<p>Okay so I definitely want to major in a science field, but I also have a big passion for music. And today i was reading on college board, and i read this sentence. "Students often choose majors in chemistry or biology because they must take several classes in these fields. However, medical schools are also impressed by students with diverse interests. For example, if you have a passion for music, you may want to indulge it before concentrating on your medical studies. As long as you fulfill all of the prerequisite courses for med school, feel free to choose a non-science major."
What does this mean and what is it suggesting for me to do?</p>
<p>Meaning, for medical schools admission, you can major in anything for undergrad, as long as you take the pre-requisite science courses - biology, chemistry, etc., in addition to your major courses. I have friends who have gone on to medical school with undergrad degrees in English, music, political science and business.</p>
<p>You can also take the prerequisites after graduating from college or conservatory. Some schools even have programs for this.</p>
<p>I have posted this many times before, and the statistic is from a few years ago, but at that time, 66% of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest of any other group. I have also read that English majors are a great addition to the med school class.</p>
<p>If you like science, you can major in a science, of course, and do music in many ways: take classes from the music department, lessons in the school or community, participate in extracurricular orchestra or ensembles, and so on.</p>
<p>The main point is that you can major in anything and still go to medical school. Or any other professional school.</p>
<p>I’ve also known many music majors who have successfully gained entrance to Law School. Apparently their analytical skills make them desirable in that context.</p>
<p>So yes, while many Graduate programs (MA, PhD) only admit applicants with degrees in the discipline, most Professional programs (law, medicine, education) do not generally require specific degrees as prerequisites. You would have to take the generally required courses and standardized exams, but your actual major isn’t as important. While it is true that, for example if you are interested in Med school, the fastest/‘easiest’/most streamlined route to take would be to take a pre-med track or major during undergraduate, but many find it feasible to do the same while also majoring in something else, such as music.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that pre med is not a major, it is a pre professional program (like pre law) that basically means you have to take requisite courses for med school. A lot of kids do it in chemistry or biology because in some ways the track you take in those majors takes care of a lot of the requirements (for example, if you are a chem major, you have to take a year of inorganic chemistry, a year of organic, both of which are pre med requirements, and bio chem might be as well.), a bio major, same with other courses, it can help cut down on ‘extra’ courses you have to take in the pre med track. if you were an english major, taking a year of inorganic chem, a year of organic, bio and so forth would add to the load, as a science major a lot of that is part of the curricula. </p>
<p>The conventional wisdom on med school and professional admissions in my day (and today) seems to be that it could be better to be a bit more unconventional. So someone who doesn’t major in Chemistry might have a better chance then someone who follows the crowd (among other things, music BM students have shown the kind of dedication and discipline schools like to see). There are programs for people with Bachelors degrees already to take the requisite pre med courses they may not have had as well.</p>
<p>The thing many on here point out is true, that getting a music degree doesn’t necessarily hamper you any more then another bachelors degree would. I work with people in systems development who got their BM degrees in performance and then picked up programming on the side, and are working in jobs that require bachelors degrees, even though they don’t have bachelor’s in comp sci or engineering. It is a bachelors degree in its own right. True, if you wanted to enter an MS program in cs or EE you probably would have to take pre requisite courses before getting into them, but it is possible (same would hold for a history major or an english major). </p>
<p>The thing you have to ask yourself is do you really want to go through the rigors of a music performance degree, or is music to you something special but not your life’s work? After all, you can still do music in school studying anything, a lot of colleges have orchestra and music programs that non majors can do, the Ivy schools recruit pretty high level music students to a certain extent to build out these orchestras even though the kids don’t major in music (most of the ivies don’t offer BM degrees in any event), so it is out there, it really is your focus. If you are thinking “I really want to try a career in music, but if that doesn’t work, I think I may want Medicine as a back up” then getting a BM degree might make sense (talking classical music here), and if that doesn’t work, take the pre reqs for med school later on, or if you can, while doing your BM (though to be honest, knowing the BM curricula and the way it works, you may not want to do that, the pre med courses take a lot of studying to achieve high grades, the lab courses may be difficult to fit in with stuff you would be doing in the BM, plus recitations and lab lectures take up time)…if you think “I think I really want to be a doctor, but love music” then maybe major in something, go the pre med track, and do music as a non major.</p>
<p>Only you can decide that, all people can do is suggest things. I wouldn’t go the BM route assuming it gives you an edge in getting into med school; what that 66% figure says is that having a BM degree is a valid path to med school, I wouldn’t do a BM degree assuming it gives an edge, do that only if you love music enough to want to do it…</p>
<p>The main thing is. for undergraduate studies, follow where your interests lie, whether science or music or both or something else. Many students think they want to go into medicine and change their minds. Undergrad years are a great time to explore, and that exploration will not hamper future goals in the long run.</p>