Hi, I’ve decided to go to med school and major in neurology but I really want to take criminal justice because at some point in my life, I might join the law enforcement. What should I do?
If you are in the USA. med school is a graduated school, you need to complete Under Graduate before apply for med school. In the UG, you can take criminal justice as an majore with the intent to be a pre-med. Take courses in premed and with MCAT test score, you can apply for med school after graduation.
- you can’t major in neurology in undergrad.
Neurology is a medical speciality that requires a 4 year undergrad degree + 4 years med school + 1 year internship + 3 years neurology residency.
You may be able to major in neuroscience which is at most colleges is a subdivision of biology, or a hybrid of biology & psychology. But a neuroscience ≠ neurology and neuroscience will not prepare you for a career in neurology.
- You may be able to major in criminal justice, complete your med school required classes (bio, hen, ochem, biochem, physics, calc, stats, sociology, psychology, writing) and then apply to med school. But whether you can do that depends on how your college structures its requirements for a criminal justice major and if your college will allow you to cross enroll with the science departments.
If CJ is a vocational major–as it is at some colleges–this probably isn’t your best choice. Vocational majors do not score as high as other majors on the MCAT, and vocational majors are less likely to receive an acceptance to medical school even when adjustments are made for lower average MCAT scores. Many adcomm members seem to feel vocational majors lack the necessary academic rigor needed to be successful in medical school.
Since you seem to be undecided about what you want to do, you should do some career shadowing. Spend some time shadowing doctors and some time shadowing police officers. (Many police depts. have outreach programs for high schoolers who think they want a career in law enforcement. Contact your local dept to see if they offer one.)
Once you have a better idea of what you want to do, then come back for more specific advice.
Neuroscience or neurobiology match well with criminology. Not so for criminal science.
So, look for colleges that have criminology and either neuroscience or neurobiology. For each, run the net price calculator. Keep the affordable ones in your list.
Medical specialty wise, psychiatry and pathology are the two big ones when it comes to intersection with law enforcement (each would also require a fellowship after residency in their respective forensic subspecialty). Not really sure what a neurologist would provide.
Yes - neurology isn’t an undergraduate major anyway and you can’t ‘major in med school’ either. 