<p>I've been on these forums for quite a while, and I've seen the continuous postings about how majors don't matter. I've followed the pre-med forum pretty closely, so I don't think there's another thread like this. </p>
<p>I've been considering majoring in either Kinesiology or Anthropology (quite different, but I have varied interests), and lately I've been leaning towards Kinesiology. So I was slightly thrown when I found that bluedevilmike, in another thread, had said, "Usually the most important thing about a major is to make sure it doesn't sound vocational -- i.e. kinesiology or exercise therapy are bad majors while biology and history are both fine." Also, I saw that on average, 'Specialized Health Services' majors score quite a bit lower on the MCAT than other majors. I find both majors to be very fascinating, and I'm sure I'll be happy majoring in either (or even in some other humanities/social sciences field). </p>
<p>So... I'm looking for some insight. If the major truly makes no difference, I'll likely major in Kinesiology. But if Kinesiology is "vocational" or "bad", then I'll probably go with Anthropology. Any thoughts are appreciated. [Again, I hope this thread isn't viewed as redundant. I thought I got the whole "major doesn't matter" thing until BDM's post. :/ ]</p>
<p>I apologize for not answering your question, but I'd like to state that I wish more people posted intelligent questions like this one in our forum. Nice going, Mary.loves.you! I'm sure somebody here will be able to help you out.</p>
<p>My theory (and this is just my opinion) is that majors like kinesiology or nursing don't prepare well for the MCAT. Students in the "hard" sciences (ie bio, chem, physics, and math) do decently on the MCAT because, let's face it, if you're in one of these majors and haven't been weeded out by junior year, you're probably pretty intelligent to begin with. Students in humanities fields (history, English, whatever) hold their own on the MCAT because generally their majors require them to do a heavy amount of reading/writing, skills useful for the MCAT. Majors like kinesiology or nursing are generally regarded as "cupcake" majors. They're not as rigorous in the hard sciences (which is one thing that the MCAT tests) and don't promote reading like a history major would (which is the other thing the MCAT tests).</p>
<p>I think that if kinesiology is something that you REALLY are interested in, then by all means major in it. Just make sure you take some humanities/social science courses with a writing intensive component and you will be fine.</p>
<p>whats weeded out exactly? I mean many premeds stumble sometime or another. I know I've screwed up this semester (3.29 gpa). So am I weeded out? Does weeded out mean that the student drops his major completely or does it mean failing his science classes or both? Anyone can complete any science major with all C's and still get the degree but with those grades, won't get anywhere.</p>
<p>Weeded out means that you are no longer premed, you don't plan to take the MCAT, and you don't plan to apply to med school. It doesn't necessarily mean that you've changed majors. I would guess that the science-major students who take the MCAT generally have an average GPA of 3.5 which would put them in the top half of science majors at a school.</p>
<p>1000 people take premed gen chem at my school. 250 apply as seniors. Probably another 150 apply after taking some time off. So 60% would be my estimate at Cornell.</p>