<p>This has been on my mind for a bit. For the Fall 2007 semester I should be a Japanese major at Michigan State University (considering other places but this is 95% likely where I will be). The thing is that whenever I tell people this they're like WHAT? I haven't gotten a good reaction from that many people except maybe my friends. A lot feel that I am wasting my time and money majoring in this even though I have explained to them (from what I have read on here at least) that your major doesn't really matter when you apply to med-school.</p>
<p>So I was wondering what do you think about this? Should I change my major? I feel college is probably my only chance in my life where I can study anything that I want and this is what interests me most at the moment so I decided to major in it. </p>
<p>Do you think that adcoms at med-school will consider it kind of a joke that I majored in Japanese? Would this increase or decrease my chances for admission at top med schools? How well do foreign language majors do in regards to med school admission? Do you think that they will consider it an easy way to get a high gpa because some may feel that anyone can get a 4.0 in a language major or will they realize it for its difficulty as Japanese is widely considered one of the hardest if not the hardest language in the world for a native English speaker to learn?</p>
<p>Some people are also worried about what my exit opportunities will be if I don't get into med-school. While I know pretty much every exit opp. for a Japanese major and most involve teaching or sometimes business, none of them make a lot of money and for business you can usually only make money if you graduate from a very prestigious school. (Gotta pay off those loans somehow :)) Though I think it would a lot of fun to teach English in Japan it isn't a career that you could do for the rest of your life, or raise a family on, or with great benefits as a teacher in the U.S gets, especially teaching as a foreigner.</p>
<p>So what do you think? Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.</p>
<p>I personally think that this is an awesome idea -I suck at languages or else I would love to learn Japanese. Of course this is just my opinion and based on NO actual stats or experience.</p>
<p>However, some medical schools, i.e. Stanford, actually recommend proficiency in a foreign language "specifically Spanish or an East Asian language." Considering that, I'd say that your major choice is a plus, or at least helpful. There is also that fact that you'd be pretty unique, especially if you found some way to integrate your pre-medical ECs with your language skills.</p>
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Do you think that adcoms at med-school will consider it kind of a joke that I majored in Japanese?
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<p>No, I have known 4 language majors that go into medical school. Once you complete the prereqs then the medical school is happy. (3 spanish, 1 italian)</p>
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Some people are also worried about what my exit opportunities will be if I don't get into med-school.
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<p>If you are really set on medical school, then you can apply to post bac program (the med school track ones) and improve your resume before applying again. </p>
<p>I know a Japanese major with me here at IR/PS, and he had more than a few interesting jobs that weren't teaching English. He worked for Sony for a while, and got paid a decent wage. Don't discount the value of a language. Plus, with all the med pre-reqs you'd complete you'd have a lot to show on your resume.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help, and UCLAri, what is IR/PS, I'm not familiar with that term. Thanks for informing me of other exit opportunities, it helps to know that I might have some other options.</p>
<p>And 2007, I am also trying to do a healthcare classes in Japan to study about their healthcare system. Will med-schools like this or feel I should concentrate on the American healthcare system.</p>
<p>And for the post bac programs, don't you have to be like god-like good to get in. What exactly do you have to do. And what exactly are post-bac programs, heard of them but don't know what they really entail.</p>
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<li>GPA and MCAT</li>
<li>Research</li>
<li>GPA and MCAT</li>
<li>A bit more research.
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<p>1/3. important but you dont need to have a 3.8/35 to get into a school
2/4. no required. If your goal is top 20 then its more important than lower tier schools</p>
<p>Well, I'd say the list is a good bit longer than that. But certainly he's right that one class won't make a big difference unless you try to make it one -- i.e. interviews, essays, etc. And that's more up to you than them.</p>
<p>You don't need 3.8/35 to get into a school, but if you look even at "bottom tier" med schools, the average MCAT is pretty much 30+ and 3.5+. That's no mean feat, especially considering the requirements.</p>
<p>And research helps a good deal. You need something to fill out the rest of those lines.</p>
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And for the post bac programs, don't you have to be like god-like good to get in. What exactly do you have to do. And what exactly are post-bac programs, heard of them but don't know what they really entail.
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<p>No, postdoc applicants usually have gpas between 2.5-3.3 and mcat from 20-32. They probably have already gone through one cycle and didnt get in, so they are taking med school level classes so they can prove they can handle the coursework. Many usually get into A medical school if they do well in the program (gpa 3.6>).</p>
<p>We've actually had a long discussion about how to conceptualize medical school admissions, since it doesn't seem quite right to say that GPA/MCAT are either the most important or... anything other than that.</p>
<p>Ultimately I've started thinking of the process as a series of hoops to jump through first, then a process of differentiating yourself. GPA/MCAT are crucial hoops, but they're only one among many (and not the best of them, frankly) ways of standing out after that.</p>
<p>Yeah, I just wanted you to consider that there were other factors for admissions, even though gpa and mcat are important. I knew two people (3.4/29) and (3.5/27) that got in b/c they have great EC's, recs, and experience (shadowing/research). Might not be WUSTL or Yale but it was still a medical school (md). </p>
<p>To the OP: If you are serious about medicine, have you considered doing osteopathic(DO) instead of allopathic (MD). The average scores are considerably less than MD (averages I have seen were 24, 3.2/3.3).</p>
<p>Sure, but those red flags, once they're up, are pretty hard to mitigate. You need to get through that hoop first THEN do the differentiate yourself.</p>
<p>Oh, ASMAJ, don't get me wrong. I KNOW the crazy well-roundedness needed for med school. But the grades and MCAT, in most cases, are absolutely key primary variables. Sure, they won't get you in, but they definitely can keep you out.</p>
<p>I haven't started college yet but I will in Fall. I hope to do good enough to get into a top school. </p>
<p>What is considered doing good in fact? At a school like Michigan State would I have to get a a 3.9+ to get into a top 25 med school, or is it more like 3.7+. What would also be the MCAT threshold for a school of Michigan State level to get into a top med-school.</p>
<p>I would like to do my best there really is no reason behind it. I could easily be happy at a "lower tier" college, its just lately I have been trying to live my life with an attitude like " its better to aim for the stars and hit the ceiling, than to aim for the ceiling and hit it" or something like that.</p>
<p>In High School my attitude was more like "do as little as possible, becuz you still get good grades anyway" This attitude backfired on me and when I ran into health problems it dropped my gpa which if I hadn't been lazy in the years before, it would of been high enough and that drop wouldn't of affected me that much and I still could of gotten into the schools I wanted even with a lower gpa.</p>
<p>Thats a crappy attitude and I feel I have been changing it slowly but surely.</p>
<p>That is mainly the reason why I am aiming for a top med-school.</p>