<p>I am a freshman in college right now and am currently double majoring in neuroscience and political science with a double minor in arabic and chemistry. I'm pre-med and I want to work in the Middle East setting up clinics after medical school (thus the arabic). I love politics and learning about what our government is really doing, but do you think the pol. science major is too much with my already heavy course load? Do you think medical schools would look favorably on the fact that I did double major in it?
Thanks!!</p>
<p>"…but do you think the pol. science major is too much with my already heavy course load"</p>
<p>Only you can answer this question. For some people, one major and one minor is so time consuming that they are unable to have a social life. Some people can do a double major and minor in something, and have oodles of time left to spare. Others play sports in college with huge course loads. It all depends on the person.</p>
<p>If you think you can do the double major, and double minor, then go for it. If not, I would drop either the chemistry minor or the neuroscience major instead of the political science major, and I would definitely not drop the Arabic minor. Why do I say this? Most medical schools, as long as you have the pre-reqs, will accept any major a person has (political science included). Some medical schools prefer those with liberal arts majors, simply because they like the diversity they bring to the school.</p>
<p>What I would really consider is double majoring in political science and Arabic. If you really want to set up clinics in the Middle East, you’ve got to know the language very, very well. You also need to know about the culture so that you don’t step on people’s toes. </p>
<p>Now, if you favor neuroscience over political science, then you can still major in it, it just seemed like you preferred political science. You could also minor in that if you wanted to, or if you really like chemistry, keep the minor in that. But I think that it would be best to pick three subjects and choose two to major in, keeping one minor. That is just my opinion.</p>
<p>If you don’t plan do go into neurology, psychiatry, or some other specialty for which neuroscience is more directly relevant (e.g., perhaps, rehabilitation medicine), then drop the neuroscience major. You can always do a basic neuroscience course as an elective. Also, drop the chemistry minor. Your premed requirements already include chemistry through organic chem and some med schools also require or recommend biochem.</p>
<p>Instead, depending on what majors your school offers, here are some alternatives to consider for the premed aspect of your education:
-do your premed requirements and build on that with a major in microbiology (more relevant for infectious diseases, public health, and other areas you’d encounter in developing countries).
-do your premed requirements and do a broader interdisciplinary major in human biology. This might be an actual major in human biology if your school offers one, or you could combine courses in biosciences and anthropology. You also could consider a major in anthropology with a focus on biological and medical anthropology. Some cultural anthro courses on the Middle East could be included, too. Some schools offer focused minors in anthropology e.g., medical anthropology.</p>
<p>For the Middle Eastern aspect of your studies, here are some alternatives to consider, again, depending on the majors offered by your school:
-Drop the political science major. Instead, major in Middle Eastern studies, which would be more flexible and include courses on ME history, politics, ethnography, religion, as well as Arabic.
-Drop the political science major. As suggested above, do a major in anthropology. You could continue Arabic and take electives on other aspects of the Middle East.
-Do an interdisciplinary major in International Relations/Studies. These majors require language study and often require a regional focus, which in your case, is the Middle East. Many programs require you to select a thematic focus, too. For that, a relevant focus would be either development or global health. Again, if your school offers an IR/IS major, it depends on how it is structured.
-Alternatively, some schools offer an interdisciplinary program in global health, either as a major, a minor, or a certificate program. Sometimes, global health is offered as a track in a human biology program.</p>
<p>So the options to consider would be these:
- Microbiology + Middle Eastern Studies (including Arabic courses)
- Microbiology + Anthropology (including Arabic courses)
- Microbiology + International Relations/Studies (including Arabic courses)
- Microbiology + Global Health (including Arabic courses)
- Human Biology + Middle Eastern Studies (including Arabic courses)
- Human Biology + International Relations/Studies (including Arabic courses)
- Human Biology + Global Health(including Arabic courses)
- Biology/Anthropology + Middle Eastern Studies (including Arabic courses)
- Biology/Anthropology + International Relations/Studies (including Arabic courses)
- Biology/Anthropology + Global Health (including Arabic courses)</p>
<p>The above options could be done in various major/major or major/minor/certificate combinations.</p>
<p>I agree with the above posts that say to drop the neuroscience major. Get through your pre-med course sequence and try to do well in those classes. I find your goal quite interesting, but to reach it you will need to be very well versed in the Middle Eastern culture which I think is something that you will really only get by going with an international studies type major. Maybe a study abroad opportunity would be good also if your school allows for it.</p>
<p>If I were you I’d drop the neuroscience major and major in either bio or chem (this way, you’ll still be able to minor in chem as a bio major still or just major in it). Keep political science (maybe as a minor or perhaps Middle Eastern Studies) and Arabic.
You can always take neurology classes as electives if they just interest you.</p>
<p>You’ll be busy… A LOT. They’ll be a lot of reading and unless you at least familiar with Arabic, it will get pretty stressful in the beginning with all the knowledge from that, the crap from introductory biology classes (most of which don’t even apply to being pre-med and will make you want to bang your head against the wall) and the reading from everything all added up. You’ll just need to really, really, really learn how to effectively manage your time.</p>
<p>There is very little point in getting that many majors/minors. Med schools certainly won’t care, but they will care about a drop in your GPA that may come about because you overextended yourself. Get a major/minor or a double major, and take the classes that interest you; only go beyond that if you could pick up another major/minor with minimal additional effort.</p>