Hi everyone!
I’ve been accepted to my first choice college and have been directly admitted into my major (Exercise Science) for Fall 2017. I decided on this major as I aimed for graduate school regarding physical therapy, but have since decided that going to medical school is my ultimate dream, as I love to care and help others just as I was helped when I was sick as a child.
I will be going on the pre-med track with my exercise science degree in college, so that I am able to receive the appropriate advising. I eventually would like to become a neonatologist or other form of pediatric doctor OR even a sports medicine doctor, but I’m worried that my Exercise Science major is not suitable. I love sports and studying the body, and know that this is absolutely the major for me. However, I’ve heard that my chances of going to medical school are affected by my undergrad major (which I don’t necessarily believe is true). Then I have also heard that as long as you have a strong background in the sciences and complete certain pre-med requirements, medical schools don’t really look at your undergrad major (for example, music, anthropology, biology, English, etc.) Is this true? Could I possibly major in Exercise Science and still achieve my goal of attending medical school? (I also plan on double majoring in biology, anthropology or nutritional sciences if that helps any).
My ultimate issue is this: I want to study what I am passionate about, but I also want to make sure I am heading in the right direction for medical school. I know I’ll receive advising in college, but I am still concerned that my major would not allow me to attend medical school in the distant future. I am a first gen (incoming) college student, so figuring my future out has been a bit of a challenge, but I feel like I have a great foundation as to where I’m going! 
(I also apologize if this is in the wrong forum; I picked the one where I thought my post would fit )
Acceptance into medical school does not depend on your major. Students can get into medical school with any major. What matters is that you meet the requirements as far as coursework. Many students who want to go to medical school choose majors such as Biology or Biochemistry, since many of the required courses are part of those majors. If you are on a pre-med track, the pre-med advisor should work with you to ensure you get the required courses. It’s up to you to get good grades in those courses, and to work hard to obtain a good score on the MCATs. That is what matters for medical school.
FWIW, I’ve been around colleges for decades, and while it is less common, I’ve seen students get into med school with majors as diverse as Classics and Sociology. It’s all about the requirements, the GPA, and the MCATs.
Exercise science is an acceptable major for med school; however, you need to be sure that the science coursework you take for your degree is the same coursework that physical science majors take. At some colleges vocational majors (nursing, nutrition/dietetics, dental hygiene, exercise science, clinical laboratory science, etc) take different science coursework (e.g. biology for health sciences) than physical science majors take (e.g. intro to cell and molecular biology). Courses other than those taken by physical science majors are not accepted by med schools as fulfilling admission requirements.
You should also be aware that as a group vocational majors have the worst admission outcomes of all majors.
SEE: [MCAT and GPAs for Applicants and Matriculants to U.S. Medical Schools by Primary Undergraduate Major, 2015-2016](https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstablea17.pdf)
Even adjusting for lower average MCATs and GPAs, vocational majors are still still accepted into med school at a lower rate than all other majors. The reasons for this are unclear, but it’s a statistical fact.
Does this mean you won’t be accepted to med school as a exercise science major? No, but it may mean you have a slightly tougher road to travel.
Good luck on your journey!
P.S. Have you shadowed both PTs and physicians to know that which is the right career goal for you? If not, I suggest you do so you can get a feel for the differences in the lifestyle and daily responsibilities & duties for each career.
Only after you’ve educated yourself about the differences should you make a final career decision. Right now medicine is a nice dream, but you don’t know enough about the daily grind of it to be certain this is the right field for you.
Since I have no knowledge of your intended school: How difficult/different for you would it be to be a biology major and take lots of exercise science courses? To me that would be the ideal.
Classics and sociology are clearly academic disciplines while exercise science sounds much more vocational. Any academic discipline will suffice and at your school, exercise science may be a very physiology intense major and perfectly academic enough, but without more info, my gut says to try and be a bio major with a focus in exercise physiology instead.