Upon doing some research, it seems that students who major in English rather than Biology or Chemistry during their undergrad, have higher chances of being accepted into medical school - which makes sense because English is an easier degree to get a 4.0. With this same concept, I’ve been accepted to Virginia Tech into their Nanomedicine degree which is the only degree offered in the United States of America. So, by graduating with this degree, would it give me a leg up in applying to medical schools seeing as I majored in a somewhat obscure and “original” degree other than the more common Biology or Chemistry degrees?
Along with premed reqs, med schools, in part also, require a bachelor’s degree in any major of a student’s choosing. They simply don’t care what you major in. Most choose bio because of course overlap (satisfying major and most premed reqs at same time). They also won’t cut you some slack for taking a hard major (eg engineering) especially if your GPAs suffer. You should consider majoring in something that you’re interested in because if you like material you’re more likely to do well GPA wise which is something med schools do care about. Also consider that most premeds change their minds and of those that apply 60% will not start at any US med school. So ask yourself what do you plan to do with your major should you change career paths.
Just major in what you’re interested in!! If you really really want to study nanomedicine and you think that’s a super interesting major with decent job prospects, then go for it. If you want to do nanomedicine just because you want to game the system, then don’t.
Doesn’t matter if English is easier to get a 4.0 in, you still have to do well in all your science classes (hence why schools look at both your cumulative AND science GPA). Keep in mind that people who major in English AND successfully complete all the med school prereqs (calc, bio, chem, ochem, biochem, physics) are probably extra-motivated and well-rounded people, so the sample size is somewhat self-selected to skew towards intelligent, motivated students who had a high chance of getting accepted anyways.
It’s true that less typical majors can be considered to add to the diversity of a school, but that’s completely dependent on whether you can explain HOW it’s given you a different or unique perspective and WHY you’re passionate about it in your essays and interviews, and generally these questions are hard to answer if you’re faking it.
Medical schools do not care what your major is. Pick something that you are interested in and do well in it. In my opinion there are other ways to shine. Good luck!
@ErinLoflin The extrapolation that doing non-science major yields 4.0 grade or favor by admission is not correct. A English or History major need to do only 36 credits to earn that major. But to meet pre-req for MD, still that student have to compete same science courses with the same students of science majors and still need to prevail with high grade. Pre-req credits in AMCAS reflected, 44 credit done at college in addition to the 33 credits given credits for AP science courses. That is a total of 77 credits for pre-req compared to 36 credits for major.
Now see, did sGPA got easier because of English or Chemistry major? NO.
Your basic premise is flawed. The reason why English (Or math or philosophy–who also do exceptionally well in med school admissions) seem to do well in med school admission is the because so few with those majors apply. There is a strong self-selection bias in the data.
While many, perhaps even most bio majors apply to medical school, very, very few English or math major apply to medical school. Those who do are highly motivated for med school and tend to have exceptional CVs. Not just good grades, but also high MCATs, excellent LORs from mentors, high levels of volunteerism, leadership and wow! factors. Plus as mentioned above, those student still have to excel in their science classes in addition to their major classes. Because non-science major take fewer science classes, those students really have to have top grades in every single science class because there aren’t additional science credits to take to dilute the effect of a B or C.
BTW, nano medicine will not give you a leg up on med school admissions. Med school adcomms are pretty agnostic about majors, not giving preference to a uncommon major over a plain old bio major.
The most difficult part of those non-science major to apply for med school is to compete for those As with the science majors. As a business major in my UG, I can’t imaging to take a premed science course period, never mind to get an A in it.
Your major doesn’t matter. What matters is how you perform. Without a minimum decent gpa (at least a 3.7)and good MCAT scores you can’t proceed further in the process. Can you be a straight A student in nano medicine?
Think what is your goal. Is it to get into med school then pick a major where you will be successful in getting good grades. Also keep in mind 75% of freshman premeds never make it to medical school. What do you plan to do with a degree in nano medicine if you don’t get into med school? These are things to consider when picking a major that you want to pursue. Look at the four year course syllabus for nano medicine majors at VT. Are you able to incorporate your premed required classes with that? Aside from studying would you have time to pursue medical and nonmedical ec’s?
You have to consider a lot of things when you decide to pursue medicine. You have to think about how you spend your time, money, risks, and the scope of what you are undertaking. You have to think about what you will need to sacrifice to reach that goal. You have to enter college prepared to hit the ground running first semester so that you get good grades. If you start of your first semester with a low gpa then it’s very hard to bring that up to a med school worthy gpa. If you don’t do well in a class you may decide to repeat it but there is no grade replacement. Both grades will be incorporated into your gpa.
Most applicants who reach the stage of applying to med school have decent grades and MCAT scores. What distinguishes them is their ec’s. That’s what makes them stand out and makes a med school want to offer an applicant an interview.
I know students from VT that were either psychology or neuroscience majors that got into med school. You can pursue any major you would like but you need to do well in those premed classes too.
