<p>I know undergrad isn’t set in stone, but I don’t want to waste time.</p>
<p>Right now I’ve got it listed as biological sciences but I’m really not looking forward to doing that (when I applied I didn’t take it too seriously because I didn’t think I would actually have to go to UIC :/ ) Not looking forward to insane lecture halls. I would love to go to Loyola University Chicago, however for me attending UIC would essentially be free (I got 20k + in grants/ scholarship not including loans and instate tuition is around 15-17k so I'd actually get some money back from FAFSA)</p>
<p>Anyway so now I’m looking at:</p>
<p>Neuroscience (career prospects look slim)</p>
<p>Kinesiology (most interested in since I want to do sports medicine, however career prospects for this also look slim)</p>
<p>Something else all together.</p>
<p>Basically my end goal is med school. However in the event I cannot get into med school straight out of undergrad, I want to have a degree with decent - great job prospects so that I won’t be struggling for that year or two before I get into medschool or if I never get into medschool. </p>
<p>Side note, I really do not want to teach. It just isn’t for me.</p>
<p>I am also aware I do not need to major in a science degree in order to get into med school, infact that my degree does not matter at all, but my parents are stubborn foreigners who won't even entertain the idea of me majoring in something not medically related.</p>
<p>Also, I know any major is what I make of it really, and that if I major in something I truly enjoy I'll do well, but currently at the moment I'm open to anything. So i'm looking for suggestions or if you have come down this path what you ended up doing or overall BS / BA or Applied Health Sciences, or Engineering majors that have decent - great job prospects if entering medical school isn't possible. I am not against pursuing a masters or phd in lieu of med school .</p>
<p>Is it a demanding course? One thing I’m kind of afraid of majoring in a non-science degree would be having to pay extra to take the required med school courses.</p>
<p>^While it tends to be more constraining on your schedule to take premed coursework with a non-science major, you should be able to do it within your UG degree. You shouldn’t need to pay to take postbac courses.</p>
<p>hmm I see. How constraining? With non-science majors such as econ, would a prospective student such as myself still have classes every single day? It’s my impression that with a non-science at least in the first two years I wouldn’t be actually dealing specifically with my degree.</p>
<p>My parents are another factor as I’m aware they would not be too keen on the subject. Would it be too much to change my major now from Biological Sciences to Kinesiology, and then later to business?</p>
<p>At UIC the school of business offers BS’s in: Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Management, Entrepreneurship, and Information and Decision Sciences. </p>
<p>Which of these fields would best encompass econ? I still want to pursue med school, but I do not want to get sucked up into a desk job that gives me little freedom. Is becoming an actuary something that is possible with these degrees?</p>
<p>It depends on your major requirements and your school. It could be more constraining at a smaller school if certain classes are not offered each year or if there are a limited number of lecture or labs offered. For instance, if you need to take OChem soph year, and the lab overlaps with an Econ class you’re interested in, you might have to choose a different Econ class.</p>
<p>Think about it, many premed requirements will overlap with major requirements for chem, bio, etc., but very few with an Econ, English, etc. major. However, there is enough leeway in just about any major to permit premed courses and fulfilling major requirements. It’s only when you get into something like say Architecture, you may not be able to do both.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s a way of predicting how many days a week you’ll have classes, no matter what your major. </p>
<p>You will be taking classes in your major during the first 2 years no matter what your major.</p>
<p>You can change majors, but how easy it is depends on which two majors. You need to look at your school’s policy about transferring to different majors, particularly if they are in a different school within the university.</p>
<p>Econ is a liberal arts major, not a business major.</p>
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<p>I always thought being an actuary was the epitome of a desk job?;)?</p>
<p>I don’t have any direct experience, but reading on SDN over the years, kinesiology seems to get a great deal of disrespect, still being seen, in some circles, as a PE major. My DD took a couple of Kinesiology courses when abroad and they were full of great stuff for a doctor to understand, but the major seems risky. Check with the advisers at your school for better information.</p>
<p>in general, grad schools prefer a liberal arts degree over a vocational degree (which includes, kinesiology and business). That’s why Econ works so well. It’s a traditional liberal arts degree, but is extremely portable into the business world. Many job postings will require an undergraduate degree in business or econ. (Employers recognize that many top schools don’t even offer an undergraduate biz degree.)</p>
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<p>Why would you ask such a question (unless you have a job that you have to go to)? </p>
<p>Premed prereqs = 8 courses. A typical major is ~10 courses+prereqs. A four-year college degree is ~35 courses. Do the math.</p>
