Do you need to major in pre-med to go to med school?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

Hi, I really want to become a surgeon one day but the school I am most passionate about does not have a pre-med major, so am I able to become a surgeon and go to med school if I major in a biological science at cal poly slo?

2

Pre-med is not a major but courses that are required for Medical school applications. You can major in anything as long as you take the required courses to apply. Many students major in Biology since the major covers the Med school course requirements. You want to have a high GPA, good medically related EC’s and a high MCAT when applying to Medical School.

The commonly accepted coursework requirements for medical school include a minimum of 1 year of:

General biology
Physics with lab
General chemistry (inorganic chemistry) with lab
Organic chemistry with lab
Calculus
English
New - Sociology
New - Psychology

3

Pre-med is an intention and not any specific major. You can major in anything so long as you complete the required pre-req courses.

Med school pre-reqs are:

Bio w/labs (2 semesters)
Gen chem w/ labs (2 semesters)
Ochem w/labs (2 semesters)**
Biochemistry (1 semester)
Physics w/labs (2 semesters) --algebra based physics is acceptable
Writing/English (2 semesters)
Calc 1 (1 semester)
Statistics or biostatistics (1 semester)

Not universally required, but included on the MCAT:

Intro to psych
Intro to sociology

**A few schools will allow applicants to substitute biochemistry for Ochem 2 so long as biochem has an associated lab.

A few med schools have additional required courses (typically genetics, anatomy, physiology, occasionally calc 2, medical ethics or additional social sciences). Please consult MSAR for specifics.

4

Note that 40% of pre-meds don’t even major in a math or science: There are English majors, history majors, music majors…What they all have in common is a high GPA (3.7 or better) and strong MCAT scores.

5

Ditto-
While there are a few schools that have a “pre med” major (can’t recall which offf the top of my head) the large majority do not, and as long as you take the premed prereqs, you are all set.

6

^ penn state is the only one I’m aware of. Of the school’s the CC population is generally targeting I would venture to say it might be the only one.

7

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:

  1. Is Economics a good major for pre-med?
  2. 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?
  3. Should I double major or minor in biology in addition to Econ to be better prepared for the MCAT/ Med school?