So I am planning to major in something that health profession schools would usually see from applicants, but how useful would a diverse minor that isn’t related to science (like art, business, etc.) play in the “diversity” of an application, or would it not make a difference at all? Thanks!
If you mean medical school, that is not the type of diversity that carries any weight.
Unusual or unique minors (and art isn’t necessarily unusual/unique; business definitely isn’t) might make for interesting talking points, but I doubt anybody will care from an admissions point of view.
@TomSrOfBoston and @AuraObscura so the “diversity” would come through a student majoring in something that’s non-science (or at least a science that is less common), but not with the minor?
I would say that it matters much more if you can actually do something meaningful with your “diverse interests” or can speak about its impact on you well. Do not major and/or minor in something non-science for the sake of appearing “different”- do it because you actually want to and would enjoy doing so.
A minor in a language spoken by an immigrant group would help more. However many of these languages aren’t offered at universities and sometimes only informally through community education.
Something like ethics or art would help if you can tie it together coherently with a science. But overall your major doesn’t matter, what matters is what grades you got in the field you chose and in science.
"Unusual or unique minors (and art isn’t necessarily unusual/unique; business definitely isn’t) might make for interesting talking points, but I doubt anybody will care from an admissions point of view. "
- This is the point, but no more than that. Medical schools will not care about your combo of major(s) / minor(s) at all, will not give you any advantages with adcoms. However, talking about music at medical school interview when they see that you graduated with Music minor is very common and makes interview much more relaxing on both sides.
Foreign Language is a good thing for future MD. If you want to go as far as having a major / minor, go ahead, However, few college classes may be sufficient. I would also focus on Spanish vs. other languages. One semester of college Spanish was sufficient for my D. to place into intermediate level of Medical Spanish while at medical school and one year of this was sufficient to enable her to handle Spanish speaking patients.
Go for what you personally love, do not take anything to impress the adcoms, you will not impress them, they have seen it all.