Hi. I am also in the same situation. I was wondering if I could major in bio and minor in art in college but I’m not sure which specific colleges would be able to do that. Do you happen to know any? Thank you so much.
You can absolutely major in bio and minor in art, and you could probably do it at any college that offers both (which would be the majority of colleges in the U.S.). Are you interested in anatomical drawing/art? Or just general art? Is there a particular art medium you want to study? For instance, some schools might not have glassblowing or might have a particular strength in pottery or sculpture, or primarily focus on painting and drawing, etc.
If you want specific suggestions, what is the budget? What geographic areas are you interested in? What has your academic profile been like? What are you looking for in a college, apart from a major in bio and minor in art?
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The only thing to be aware of when considering studio art majors/minors is that studio projects often take significantly more time than allotted for the credit earned Pre-meds are already operating under some pretty heavy expectations w/r/t to ECs for med school: community service w/disadvantaged communities, clinical employment or volunteering, physician shadowing, research lab experience and leadership position in the activities. Finding time to do it all may become a factor.
Also be aware that grading in art classes is subjective and earning As in studio art classes may be more difficult than anticipated. As a pre-med, it’s critical to keep your GPA as high as possible so taking a large number of studio art classes may make that more difficult.
If you are OK with those caveats and are good at managing your time, then there’s no reason why you can’t major or minor in art and be a pre-med.
What art media are you interested in? Do you have any constraints/preferences regarding geographic location or size? Any other preferences? What’s your budget for college?
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We just toured Vassar last weekend with my HS senior, and they specifically addressed this kind of double major in their talk and on the tour — while many colleges offer it, Vassar encourages it. We also saw Bucknell (spent a lot of time in the car!) and they also allow it.
If she is pre-med, be aware that the curriculum is rigorous, and may make a double major especially challenging, but it is definitely an option at most schools.
I imagine it can be done at many colleges but keep in mind that there will be lab requirements for a bio major as well as studio requirements for an art minor.
My D attended a LAC which had many students with double majors and or a major and a minor. My S went to a Jesuit university which had a lot of general ed requirements I think it was less common for students there to have double majors/minors.
Most colleges have course catalogues online. You can check the requirements for a bio major, an art minor, and any general education requirements and see if everything can fit in four years.
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My suggestion is that you take the art classes that you are interested in, but do not officially minor in art.
I do not see anything that you could do with a bachelor’s degree in bio and a minor in art, that you could not do just as well with a bachelor’s degree in bio and just taking the art courses that are of interest.
For me personally you could have crossed out the word “bio” and write in “math” and it would still be true.
If you Google “da vinci robotic surgery art work” you can find a short video of a surgeon painting a tiny picture of his own hospital, using the Da Vinci Robotic Surgery system. I just sort of suspect that this particular surgeon might have taken some art classes at some point.