<p>I'm in third year majoring in biochem. I recently got interested in also majoring in actuarial science or statistics. But doing so will make me stay extra 2 years in undergrad. Do adcoms look down on people who graduate in more than 4 years due to double majoring? I'm aware that some people double major and still graduate in 4 years. But I can't do that because I decided about it this late into my undergrad career. I'd appreciate any comments.</p>
<p>forget about what "adcoms look down on" and think realistically here....</p>
<p>is doing a double major really worth 2 extra years of your life and tens of thousands of dollars when your goal is to be a physician? I would suggest just taking as many stats classes as you want and then take a year or two off, find a job doing something you enjoy and save up some money for med school. But going to school for 2 more years to get another bachelors which will basically not matter later on in life sounds like a huge waste of time and money to me. You should look into doing a master's in biostatistics ...that might actually be useful when you're a physician.</p>
<p>The main reason I'm considering to also major in actuarial science is that if I don't get into med school or unexpectedly change my mind not to go into medicine by the time of applying, I have more flexibility in switching to my alternative career choice, which is being an actuary. Majoring in actuarial science (or statistics) is useful for this because you need to take various lower and upper-level courses in economics, business, actuarial math and stats, which will be useful for preparing for exams that pre-actuaries need to pass. I haven't yet taken any of these business, economics and actuarial math courses, and this is why it will take about extra 2 years.
But if I still want to become a doctor after graduating in 6 years as a double major, then I will apply to med school then. In that case, what will adcoms think of me?</p>
<p>I'm actually in a similar predicament. I'm not entirely sure about medicine, so after I graduate I want to leave myself some time (1-? years) to really explore my options and decide for sure if I want to be a doctor or not. My major is Mathematics, and as a Math major I have several options at my disposal. The actuarial option interests me, but I feel like it would be a waste to pursue that if I do become a doctor, because there are exams required to break into the actuarial field, and besides, why would someone want to hire me as an actuary when I might leave them to go to medical school?</p>
<p>The alternative that I've been considering is instead taking the general option, in which case I essentially create my own major. I'd probably take a lot of statistics classes and possibly minor in statistics. My thinking is this:</p>
<p>I could hopefully find a paying research position, specifically in medical research, and while doing that I could volunteer at hospitals, possibly become an EMT, shadow doctors, etc--all of the things that I really haven't been doing during undergrad. I'm heavily involved in the premed club at my school and could possibly become president at some point, but I've opted not to take my med school prerequisites yet because I might not want to become a doctor. Instead, I want to focus on graduating.</p>
<p>I'll graduate with a Math degree, I'd work for awhile and volunteer, and when/if I'm ready I'd go back to school to take care of my med school prereqs. During that time or after, I'd take the MCATs, and then apply to medical school. If I decided I didn't want to go to medical school, I could pursue being an actuary or some other type of graduate school or anything else that may peak my interest at that point.</p>
<p>Is this a feasible plan? Would it be better for me to extend my time in undergrad to take care of my med school prereqs (I already have physics done, chemistry, and of course math... but I still have some biology and all organic chemistry to complete) before graduating instead of waiting until I decide for sure? I already have some complete because they were part of my majors anyway (I've changed my mind several times so far), to complete them it would take I think 2 more biology courses and both o chem courses, essentially adding another semester to my undergrad.</p>
<p>Anyway, for those of you on this board, tell me if my plan is okay or if perhaps I should rethink things. Also, I apologize for how poorly written this might be or how scattered the thoughts seem, but I am watching the cardinals and the panthers play right now so I am hardly focused on my writing! :)</p>