know a lot of parents with kids in “premed”, med school, and beyond. The “norm” in our group is something in the biological sciences or bio med engineering, and I haven’t heard many downsides in going in this track. </p>

<p>If you’re absolutely sure you want to go to medicine, check out the 7 or 8 year programs, where you have far less MCAT and med school application tension, but you need either stronger credentials, fewer choices, or settle for less exclusive schools.</p>

<p>I do know of kids who went in other directions, but found they were short on pre-reqs and spent more time getting these, and it entailed further study in subjects they didn’t cover in their regular curriculum.</p>

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<p>[ quote=Lemaitre1]Do not major in something that will have no employment prospects or is not interesting to you if you do not get into medical school. Medical school admissions is very competitive and most people who apply to medical school are rejected by every school they apply to. In my case I applied to over 20 medical schools, had a 3.6 GPA, and a combined MCAT score of 32 and was accepted at only one medical school (Drexel). Fortunately for me you only need to get one acceptance. I majored in Astronomy which has no employment prospects if you only have a bachelors degree but it is a field that I find very interesting. I am a practicing physician now but I honestly do not know what I would have done if Drexel had not accepted me into their medical school [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=Ky-anh Tran]Are Engineering majors considered “serious”?
Also, why are specialized health majors looked down upon? Can’t they take extra classes in science to show they are capable and “serious” (and to prepare for the MCAT)?
A health major will have significant clinical experience and contact with doctors, which should be a plus for an applicant to medical school. Besides, choosing nursing as a major can be a sign that you know and like to care for other people, a quality a doctor should have. That’s why I don’t understand why specialized health majors get a disadvantage.
Any clarifications are welcome! [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=shades_children]If you chose nursing as a major… why are you applying to medical school? Choosing nursing means… you want to be a nurse. Choosing those specialized health majors generally means you’re interested in aspects of health care that are NOT MD/DO-based. Sure, you get all sorts of clinical experience and doctor contact, but you’re not displaying the interest in being a physician - you look like you want to be something else.</p>

<p>That’s why, I think. Maybe BDM can elaborate more. [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=Ky-anh Tran]Well choosing to be a physic major does not mean you want to be a physicist either. Besides, wanting to be a physicist does not alter you ultimate will to become a doctor, so why would wanting to have skills in nursing alter your ultimate will to become a doctor?
I bet nursing gives you a better idea of what medecine involves than doing physics or biology. Perhaps choosing nursing does not illustrate a desire to become a physician, yet choosing biochemistry does not demonstrate anything except you like biochemistry. So I have come to the conclusion that nursing OUGHT to be considered equal to biochem (which is not the case, I assume)
Then, med schools claim not to take in account about the major of a person when selecting, so are they basically lying, or are they unconsciously looking condescendently toward nurses?
If they consider majoring in nursing is too easy, what prevents a nurse from taking quantum mechanics for fun?
I just don’t understand the reasonment med schools use because it seems a bit biased to me. [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=bluedevilmike]I’ve never heard a medical school claim not to care about major. What we’ve deduced by looking at the math is that they don’t seem to – with the exception of vocational majors like nursing. [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=Ky-anh Tran]So basically, they wan’t to prevent you from having a decent plan B if you don’t get accepted? Pretty cruel…</p>

<p>Besides, some premeds have EMTs license, so THAT should also put them at disadvantage, shouldn’t it?
If you get your EMT license, it means you want to be a paramedic, which does not involve the skills of a doctor.
But once again the reasonment fails because wanting to practice skills of a paramedic is not mutually exclusive from wanting to be a doctor.
It’s as if saying music majors should be disadvantaged because they want to play piano and not become a doctor (what if they want both?) [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=bluedevilmike]If you were to ONLY have an EMT-license, yes, you would be at a disadvantage.</p>

<p>If you were to be a biology major – an academic major – and an EMT, then no, you would not be at a disadvantage.</p>

