Questions for parents and students as well. Appreciate your inputs.
My S (HS Senior) is interested in going the route of Medicine – that is either a doctor or any form of health care services. Now is the time to make the college list with list of majors against each college for applying.
He is a Varsity BB and VB player and also a VB captain.
The thing that is confusing is – although he i very much interested in doing Medicine, he does not want to take Biology as his major and kind of block himself from job prospects right after Undergrad in case Medical college admission gets delayed. This being the case, he wants to major in Economics/Physics and take PreMed requirements on the side.
What are your opinions on this? He loves Math and Physics both and so he thinks he will be able to handle those requirements along with PreMed but I am kind of nervous about this idea.
Do any of you know if there is any other major that combines Economics and Pre Med requirements into one?
Also, another thing I would like to mention here is that he was not like other students who normally take AP Chem as a sophomore. Instead he took AP Physics1 and AP Physics C in 10th and 11th grades and this year, he is taking General Chemistry in school and so no room for AP Chem. Would that be frowned upon in different colleges whether it is Physics/Economics or BME?
What do you recommend as good colleges for kids like my S who want to major in Economics and take Pre Med ?
He has a weighted GPA of 4.3 and unweighted GPA of 3.5 (because he has been taking Basketball PE every year, his unweighted GPA is hurt)
Any major is fine for premed. It is only majors with voluminous nonoverlapping requirements like most engineering majors that can be difficult to fit with premed requirements. Math, physics, and economics are all fine in this respect.
Since pre-med is a series of courses and not a major, you can major in anything and still get into med school - it’s all about having the pre-requisite courses, having a high GPA, and scoring well on the MCATs. Some med schools actually prefer non-traditional majors for pre-med students. Many schools will have a pre-med advisor who helps ensure students of any major get the courses required for med school. He can do fine majoring in Econ while taking the necessary med school requiremed courses.
There’s a lot more detail needed to recommend schools. Have you visited any schools? Does he have an idea what part of the country he’d like to be in, whether he wants to be in a city or not, does he want a large school or small, how important are things like sports or Greek life, what are his test scores, and most importantly what is your anticipated budget?
As for #2, not every school even offers AP Chem, so while it would be nice for him to have it, having the typical minimum 3 years of a lab science is what’s most important.
Thank you ucbalumnus! So, looks like you went to Cal ? My D is a Junior at Cal too and she loves it there and in fact my S now loves that school too and wants to apply for Econ there. Wonder how hard it is to get into Econ there?
Thanks again for lightening my stress
@InigoMontoya:
Thanks for the info about Econ majoring. As for the schools, I think he loves to be in CA or NY areas. And yes, he would love to have a good BB or VB team there as they are his favorite sports. He has a 2140 with 800 in M, 710 in W and 630 in R. SAT 2 Math is 740. President of 2 clubs – one of which is the most enjoyable/popular one rated by kids in school. Yes, he will had had 4 years of lab science with this Chem. He likes to be in a City mostly and he is okay with large schools too as he si from a public school that has about 2.5k students altogether
@ucbalumnus:
Thank you for making me feel better about the Econ major. I see that you attended Cal? My D is a junior at Cal now and she loves it there. And Cal Econ is one of my S’s top choices too.
What do you think about the ease of getting into Cal Econ?
The economics major at UCB does not have direct admission. Students apply to the College of Letters and Science. Declaring the economics major requires a 3.0 GPA in the prerequisite courses.
The same goes for math and physics, except that they are not restricted majors, so 2.0 GPA and C grades in prerequisites are all that they need (though it is not likely that many students barely getting C grades want those majors).
However, UCB is likely a reach for him, as it is for anyone with a UC weighted GPA under 4.20 (about 3.9 unweighted 10th-11th academic courses with many honors and AP courses).
Your son is wise NOT to major in Bio as a premed. Your son is preparing for PlanB in case medicine doesn’t work out. And if he’s a Calif resident premed, it can be extremely difficult to get into a med school…so your son’s plan is a good one.
