<p>As a high school senior going into college next year: What can I/must I major in as an undergrad to go into medicine as a grad student? I.e, would Biology work, or does it have to be pre-med or something else?</p>
<p>You can major in anything you want, because it doesn't matter to med schools either way. All you need to do is declare yourself as pre-med and take the prereqs for med school.</p>
<p>Great question. The good news about traditional colleges is that the first year or two of general education requirements are similar for many degree plans so you don't have to decide overnight.</p>
<p>I'm a physician and have been answering questions like these for 5 years. About 2/3 of people entering medical school have science degrees. The major convenience of having a science major is that most of the medical school prerequisite courses are included in the bachelor degree requirements - so you kill two birds with one stone!</p>
<p>If you choose art, you'll spend an extra year or two doing the prerequisites.</p>
<p>My advice is to do what you're passionate about and what interests you enough to FINISH. You really want to like your major because it will be your LIFE in the senior year. So, don't be overly concerned with what an admissions committee MIGHT think years down the road. Enjoy your life and treat college like your career. It will pay off.</p>
<p>Thx ElectricTech and dmw0619.</p>
<p>Electrich Tech: what does declaring yourself pre-med mean? </p>
<p>And what is it like getting into med school in America? Here in Switzerland, you enter immediately after high school and study for six years, but only about 1/5 of the students pass the entry test.... </p>
<p>I want to study medicine no matter what. How much of a chance of acceptance at med school is there in America if you apply to a few different schools? More than 1/5?</p>
<p>When you apply to colleges, you indicate your chosen major and then on the application, there is probably a section where you can indicate whether you want to be on the pre-med or pre-law, etc., track, where advisors will keep you on track whenever you register for classes. </p>
<p>First, you complete a bachelor's degree, then you apply for med school. The acceptance rate is around 47% I think. Med school is 4 years plus residency, as far as I know.</p>
<p>At many schools, there isn't even a point at which you declare your intentions of being pre med. </p>
<p>Electrictech mentioned a 47% acceptance rate. This doesn't account for the incredible numbers of people who are pushed into premed by their parents or naive high school counselors because they showed an inkling of scientific talent yet never apply for medical school. Something like 80% of science majors entering college consider themselves premed yet a small fraction of those people actually apply to medical schools. Why is this? Some decide on different allied health careers eg. pharmacy, optometry, dentistry, nursing. Some decide on basic science eg. academic research, drug development, medical devices. Others just give up on science altogether and try the engineering route or decide that they would make a good attorney. Still others are just dissuaded by the statistics governing admission into medical school (schools tend to have individual acceptance rates around 5 or 10 percent) or the debt that it incurs (the average physician graduates with over 200K in student loans). Some individuals are also dissuaded by the length of training (4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school, 3 to 5 of residency, 3 years of fellowship* *to specialize).</p>
<p>I like 80% of the science majors entering undergrad thought that I wanted to become a physician or surgeon. Once I gained exposure to science and learned about the process of discovery, I realized that routine clinical care was not for me. I would encourage any of you who have expressed an interest in clinical medicine to keep an open mind and decide if you want to be a physician after you have shopped around a bit, it is your life after all.</p>