I asked a similar question already, but was suggested to redirect my question to this thread. I’m a math major at a 7 Sister’s college and I intend to pursue clinical medicine but would also like to keep the option of consulting open (which is partially why I’m majoring in math). When I mention that I’m a pre-med majoring in math, I get negative responses… I enjoy math very much and don’t want to major in run of the mill pre-med majors (no offense) because I find the subject matter to be easy. Math is intellectually stimulating for me and that’s why I enjoy it. Am I at a disadvantage for majoring in math as a pre-med? I can’t major in English/econ/polisci, etc because I’m bad at those subjects, so math, hard sciences, etc. are my only options. 
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
No. Your major is irrelevant when applying to med school. All that matters is that you have completed your pre-reqs and have a strong GPA.
If you want some moral support–look at AAMC Table 17
https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstablea17.pdf
Math majors have a higher average MCAT score than other applicant groups. Math majors as a group have a higher acceptance rate than all other majors.
BTW, I have not one, but two math major daughters who were both accepted in med school. (D1 was a math & physics double major; D2 was a math and neuroscience double major.) Having a math major didn’t seem to hurt (or help) either of their applications.
My only advice–make sure you cover all your expected ECs. Finding lab or clinical research as a math major can be tough.
Not to be rude, but their other majors were hard sciences, so could it be possible that this may have helped lend credence to the relevance of their math major in the medical field? I’m purely a math major as of now, but will have comfortably met the requirements for the bio major (so plan to add that on). I’ve been fortunate to get research opportunities in science on the basis of my math coursework, but am looking for clinical shadowing, etc. opportunities as yet.
Majors are really irrelevant for med school admission.
And did you not look at Table 17? Math majors are not disadvantaged in med school admissions. They’re uncommon (due to self-selection), compared to biological science majors, but they’re not disadvantaged.
How is math less relevant to medicine than say…forestry/agriculture (D1 has a med school classmate with that major) or music performance (again another classmate)?
What makes a math major seem relevant to adcomms is whether the individual has the personal qualities & characteristics that would make one a good doctor, not whether they can solve eigenvectors. An admission interview boils down to 2 questions: Would I want this person to treat my elderly grandmother? Can I see this individual as my colleague for the next 25 years?
BTW, it was her physics major that D1 got grief over during her residency interviews. No one questioned her math degree, but apparently a female physics major is a mythical animal and doesn’t actually exist in the real world, according to several of her interviewers.
<<< I get negative responses…>>>
What do you mean? do you mean that you just get naive responses, like: “how can you be premed if you’re a math major?”
I remember being at a luncheon and a couple was at my table. Their child was an incoming frosh eng’g major. I mentioned that my son got his degree in Chemical Eng’g. They asked where he was now working. I said he was in med school. I willl never forget the puzzled looks on their faces. The mom (not being rude) was clearly confused and just blurted out, “how can he go to med school with an eng’g degree?”
There are many out there that just think that only bio majors or (ha ha) premed majors go to med school.
@mom2collegekids Yes, I mean I get naive responses. Thank you for your reassurance. I’m feeling more confident about my decision to keep the math major.
My D was a French and Francophone Studies major. It doesn’t seem a logical step but in certain ways it totally compliments who she has become (and is still becoming) as a doctor. She did end up taking enough bio to have a bio minor. At the time she received a few comments from people scratching their heads.
As long as you complete the required Bio and Chem sequences your major doesn’t really matter when applying to med schools.
I am currently a graduating senior who is majoring in applied math/statistics and is also premed.
With regards to the major, I think that it is a very good major to be honest. Yes I am biased but look at it this way: data science, consulting, engineering modeling, modeling, etc… Math has a variety of applications. If you wanna go directly into medical school, it will help you be refreshed from the continuity of biological science courses (which comes at the cost of remembering basic concepts when you go do med school bio jochem etc) but it does provide you with a unique insight.
Your major doesn’t matter so math wont get you into med school alone. The same can be said for any other major, but applied math is great. If you apply your math to statistics, you are a great candidate for data science jobs. And data science is heavily focused on big data especially EMRs and other health care research and patient data maintenance. Biostatistics is also a very hot field you can do with a math major. So through these avenues you can merge your oremedical and mathematical interests, and gives you a unique perspectivr into the field of medicine.
Mind you I’d say you have to be really careful with upper div classes. Real analysis, linear algebra, and other proof based classes hurt my gpa, so learn to dtudy hard and go to office hours to increase your gpa bc thats really important for med school!
Good luck!
Thanks for the insight @mrfields209. I’ve taken all of the proof-heavy classes (which ironically enough helped my GPA) so it’s actually the humanities classes throughout this next year that I have to watch out for!
@existential12 while you’re right in principle (take the reqs and major doesn’t matter) the reqs are more than just a bio and chem sequence.