<p>btw: for an prospective actuary, consider majoring in math – another liberal arts degree.</p>
<p>yeah I know that last question was kind just i was honestly wondering. Only because some people have class like three times a week or whatever. </p>
<p>Anyway I’ve done a lot of thinking. How does a degree in Physics sound? I feel like I could still do all the med school pre-reqs with it and then take the math / statisitics classes and maybe still be able to get a job in finance with it or no? </p>
<p>My parents are just very strict with the whole BS and not BA degree nonsense.</p>
<p>Regarding physics major: A professor in the physics department at DS’s college once told the students: “Since how well you will learn physics heavily depends on how much math you know, I would suggest all physics majors take one math class in each of the eight semesters in college.” This is an opinion of one (quite distinguished) physics professor.</p>
<p>Regarding BA vs BS: Some colleges may offer a BA degree only for some science major. In this case, every student in that science major would get a BA degree. A BA degree from this school would be treated the same as a BS degree from the same school (but a different major, e.g., an engineering major) or from a different school.</p>
<p>However, when a sciece major can choose either a BS or a BA degree, it is often the case that mostly the least academically capable students would choose the BA degree. For example, in DS’s science major, it is likely less than 10 percents of students who chose to graduate with a BA major. There are likely more students who chose to graduate in BS/MS combined degrees in 4 years than the students who were graduated with a BA from that department. If you choose a BA degree in such an academic environment, you may even think you may not stand out academically yourself, let alone how the med school adcoms may perceive it.</p>
<p>Perhaps your parents need to be educated. You might tell them that some of the greatest universities in the world only offer BA’s. One can only earn a BA in physics at Cal-Berkeley, for example; a professor from Cal recently won a Nobel in physics. (Cal only offers a BA in math, too.)</p>
<p>^I agree wholeheartedly that they do need to be educated in weight a BA could hold. However I do understand the speculation that could arise when a BA and BS in say physics is available however a med school hopeful were to choose the BA route.</p>
<p>Sorry as I gain more and more advice, I keep getting new ideas, but what if I were to stick with the biological sciences BS and then use any space for electives and take econ / finance courses?</p>
<p>After speaking with my parents (mainly my dad) on the whole matter, they’ve warmed up to the thought of a non-science major. </p>
<p>I’m starting to feel like the specific business majors (esp. accounting / finance) would appear more vocational towards medical schools and may hurt me in the long run since finance & accounting is not what I’m looking to get into initially. Economics is only a BA at UIC, however that could be seen as equally rigorous by medical schools and still leave the door open to any business endeavors correct?</p>
<p>Nope, it won’t happen. There will be no such “speculation”. Med schools only care about A’s in the prereqs and A’s in your other coursework. AB/BA/BS etc if of zero interest to them. Again, if Cal Berkeley only provides a AB in physics (or math) do you think Stanford Med will reject them because of it?? Some colleges offer both a BA and a BS in the same subject. (The main difference is that the BA requires more ‘readin’ and writin’ and a BS might require Calc.) But the MCAT has just announced changes which will require more hume/lit/social science classes. Since the MCAT represents what the Med Schools desire, what message do you think they are sending? (Granted, top med schools only care about research, but one still has to write-up the findings.)</p>
At DS’s school, a particular science major offers both a BA and a BS. Th only difference is that a BS student is required to do one year of research (usually during the senior year or but can also start it in the spring of the junior year) and then write a senior project report on it, but a BA student either write a paper on any project related to this major (without working as a slave in a research lab :)) or working in a lab for HALF A YEAR only and write a paper on it.</p>
<p>DS was a student researcher during the senior year, but he also worked in a research lab for another year . He once mentioned that quite a few students, especially those at a top school, emphasize the number of ECs rather than the quality of ECs, and this is especially true for a premed. For example, when a student committed to, say, 12 hours (which is expected) of research work, (s)he may end up showing up in the lab for only 5 or 6 hours. At the end of the research year, (s)he then begs the PI to ask other full-time researcher to provide the result so that (s)he can write a paper and a poster. DS said the main reason is that many premed students either take too many classes in a semester or participate in too many clubs (just like in high school.) In one word, many of premed’s EC achievement may be quite “inflated.”</p>
<p>Some research is not easy with a full course load. Some lab may expect you to show up a lot of hours, including the evening sometimes (some animals are nocturners.) You are sometimes required to become a “friend” of the animal (After it get used to you, you can then “operate” on it more easily.) It is sometimes hard that, after you know it well, you then need to kill it.</p>