If I fail Premed: Plan B?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
21

<p>Quake, I understand what you're saying. I've been told this several times, and it is possible that my viewpoint could change over time, but I think that your response is too idealistic...</p>

<p>In undergraduate schools, diversity is important because people take all different majors and different interest. Undergrad is when you determine what you want to do with your life and you set yourself up for a certain graduate school.</p>

<p>However, looking at med school, I personally don't think that adcom's need to go out of their way to maintain diversity. Honestly, what's the purpose? Your training to become a doctor...your path is chosen. Furthermore, to say that all science majors are "science nerds" is a fallacy. I agree that being a Physician requires PEOPLE SKILLS, and that's why all med schools require interviews to see if the person applying has basic social skills. Plenty of premeds with awesome stats are rejected every year post-interview from great schools. Moreover, some Bio majors have done tremendous things (started clubs, won writing competitions, helped people around the world etc.), so people with science majors are much more than textbooks and pocket protectors.</p>

<p>I am not saying that ONLY science majors should get admission into med school. But with that said, I don't think its right that science majors are judged equally with majors of other fields. Or at the bare minimum, med schools should not REQUIRE non-science majors to be admitted (not to say that they can't be, but med school shouldn't have to admit them based on their major). It should be the same principle that Bio majors and Econ majors should not be the same when applying to Business Schools. Not to mention that in almost all cases, science majors are usually harder than non-science majors (with the exception of engineering)</p>

<p>Another thing that I notice is that some people PURPOSEFULLY pursue a certain major because it is easy. I've talked to many people who basically said that they would go into Philosophy so that they can get a higher GPA so that they can get into med school (a friend of mine said that if I go to his university, I should never ever go into Bio as a pre-med). Is this really the best way to produce the best doctors? The playing field needs to be leveled.</p>

<p>So basically, what I am saying is that you are giving the same argument that I've heard before: we need people who are diverse and interesting. But this is more of a diversion from the real question. First off, Bio students ARE diverse and they are accomplished. Other majors should apply, but they shouldn't be at the same level (or superior) to science majors.</p>

<p>Finally, after having discussed Bio majors and my assertion that they are extremely diverse (unless you would like to challenge that claim), I will ask the question once again: What will people from other majors contribute to medicine? How will studying the Civil War or memorizing monologues from Julius Caesar (I don't mean to insult these activities by any means) help you become a better doctor? That's the real question.</p>

<p>P.S.: I don't mean to sound heated or anything, just pointing out some observations of mine.</p>

22

<p>Rman...I see what you are saying...and i didn't mean to say that science people are all dull nerds...some of the coolest and most interesting people down here in philly are science people...</p>

<p>It's not just a matter of diversity, as in "We need this many science peopl and this many humanities people, etc." It's about understanding that a bio major or a chem major DOESN"T make a better doctor than a Comparative Literature major or a sociology major just because they have gone more in depth in science as an undergrad...don't you think that if that was the case, then med schools would know that?</p>

<p>English majors don't just memorize monologues, history majors don't just absorb facts...they bring to the table a different kind of thinking, and different interests...whether it's an understanding of the humanistic aspects of medicine or the ability to interpret certain patterns of information, all majors can contribute DIFFERENT things to careers as a physician...DIFFERENT doesn't mean better or worse...they'll learn in medical school how to be a doctor...</p>

<p>It's in undergrad that they should pursue what they have a passion for, whether it's English or History or Microbiology or Physical Chemistry...</p>

<p>So i guess what I'm trying to say is that medical schools see the need to have doctors that bring DIFFERENT things to the table...I think society would have recognized a trend by now if all the humanities majors that became physicians turned out to be bad doctors.</p>

23

<p>Well I sort of see what you're saying. In fact, most of the time, people in different majors do about the same in med school (though it has something to do with Bio, med school is still new stuff) However, I'm just saying that science majors deserve to have some sort of edge (or at least equality) since they have dediated their studies to medicine and science majors are usually higher...in terms of "different understanding," that is true to a certain extent, but once again, I don't think that there would be much difference in the understanding of a History major and a science major, but even I'll admit that the debate is shades of grey rather than black and white.</p>