I’m a junior in high school. I recently developed an interest in business, after being firmly set on majoring in biology, doing the pre-med requirements (and eventually going to med school). Well, after shadowing someone who is director of marketing at a company where I live, I’m like wow! I’m totally interested in doing business (specifically marketing)…but I’m also interested in doing medicine.
I realize it’s natural to have different interests, which is why I want to pursue both paths, and major in business while still taking the pre-med requirements. Hopefully somewhere along the way I will decide which one is really what I want to pursue (more than the other). I just don’t want to decide now, and lock any doors.
Anyways, my question is: how hard is it to major in business while fulfilling all the pre-med requirements? I want to apply ED to Wharton. They have an extremely competive program that allows one to major in Business and a science major from CAS (to fulfill pre-med requirements). However, it only accepts a few people, so I’ll apply to that program, but apply to Wharton as for my 2nd choice (would I still be able to fulfill the pre-med reqs here?)
I’m lucky to be instate in Indiana because IU has a great undergraduate business school (Kelley), which I am eligible to be directly admitted too.
Would it be possible to do pre-med at a highly ranked undergraduate business school like Wharton or Kelley? I heard Wharton is especially difficult to do this in, but I suspect it’s because of grade deflation at Penn…?
To apply to medical school you need to take the required pre-med courses as electives in any undergrad major. You do not need to major or minor in science. If you are looking to get guaranteed high GPA then forget Wharton or any top 50 school.
@TomSrOfBoston I definitely understand what you’re saying. But then if I go to Kelley, which is one is the best UG business schools, I would go to IU and then take pre-med requirements. But I based on what I see online, many argue that it’s even harder to get a high gpa at a large state flagship like IU because of all the weeder courses. And people say the pre-med at state flagships is just as hard. I can imagine that to be true at IU (like it is at Penn), because it really is a great school (lived in Bloomington for a while).
You can attend medical school after majoring in any number of things, business included. Why wouldn’t it be possible?
Fun fact of the day: The National Survey of Student Engagement revealed that business majors study the least and engineers study the most. Liberal arts disciplines fall between the two.
IU admission stats are not that high. The weed out courses weed out students who probably should not have been admitted in the first place. If you are “weeded out” at IU, you have no chance of being admitted to medical school at all.
I think I’m going to major in something like biology, french, or english at a university where I can get a high gpa and apply to med school…considering my interest in business in relatively new, while I’ve always been interested in medicine.
Hi I’m new to college confidential and wasn’t sure what thread to post this in.
I just got accepted to Barrett ASU under a biological sciences major in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I want to be Pre-med but want to choose a major that I’ll enjoy and will provide me an alternate, high-paying, enjoyable career if med school doesn’t work out. I really like economics and was wondering:
Is Economics a good major for pre-med?
Should I choose the economics major in the W. P. Carey school of business bc of alumni and job networks or pursue the economics major in the liberal arts and sciences college?
Should I double major or minor in biology in addition to Econ to be better prepared for the MCAT/ Med school?
Your major doesn’t matter at all for med school admission. If you want to major in economics and are able to fit the pre-reqs in—go for it.
Before committing to the business school, check ASU’s policies to see if you’re allowed to take coursework in colleges other than the business college. Some schools allow it; some don’t
The MCAT doesn’t include material from the advanced coursework that would be required for a BS/BS in biology or biology minor. The MCAT only covers introductory level material in bio, chem, physics, math, psych and soc.
A bio major (or minor) won’t prepare for the MCAT; you prepare yourself.
A bio major also does not prepare you in any way for med school. Med school will blow through an entire semester’s worth of an upper level biology elective material in a couple of days of lecture. (Insert fire hose analogy here.)
Think carefully before committing to a double major in 2 unrelated fields. Med school adcomms won’t be impressed and a double major may making fitting in all the required classes for both majors plus med school pre-reqs difficult. It might be a useful exercise to create a spreadsheet laying out all required classes for both degrees plus pre-reqs to see if it’s feasible.
My personal experience as an business major think it will be VERY HARD to mix business courses and premed together. I was not a Wharton or Kelly level student, but some super student maybe able to handle both, but most cannot or don’t.
My friend’s D who graduated from a top 5 econ program, gave up the pre-med track after a year, not because of her grade, but when you got to the business school, the pre-med programs just don’t look more interesting. Its like oil and water, they don’t mix well.
Thanks for your input, I’ve decided to keep it simple and major in English. If I decide to do Business instead of medicine, I can always get my MBA after undergrad.