<p>I'm a high school student, but I thought this would go best in this section. Basically, I want to go into Med School which requires doing Pre-med, and the easiest major to take would be Biology or NPB, but thinking four years ahead when applying to med school, should I choose a major more specific like Biochem or BME, or even major in something like English or Graphic Design to make myself stand above the crowd? I'm scared. :(</p>
<p>Complete the pre-med courses and you could major in just about anything. If you’d like, major in English. It can help you on your MCAT.</p>
<p>I know I CAN major in anything, I want to know what I SHOULD major in. Would it be more work to be an English major and on top of that take Pre Med classes compared to doing something like NPB, BioChem, or BME and taking Pre Med classes.</p>
<p>Major in whatever you like and whatever you think will be the most fun, interesting, and challenging. You’re not going to get any “breaks” if you choose a hard major, you’re not going to get any “boosts” for choosing a strange major, you’re not going to get any marks against you for choosing a common one like biology, etc. </p>
<p>The point is, you major doesn’t matter. Your performance in your major matters a lot; GPA and MCAT are very important. You also should be sure you put together an impressive portfolio of research, volunteering, shadowing, clinical experience, leadership experience, employment, etc. You need to get to know your professors well so they will go to bat for you and write you fabulous recommendation letters. You need to be a very good communicator, both written and oral, so your apps and interviews shine. You need to have a relatively outgoing personality and a nice dose of charisma because marketing yourself and eventually succeeding in medicine all but requires you to be a people person. The purpose of all of this is so that you can prove to adcoms that you know what you’re getting yourself into and that you are absolutely positive a career in medicine is the only one for you. </p>
<p>So, knowing what all goes into your application and your future, you can see that choosing a major just really won’t make much of a difference. You’ll probably do the best in the classes you’re most interested in, so choose a major that sounds awesome and weave premed classes into that. </p>
<p>This probably sounds like a lot; but the thing is, if this really is the right path for you, chance are it’ll all unfold anyway. Right now, you should focus on finishing up high school, having a great time, and finding the best undergrad school for you. Once you get there, then you can start tackling the whole “I wanna go to med school” thing. After all, what’s the best way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time :)</p>
<p>Haha thanks for the advice. But if what you’re saying about an impressive portfolio of research, volunteering, shadowing, clinical experience, leadership experience, employment, etc. is true, then wouldn’t that be much easier with some sort of science degree? You would be open to more connections to these types of things than you would taking a Humanities class, would you not?</p>
<p>What subjects do you like best and are strongest in? math? bio? English? Chem?? What???</p>
<p>Honestly, I’m the best at English, but I wanna pursue something related to physiology or anatomy. That’s why I really wanna take NPB (Neurology, Physiology, and Behavior), but not all UC’s offer it and I’m not sure if it will make me stand out in applications. But since majors don’t really matter apparently, I suppose I’ll take it anyway.</p>
<p>You ar in HS, Do not be scared! Enjoy, it will not last, it will get progressively busier and busier. You are thinking too much ahead. Do not! Any major is fine, but only if you like it. If you do not like it, it is not going to work for you, Med. School or not. You think that you know that you are going to Med. School. At this point, believe me, you do not know at all. Give it few years, then see. As of now choose the major if you have preferences, or take few college classes as undecided and see which major feels the best. Your priority number one right now is to enjoy your HS, it will not repeat. There is NO such thing as “you SHOULD major in whatever” to get into Med. School. Wrong question, wasting time!</p>
<p>…one more comment, no need to stand out either, way overrated concept. Just be good enough, no stand out, average applicant who will have choices at the end of process. If you are good enough and apply to Med. Schools that match your stats and your personal criteria, you will be all set. Again, way too early to worry about it. You are NOT correct, HS is NOT a good time to lay out your future that closely, have to give it a try and see if it works out for you or not.</p>
<p>Haha alright, thanks for the words of advice. I do have one more question then: what’s the difference between have a Major that is a B.A. and a B.S.? And which is better to have when anticipating going to Med School and doing Pre-Med? For example, I’m looking at Bio-Chemistry and Microbiology but it’s a B.A., whereas Bioengineering is a B.S.</p>
<p>BA versus BS – don’t worry about it. The only time it makes a difference is when the same university offers both BA and BS degree programs in the same major, in which case you need to consider the actual courses and curriculum of each variant to see what fits your needs and wants better (in a few cases, there may also be differences in major-specific accreditation that may be relevant if you go to work in the area of the major, but that is not relevant if you go to medical school).</p>
<p>No one thinks any less of math or physics graduates from Berkeley because they have BA (Bachelor of Arts) degrees. Or history, literature, or philosophy graduates from MIT with SB (Bachelor of Science) degrees.</p>
<p>"For example, I’m looking at Bio-Chemistry and Microbiology but it’s a B.A., whereas Bioengineering is a B.S. "
-the difference is not BA vs BS, the difference is in non-engineering vs engineering. Any major is any engineering would be more difficult than any non-engineering major. Just something to keep in mind while looking forward to maintain very high college GPA. Ask yourself if you are up to it, only you can evaluate that.</p>
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<p>Pretty sure that there are some engineering majors who would have more difficulty majoring in literature than they do in engineering.</p>
<p>"Pretty sure that there are some engineering majors who would have more difficulty majoring in literature than they do in engineering. "
- Not true at all. I have been in engineering for many years. Engineering is not just more difficult, it is by far more difficult than any other major.
English majors are the most represented in Greek on campuses, you will not find many engineers there if it is any indication.</p>
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<p>Is this sarcasm?</p>
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<p>What else did you major in to enable you to make the comparison? </p>
<p>Do you really think you can make an absolute statement like that? Sure engineering is demanding, I don’t think anyone’s saying it isn’t. But people have different strengths, so someone mathematically minded may very well find the rigors of engineering ‘easier’ than the interpretation and writing that are necessary for English (just one example of many). </p>
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<p>Please clarify, indication of what? While neither myself or kids participated in Greek life, I think that was a choice based on personal preferences and interest, not on college major. I would really like to know what you’re inferring with this statement because I hope it’s not: English = Greek = less intelligent =/= Engineering.</p>
<p>I would also like a source for the majority of Greeks are english majors as I think it’s flat out false let alone the connotations.</p>
<p>As a biology/classics double major I can say that humanities and sciences are simply different (although sometimes not as different as people think). I found writing papers more difficult than studying for tests and the majority of my Bs came from classics/linguistics classes, not bio or chem or physics and I took many fewer non science classes so the difference in the proportion of Bs is astronomical.</p>
<p>I am an engineer, I can say that English was my worst nightmare, that was the only subject I got really bad grades. I do not think we can generalize the “complexity or measure of difficulty” by major because a lot depends on the school/teacher. I have also seen a few majors that seem to be living easy life compared to engineering, but I think that’s more to do with the school or the teacher than major.</p>