<p>Hi I'm Jasmine and my school of choice is to go to Florida State University. I want to become a neurosurgeon but I don't know what major that would be. What classes would I have to take to become one? How many years would it take? And would Computer Science be a class to take to become a neurosurgeon? Or no?</p>
<p>Hi Jasmine,</p>
<p>In order to become a neurosurgeon, you have to go to medical school first.</p>
<p>First of all, you have to finish undergraduate (Bachelor’s) before applying to medical schools. Medical schools do not actually require you to have a Bachelor’s degree in the field of sciences. What medical schools require are:</p>
<p>1 year of Calculus
1 year of Biology with Laboratory
1 year of General Chemistry with Laboratory
1 year of Calculus-based Physics with Laboratory
1 year of English (college)</p>
<p>So technically, you can be an English or Philosophy major and still apply for med schools as long as you take these requirements. You have to take an exam, called the MCAT, typically in your junior/senior year of college. Beware that medical schools are EXTREMELY competitive. If you get in, you will spend another 4 years in medical schools.</p>
<p>After medical school, you will apply for residency at a hospital. This is where you and your fellow med students branch out to their specialties. Residency to become surgeon in general takes at least 5 years of residency and another 2-3 years for neurosurgery.</p>
<p>In summary:
4 years of undergrad
4 years of medical school
5-8 years for neurosurgery training (Residency)</p>
<p>total of 13-16 years in school and training right after high school</p>
<p>
Forgive me, but isn’t the requirement 2 years of chemistry?</p>
<p>Oh crap… I forgot to list Organic Chemistry there. Thanks!</p>
<p>So, you’re a high school student and you’ve already decided where your entire life is headed. Me too, at that age. Just realize that there are a lot of steps and a lot of years between now and a career in neurosurgery, as has already been pointed out.
Keep an open mind, though. It’s possible that once you start your classes you will not be able to keep up the GPA necessary for pre-med with the increased difficulty of college. Or you will spend some time volunteering in a hospital and discover that medicine is not the field for you. Or, you might get to medical school, do your rotations, and find another speciality way more appealing once you actually get a chance to try it hands on. I’m not saying you won’t end up being a neurosurgeon, but I’m saying there are a lot of diverging paths on the way to that goal, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with choosing a different direction somewhere along the way.</p>