<p>I am currently a rising freshman at Emory University and am planning to major in biology (b/c I like biology, not just b/c it's a science). I was informed that many Emory students do end up pursuing a second major or a minor. I'm not sure whether or not I want to double major or minor yet, and I was wondering if double majors and minors help when applying to med school, or if not pursuing a double major/minor would hurt. If so, how great is the advantage of a double major/minor? Also, are there any majors/minors that med schools prefer, or does it not really matter? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Medical schools don’t care at all about double majors. They don’t care at all about minors. </p>
<p>Double major or take a minor if it appeals to you or if it plays a role in your future plans, but don’t do either to impress med school adcoms.</p>
<p>So it doesn’t make any difference at all?</p>
<p>Med. Schools do not care about your minor(s) double/triple majors, people do it strictly to pursue their own interest, since they know they will not have the chance after UG, UG is the time to do it and for many who are on Merit scholarships, do it for free. Life enhacing experiences, nothing else. It does make huge difference in person’s life, which is more important than Med. School acceptance. Experiences that will stay with you for the rest of your life, going to Med. School or not.</p>
<p>/thread</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>“so it really doesn’t make a difference at all?”</p>
<p>It would be wrong to do a double major or add minors if doing so will hurt your GPA. For a bio major, a second major would only be helpful IF you were to decide at some point that med school isn’t for you and you have something else to fall back on. My son’s friend just graduated with a bio/econ double major. She’s decided against med school and is now pursuing employment with her econ degree.</p>
<p>My son is certain that he wants to apply to med school. He didn’t want to double major because that can require taking courses in that second major that he didn’t want to take. So, he has 3 minors…chem, bio and math…all for personal interest. He’s a ChemE major.</p>
<p>@UCkittychen I posted that mostly to ask for more opinions/experiences, not because I couldn’t understand WayOutWestMom’s post, lol…</p>
<p>To everyone else who posted, thanks for sharing your insight and experiences. =)</p>
<p>Having minor definitely has helped my D. in UG, improve her well being which has helped her to get all A’s. As a bonus (and free!) she has developed awesome voice singing with music majors as part of her music minor. In addition, it provided great relaxation, awesome experiences recording her own music on real recording equipment (she will never had a chance like this) and having her piece played by Music major student at recital. Again, as another bonus, D. has mentioned that her approach to solving problems in science classes seems to be different, she seemed to have easier time because of her more developed creative way of thinking (I cannot elaborate on this and do not fully understand it). All along she has never considered her GPA getting lowered because of her minor, although it did a bit, getting A- in 3 music classes, she said she did not care about it. I am not trying to convince anybody one way or another, it just not worth it calculating too much instead of looking for the ways to enjoy 4 years of UG.</p>
<p>amazing–what’s not to understand?</p>
<p>Double majors or specific minors don’t impress adcoms. Double majors don’t get you bonus or brownie points–even if you double major in challenging subjects. And you will get absolutely no slack if your GPA dips because of difficult second major or a minor. </p>
<p>A Spanish minor might get you a small nudge IF you apply to schools where there is a large Hispanic population regionally. (Think some TX, CA and other SW state schools.) But the adcoms are really more interested in how well you speak colloquial Spanish than how well you can deconstruct Cervantes.</p>
<p>A double major can help you if decide NOT to pursue medicine. (see above–future career plans). So can a minor.</p>
<p>A second major or a minor can provide an additional intellectual or recreational outlet besides your pre med requirements. (see above-- has personal appeal)</p>
<p>A second major, a minor or combo of majors and minors will not give you any “in” for med school admission.</p>
<p>(And a second non-science major or minor will not necessarily make you a ‘more rounded’ candidate either.)</p>
<p>Another way to look at it amazing, is from the perspective of the grad school dean, which is comprised of academics. While a double majors maybe hot for students, they are not for grad deans. Instead of studying two subject broadly, in general they would much rather you study one subject in-depth. Instead of two BA’s, complete an honors thesis in one…</p>
<p>Something else to consider is whether or not you will have time/ room in your schedule. I’ve read that with the new changes that will be happening in the MCAT there will be more information to know for the MCAT and also more pre-reqs so it will take more time to complete all of the pre-reqs.</p>
<p>^Yep, D. has actually dropped one of her minors, (but still graduated with another). She was 2 classes shy of completing her second minor, but one of the Med. Schools that she has already applied, has added 2 more required classes. She was accepted there, but has chosen to go to another Med. School. So, be prepared that more Med. Schools might start adding their own requirements and you might need to change your senior year registration. And it all might happen after you applied and register for senior classes.</p>