<p>I am thinking of going Econ or Finance major while I am pre-med and probably getting an MBA somewhere down the road.</p>
<p>In order to do this I am going to have to take 4 summer courses (in total) and push back some of my gen-eds. I will have MAYBE one elective class senior year.</p>
<p>I feel like I don't want to major in anything else because it's a waste of time and I have always been interested in business. </p>
<p>I'm not 110% sure that I will stay pre-med, in fact I might go pre-dentistry if I decide I don't want to go to med school. </p>
<p>I have always been told that a doctor/dentist with an MBA is fantastic.
Can someone explain/discuss the perks/flaws?</p>
<p>If you’re wanting to go to med school, a business major will not serve you well. It’s a vocational major and, therefore, not suitable for a med school applicant. An MBA later on would be fine but your UG major needs to be a more “academically rigorous” major. Econ would probably be fine as it is more of a social science; however, finance, accounting, marketing, biz admin, etc., are all poor choices.</p>
<p>Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, and Biochemistry are all very popular majors for med school applicants for a number of reasons and are well-received by medical school adcoms. Business, nursing, etc. are all generally seen as vocational majors requiring little academic rigor.</p>
<p>Apumic: I find that so hard to believe. About half of the Finance major’s courses are the same as the Economics courses anyways. I find it hard to believe that a tough business school would have a less “academically rigorous” school for that major. </p>
<p>Steeler: I am not going to choose the liberal arts type no matter what. I want the Bachelor of Business Administration or Bachelor of Science type, probably.</p>
<p>I feel like Bio/Chem/Psych/Biochem won’t benefit me in the ways that Finance/Economics will. The only thing that makes the sci-major appealing is the fact that all the classes overlap into the major and I would have a ton of elective credits to use.</p>
<p>What are you going to do with a finance/business degree if you’re not going into finance/business? It makes no sense. Med schools are looking for academic interests (like economics), but your vocational interest should be medicine. If you’re so set on finance or business, then go into finance or business.</p>
<p>Professional programs aren’t less difficult than non-professional ones–in fact, there is a strong argument for the opposite! </p>
<p>In any case, all this “rigor” stuff is crap. Medical schools don’t care about the difficulty of your major. The only requirements are a few introductory courses. You don’t have to know much to get into med school.</p>
<p>However, it does make sense that medical schools turn their noses up at professional degrees. Med schools will look at your, say, accounting degree, and say “why didn’t he become an accountant?” It shows a lack of commitment (haha paradoxically–an accounting degree is way more work than a biology or psychology degree!). I don’t understand why anyone would do it either. It just doesn’t make sense to go through 4 years of job preparation and then just throw it away.</p>
<p>The reactions of medical school admissions committees would depend a lot on your college. If the business major is considered academically rigorous on a par with more common premed majors, like say chemistry, then it would be fine. I doubt Wharton students find they are disadvantaged when applying to medical school.</p>
<p>If it is a less rigorous program, then you could run into problems.</p>
<p>Certainly useful to have a business background if you go into medicine. Most doctors have no clue.</p>
<p>I personally never met a Wharton kid at any of my interviews, but that is obviously n=1 evidence. </p>
<p>GPA>>> perceived rigor
GPA>>>prestige</p>
<p>Nobody is going to spit in your face if you have a 3.9 in business and a MCAT score to back it up, regardless of your schools rep for rigor. That being said, you might get a little bit of a boost (assuming all things equal) over other applicants if you got that 3.9 at a rigorous school. </p>
<p>Get a good GPA, that is the goal. I wouldn’t trade my 4.0 at my less than highly regarded university for a 3.7 at any school.</p>
<p>3.9/36: Major and university usually don’t matter.
3.4/27: Major and university DEFINITELY don’t matter.
3.9/26: Major and university probably don’t matter; you’ll be perceived as a very hard worker who won’t survive medical school.</p>
<p>3.7/32: You need every boost you can get, academic major and top-flight university included.</p>
<p>3.4/36: Here’s where I think they REALLY kick in. If you’re in a vocational major at an easy school, people might say, “Well, he’s just lazy.” Or perhaps “The MCAT was a fluke.” If you’re in an academic major at a top-flight school, people might say, “He’s obviously smart, look at the MCAT score. He’s just at a tough school.”</p>
<p>kd5qdf: I mean it would be a backup plan if I didn’t get into med school. I am interested in business more than I am studying excess amounts of chemistry/biology/psychology classes that are totally useless in becoming a doctor.</p>
<p>I feel like I did enough research to know I should have a backup plan JUST in case I do not get into med school. Business is my backup plan. Not becoming a biology teacher (with a crappy bio major) or a chemistry teacher (with a crappy chem major) or any other sort of crappy backup plan. I’m not interested in that. </p>
<p>I am really just wondering why people said a doctor/dentist with an MBA is a great thing to have. Can someone provide insight?</p>
<p>@ BDM: I think that’s a pretty solid hypothesis.</p>
<p>at OP: why can’t a post-bac program be a backup plan? It doesn’t have to be med school or bust. There are other things you can do to strengthen your application if you don’t get into med school.</p>
<p>source: adcoms, AMCAS data (quite obvious by percentage of admittance ~28% for vocational health sci type majors vs. ~50% for all others combined; no data for biz majors as so few apply).</p>
<p>It’s important for a number of reasons, such as 1) academic rigor; 2) contribution to shortage of other medical professionals (esp. in nursing); 3) commitment to medical science (i.e., if you majored in nursing or athletic trng, why aren’t you doing that instead? You need a good response to that question)</p>
<p>It is mainly concern about the academic rigor of the program. If you major in economics, rather than business, then no one worries that it is a less challenging program. Medical schools may worry globally about the supply of other medical professionals, but that does not factor into individual admissions decisions. Like all applicants, you need to convince them that you rally want a medical education. It is not that difficult to do this. Some medical schools have joint MD/MBA programs, so obviously they see the value of business education.</p>
<p>I don’t know how many Wharton students go to medical school. I know some, but I agree it is probably a small proportion of the student body.</p>
<p>Hey thank you for your responses, looking at it from the academic rigor perspective makes sense. Showing commitment to medicine from the beginning is also viable. </p>
<p>It’s an argument which I’ve only heard from a handful of other people, and I couldn’t find too much relevant information on the web.</p>
<p>I just wanted to read a variety of opinions, from the members of this forum to see why this general opinion was held on CC.</p>
<p>How many colleges you know of have a business undergrad major? And yet, business is the most popular college major across the country. That, I think, is the reason why business is considered to be a non-rigorous major.</p>
<p>I’m also kinda in the same boat as the OP was… I really want to go to med school but I want a good fallback career in business if I don’t make it in med school. after reading this thread… it seems like wharton would be optimal for this. Because I’d be able to get a BS in economics while also getting a concentration in healthcare management. I think this would definitely show my interest in med school while also having a nice fall back degree. but i’m sure it would definitely be a challenge. </p>
<p>I have an MBA, but why MD needs an MBA I have no idea. I do not need MBA, it is easier to find a job whith it. MD’s are NOT looking for a job, I have never met unemployed MD and I know very many of them. I sencerely do not understand why MD needs MBA.</p>
<p>Yep, it’s not so much MD’s looking for jobs that is the problem. Actually, it’s hospitals looking for MD’s that is the problem for the most part. Hospitals struggle to recruit doctors that they need, especially those in rural areas. (Not that this has anything to do with the question at hand.)</p>