<p>I was admitted to UCLA for Biology but I was thinking whether I should switch to biochemistry. I asked the admissions which one would be better for med school but they told me both were good - but somehow I don't think that's the right answer.</p>
<p>I took a look at both syllabi and the biology one lent more towards ecology and evolutionary biology which I don't see how is related to medicine. The biochemistry major had a lot more biochemistry and chemistry courses which seem to be more related to medicine but I'm not really sure. Here are both syllabi:</p>
<p>By all means take an introductory course in biochemistry, but major in whatever interests you most. If that is biochemistry or biology, go with it. But please don’t choose your major based on what you think med schools want: they want well-rounded students who have done well across the board and in their pre-requisite courses. You can major in any subject from dance to electrical engineering.</p>
<p>If you want to to do research rather than practice medicine, then let your research interests guide your choice of major. For most clinical specialties you will learn all the biochemistry you will need in an introductory course. It will all be repeated ad nauseam in your first year of medical school.</p>
<p>Enjoy your undergraduate years. Take advantage of as many interesting courses as you can. Work to maintain an excellent GPA and study to do well on the MCAT. Get some medical experience. But do broaden your background and horizons before entering your 7+ years of medical training.</p>
<p>Why not both? One of D’s pre-med friends graduated with triple major (2 related but both completely unrelated to medicine). She did it in 4 years and did all other fun stuff, including travel abroad,…etc. Or you can have any combo of major(s)/minor(s) and take as many years as you wish. Most D’s friends had at least one minor and some more than one, but it was not for application, they just wanted to pursue their interests, knowing that they will not have this opportunity. Ejoy your UG freedom!!!</p>
<p>It is the correct answer.
In fact, it almost couldn’t matter less which of those two you choose. </p>
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<p>I was a philosophy major (and am now in the clinical years of med school). And believe me, undergrad biology/biochem/chemistry is significantly different from the material you learn in med school, which is very clinically oriented. I didn’t take a single biochem class in undergrad (since i was a philosophy major, I only took the bare minimum of the science pre-reqs), and I did better in our med school biochem course than people who majored in biochem in undergrad. They were all commenting on how different it was, and that we covered what they learned in undergrad in less than the first 1-hour of lecture of each topic and then moved on to other stuff.</p>
<p>All of that is just to say… don’t pick your major based on what you think will be “useful” for med school because it won’t be!</p>