<p>I want to be a doctor, but I don't know if it's better to do major in pre-med or a science related to medicine.</p>
<p>I've heard positives and negatives for pre-med; some people have said that it is good because it guarantees that you can finish medical school at the same university, and others have said that pre-med is extremely tough to get into and hard to finish as well.</p>
<p>I've also heard a bunch of myths about the difficulty of pre-med and how each school's program has a quota, so there is basically a number or percentage of people who can't graduate. </p>
<p>I guess I just want to know more about it in general. How true are those myths? Is it really harder to graduate in pre-med than it is with some other major? Will you do better on the MCAT just because you majored in pre-med?</p>
<p>Thanks! Any input would be appreciated!
~Hautbois</p>
<p>Pre med is a track, not a major. The track is the fulfillment of the prerequisites for med school, so you can honestly major in classical literature, fulfill the prereqs and get into med school.</p>
<p>Don’t some schools offer it as a major though? I heard that schools like UPenn have a 6-year med program if you do pre-med, and also that generally schools with pre-med guarantee that you can attend their medical school if you graduate.</p>
<p>I also heard that many schools don’t offer pre-med, period. If it’s a track, then doesn’t every single school have it?</p>
<p>Gah, I’m so confused.
Thanks though!</p>
<p>~Hautbois</p>
<p>Well, think of your college major and pre med separately.
You have your college major (in biology, chemistry, mathematics).
From there, you can go to grad school or med school or something.
Med school has very specific requirements. The med school requirements are a set of classes (certain bio classes, anatomy, chem classes, etc.).
Yes, certain schools do have special programs that allow immediate and guaranteed entry. I don’t know much about them, though, but that is definitely something to look at. Generally, though, most colleges have you major in something while following a track that gets you to med school. This simply allows you to go to different med schools than the one attached to your university 
Please take this all with a grain of salt as every school may be different, and this is my understanding and research. This is what I have found in my search.
What schools are you looking at?</p>
<p>I think you’re confusing two separate things. When most people talk about being “pre-med” in college, they generally mean that they’re taking the prerequisites required by medical schools with the intention of eventually applying to medical school. All medical schools do admissions slightly differently, but in general, the prerequisites are pretty similar between schools (biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, calculus, etc).</p>
<p>In addition to taking these prerequisites for medical school (the so-called “pre-med” program/track/whatever), students typically major in something else. Most pre-med students major in biology since (1) they’re probably interested in biology and (2) most of the medical school prerequisites are already incorporated into biology majors. But you could major in English or psychology or whatever, and still take the med school prereqs.</p>
<p>Yes, there are probably some schools that have a “pre-med” major, but it’s generally advised not to major in it in the event that you don’t actually end up going to medical school. Some schools will say things like getting a “concentration” in pre-med or something like that.</p>
<p>The above is the route that most students take to get into medical school. What I think you’re referring to as “majoring in pre-med” is really enrolling in a BS/MD program, where you get your BS and then have admittance to the associated medical school. Those programs are generally very competitive (for obvious reasons) and you’re probably going to want to research each program specifically, if that’s something you’re interested in. Some programs have requirements about your admittance to the medical school (need to maintain certain grades or whatever), but that’s something you’re going to have research on your own about each program.</p>
<p>You’re welcome to apply to BS/MD programs, but there’s a real possibility that you may not be accepted to them. Or, as I know others have felt, they didn’t necessarily want to feel locked into one particular program. Or they felt that they wanted to go to a different school with a different (or higher ranked or better) program than what they were accepted into straight out of high school. That’s all a personal choice, and something, you have to decide. But you might not actually get the option to choose between these two things if you aren’t even accepted into a BS/MD program. Most people go the route of getting a normal BS degree and then applying to a wide range of medical schools. I don’t see why that route would be a particularly bad choice for you. Theoretically, it’s the same education either way. You’re still taking the same classes and you’re learning the same stuff.</p>
<p>That was what I was trying to say.
baktrax is totally right.</p>
<p>Also, if you major in something like biochemistry and decide you don’t want to go to med school, you aren’t stuck, but you will likely need a further degree to get a real career.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, it all makes a lot more sense now! :)</p>
<p>~Hautbois</p>