<p>And why do you have to be a vocational major to have a decent “plan B”? [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=Ky-anh Tran]A vocational has on average better chance for employment (especially for health vocational majors like nursing)
Let’s say you love science and medecine, and get rejected, so you choose graduate school. In the best of cases, you get your PhD in the sciences, which will lead you to endless postdoctoral research before getting a decent and long term job and that’s in the best scenario possible.
As opposed to going to grad school, a vocational major can practice his profession pretty easily (like being a nurse) to pay back his undergrad debt, then apply again to med school.
On the other hand, being a bio major basically gives you the opportunity for :
Research (you have to be damn smart to succeed), labwork (not very appealing or lucrative), teaching (not lucrative, hard to get hired, but decent)
The opportunities seem just very narrow.</p>

<p>“If you were to ONLY have an EMT-license, yes, you would be at a disadvantage”=> What if the nurse undergoes the clinical experience of premeds also (shadowing, volunteering, research…) [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=bluedevilmike]So major in economics and the backup plan is to go into management consulting. Or major in history and the backup plan is to be a journalist. Or major in biology and the backup plan is to get a master’s and work in a pharmaceutical company. Or major in math and go work for a hedge fund. Or major in physics and work for a private equity firm. Or major in public policy and write a book. Or…</p>

<p>I mean, in any case, getting a PA is usually a viable plan B anyway. [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=Ky-anh Tran]What fraction of premeds bio majors who get rejected actually end up with a decent long term job (assuming they don’t change their career path)? How many public policy majors will get published? How many history majors would be able to become journalist?
Those are viable options, but the probability for success is also very low. It’s like saying “I like biology, so my ultimate goal is to become a university professor but I’m applying to med school as a backup plan if I don’t get into the PhD program I want to”
I’m not saying that those are not options, but simply that a plan B should have at least 85% chance for success. I really think a nurse will have a lot more chance to get employed at a hospital (because of the current demand) than a Bio major with a MS to get into a pharmaceutical company. [ /quote]</p>

<p>[ quote=bluedevilmike]Depends on what you mean by decent. Making the mean for college grads? Probably a pretty good proportion.</p>

<p>And in any case, an NP and a PA remain viable options. Very viable options. [ /quote]</p>

<p>Later on in the thread discussion…</p>

<p>[ quote=bluedevilmike]Well, having a backup plan is a virtue. Unfortunately, as NCG says, it’s hard to have your cake and eat it too. Most vocational majors – that is, those which provide good backup plans – are poor fits for medical school. Unfortunately you’re just going to have to choose. [ /quote]</p>

<p>What I’m trying to get with the above threads its maybe rephrase my question. After replies I have gotten from different forums, it seems like by just taking the required classes to enter med-school(prerequisites) would be enough to prepare me and cover all the material in the MCAT’S Biological and Physical Sciences. Even though I do not need to major in science, I want to major in science, just for the fact that it has always been a subject that has interested me.</p>

<p>So, my new question is:</p>

<p>Which undergraduate science major has the best job opportunities/prospects/salary?
Although, I am positive I can make it to med-school, I don’t want to end up working in a restaurant like a co-worker of mines, that has a major in science and could not find a job(he got his degree from UF, University of Florida).</p>

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<p>^^^ sorry, I tried to use the quoiting for the first time and failed. Hopefully you would not have a hard time reading it…</p>

<p>or, read form the link:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/214387-what-should-premed-major-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/214387-what-should-premed-major-2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Later on in the thread discussion…</p>

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<p>What I’m trying to get with the above threads its maybe rephrase my question. After replies I have gotten from different forums, it seems like by just taking the required classes to enter med-school(prerequisites) would be enough to prepare me and cover all the material in the MCAT’S Biological and Physical Sciences. Even though I do not need to major in science, I want to major in science, just for the fact that it has always been a subject that has interested me.</p>

<p>So, my new question is:</p>

<p>Which undergraduate science major has the best job opportunities/prospects/salary?
Although, I am positive I can make it to med-school, I don’t want to end up working in a restaurant like a co-worker of mines, that has a major in science and could not find a job(he got his degree from UF, University of Florida).</p>