I plan to become a radiologist. I was wondering the best major for MCATs and that will impress medical schools.
You are aware that radiology is being outsourced to cheap skilled labor in India. All a US hospital radiology dept needs is an internet link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/business/who-s-reading-your-x-ray.html?pagewanted=all
Your major won’t impress medical school admissions committees. Students from quantitative fields–math, statistics, and physical sciences–perform best on the MCAT. Look up the data on the AAMC website if you’re that interested. Radiology is a speciality that one picks after medical school, and it is one of the most difficult ones to match into. You need to be interested in medicine in general, first–not be attached to one specific highly selective and difficult specialty–if you plan on a career in medicine. Moreover, medicine is something you learn in medical school (and beyond). Your undergraduate major is largely irrelevant.
No particular major will impress medical school admissions officers. Applicants with a huge variety of majors are admitted to medical schools every year. Adcomms have seen it all – everything from accounting to zoology.
What impresses adcomm is a high GPA/sGPA, a high MCAT score and exceptional ECs.
Major in a field you enjoy (because it’ll be easier to earn the high GPA needed for med schools admissions) and one that will provide you an alternate career should you change your mind about med school or should you not gain admission to med school.
Radiology is a specialty you will apply for during your last year of med school. While 99% of med students who apply to radiology match, the USMLE scores needed to match in radiology are quite high (as high as orthopedic surgeons or neurosurgeons).
Radiology requires an additional 5+ years of training after med school.
http://residency.wustl.edu/Choosing/SpecDesc/Pages/DiagnosticRadiology.aspx