Med schools get thousands, some over 10k+ applications to fill a couple hundred spots. Med school admissions tend to be small in staff size. They have to have some way to thin out the herd. They do this by using computer programs…if an applicant doesn’t have certain GPAs/MCAT scores, no human eyes will look at your application and ever take note of your somewhat obscure and original degree. You’ll be rejected. Assuming you have the stats, med schools will then look for evidence (eg ECs, PS, LoRs, secondary essays) to see if you possess traits they expect MDs to have (eg compassion, altruism, leadership, communication skills, fit with school’s mission statement, maturity, etc). Assuming you still haven’t been rejected by now, you may be offered an interview (or waitlisted). Assuming you don’t get rejected post interview, you may be offered admission, or waitlisted. Depending on who interviews you, nanomedicine might be an interesting interview conversation point or might not come up at all. There are ways to more yourself a competitive applicant; your major choice isn’t one of them.
" Also keep in mind 75% of freshman premeds never make it to medical school."
Is there actual data that supports this assertion?
There is some observational data from a number of schools, but no formal academic studies.
There a number of difficulties with doing a formal study on pre-med drop out rates, including–
- there’s no universally accepted definition of exactly what “pre-med” means
- pre-med is an intention and not a specific major so pre-meds don’t need to “declare” themselves
- pre-meds are not required to register w/ their college health professions office )ro their colleges doesn’t have a HP office) so there’s no real way to count them
- pre-meds can leave or join the pre med path at any time during their undergrad years
The percentage cited is partly based upon the overall attrition rate for science majors. (Which is estimated to be around 35-50% [or higher, depending on the school] in a number of academic studies.) However, since pre-meds need a higher GPA than is required to merely complete a BA/BS in a science field, a higher attrition rate for pre-meds is a given.
But if you want to use taking the MCAT as a proxy for being a pre-med…
AMCAS reports the number of unique individuals taking the MCAT to be in the 95,000-120,000/year range. Of those ~100,000 individuals, approx half apply to medical schools. (Just over 52,000 in the 2018-19 cycle.) Of those 50,000+ applicants, approx 21000 matriculate into med school.
So just using those numbers–75% of pre-meds don’t make it to med school. And that doesn’t even take into consideration all those who got weeded out before they even sat for the MCAT.
Hmmm…I guess. Not sure why the AMCAS folks make the number of MCAT examinees such a mystery, but according to this
https://www.aamc.org/download/462316/data/mcatguide.pdf
the number of annual test-takers would average 62,000. So maybe I’m reading it wrong-no doubt-but that’s not a 75% failure rate, using the MCAT.
And since colleges don’t use any consistent definition of “pre-med” it’s near impossible to determine what number actually applies.
If the 62K number is correct, that’s still only 33.8% success rate for pre meds. And still doesn’t account for all the pre-meds who fail to make to the MCAT-taking stage.
Major in something that you can do well at (e.g. get the most A’s) and also take the “required” science courses. That is simply the best method for achieving the highest GPA and getting the appropriate courses completed for med school. GPA followed my MCAT are the two most important parts of the application, after that it’s experience in the medical field (volunteering at hospitals, research, etc.)
Seems like based on http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/2058785-confessions-of-a-med-school-app-reader.html , GPA and MCAT are used for automated screening to determine whether the application gets read when received, but then everything together affects the human application reader’s holistic reading to recommend what priority to interview.
33.8% is a lot better than 25%-why it’s 33% better. I’d argue the 75% failure rate is not supported by anything but conventional wisdom.
@ucbalumnus if you can’t get an interview then the rest doesn’t count.
In my daughter’s graduating class only 4 students were reported to have gotten accepted to medical school. (School population of 36,000) By senior year the group was small enough that the students knew who was applying and who was not.
One gained admission to an instate MD program after completing their bachelor’s degree.
One gained admission to an instate MD program after completing their master’s degree.
One gained admission to an instate DO program after completing their bachelor’s degree.
One gained admission to a MD program in the Caribbean after completing their bachelor’s degree.
Another took a gap year and got zero interviews so now she is applying to postbac programs.
Freshman premed classes were lecture halls with a couple hundred students. Our school did not have a couple hundred applicants for med school.
Most medical schools have pre-requisites you need to fulfill. These include 1 year each of Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, English, and maybe an Biochemistry course. I also suggest taking more courses in Biology and Chemistry (strongly recommend Anatomy/Physiology!!!), some classes in the social sciences and higher-level courses that peak your interests.
FWIW, an English degree is not necessarily an easier A for those students with a more science tweaked brain. Personally, I was a Physics (and Psychology) major with a Math minor back in my day (no desire at all to head pre-med). The course I was thankful to get a B in? English. I also only got a 4 on the AP English test (compared to a 5 on Bio) in high school. To this day I remain thankful I only had to take one English course in college… Calculus makes more sense than the subjective reasoning of an English teacher/prof (to me)!